Traveling from London to Amsterdam
 

Has anyone had experience taking a boat from England to Amsterdam? My husband did it 30 years ago but he was young and single and Europe was much different then.
We are taking my sister to London, Amsterdam and Paris and are trying to figure out if the boat might work as opposed to flying from London to Amsterdam. We are comfortable taking the train from AMS to Paris, but just can't figure out how to get to Amsterdam. My sister and I don't want to take a rickety, rough boat trip as we both get motion sickness. I'm just curious if anyone has done this recently.
Otherwise, does anyone have tips on how to book cheap airline tickets once we are in London? I've heard you can get better fares once you're over there. Thanks!

I'm sure you will get more experienced advice from locals, but we are traveling by train from London to Amsterdam in June. There is no direct train from my reasearch, so we will switch trains in Brussels. Just do your research so you can get the best prices and best connection if you should choose that route.

Can't you just change the order - and take the train from London to Paris to Amstedam? The Channel is no fun for people who get motion sick. You can also fly from Lodnon to Amsterdam - takes about 45 minutes I think.

We have flown back and forth from London to Amsterdam and it is such a quick flight. I can't imagine taking a boat and worrying about motion sickness the whole way. Good luck whatever you decide.

The rail/sail option (http://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/rail-and-sail/) has many fans, is highly popular, and crosses the North Sea (NOT the Channel).

There's no point waiting till you get here to book plane tickets. I imagine you have this internet thing where you live: tickets get pricier the later you leave booking, and the best time to book is now. Just use whatever air ticket search engines you're used to - though the airlines' own sites might be easier..

The only airlines linking the two cities are KLM/Air France, BA and Easyjet. One of Easyjet's routes is to an airport calling itself London Southend, which is practically impossible for tourists in London to get to.

Try this link for the overnight ferry. Looks like a good option if you want to avoid flying.
http://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry

For the sake of completeness, there are flights from London City on subsidiary of one or other of the major airlines; and Eurostar will do rail bookings from London through to Amsterdam via Brussels.

For the rail/sail option (www.dutchflyer.co.uk is another link to it), you could read this thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-adventure.cfm

For views about the ferry: http://www.seat61.com/Netherlands.htm.

He's utterly committed to trains. But, unlike the stream of uninformed prejudice here, his opinions about the ferry are based on actually having used it.

I have actually done the trip and did a mini trip report using some of the info from seat61 above:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-adventure.cfm

I would recommend it!

I just read about a new bus service called Megabus that travels between London and Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris. Very inexpensive, but long travel times. From London, of course, it involves a ferry. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/bu...r-a-pound.html