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London to Amsterdam. How to get there.

You can get from London to Amsterdam in multiple ways

You can get from London to Amsterdam in so many ways now that is hard to know which is the best option.

As well as having so many travel options available to you, there are the cost and environmental factors to assess too.

You can arrive in Amsterdam from London by plane, train, coach, ferry, cruise ship and car. Below you’ll find a useful overview of each option with links to more detailed pages.

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London to Amsterdam by Eurostar

When people think of getting to Amsterdam from London most will immediately think about the Eurostar and for good reason. The Eurostar is direct from London to Amsterdam and takes just under 4hrs to arrive right in the heart of Amsterdam at Centraal Station.

From a practical point of view it is hard to beat. It offers time benefits, the environmental pluses derived from train travel and prices can be comparable to air travel if booked well in advance. The trains leave from London St Pancras Station and there are four direct trains every day.

For more details about using the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam and to book your tickets use our Eurostar to Amsterdam page.

London to Amsterdam by air

Flying into Amsterdam will take you to Schiphol Airport on the outskirts of Amsterdam. This is a busy International airport with flights arriving from all over the world across six runways.

Schiphol Airport is about 9 miles outside the centre of Amsterdam and you can transfer into the centre in about 20 minutes by train or just over half an hour by car.

Flying from London to Amsterdam is easy with many airlines offering the service from Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Stanstead and London City. Probably the most famous budget airline serving Amsterdam Schiphol airport is EasyJet and you can get very cheap flights that can be cheaper that the Eurostar.

Flight times from London to Amsterdam are around 75 minutes, but you will need to factor in arriving at the airport and security plus the transfer to Centraal Station, so the overall travel time may be comparable to a Eurostar train. The environmental costs are higher with air travel too, but it can be great value and a very quick and easy route to Amsterdam from London.

Visit our Amsterdam airport page for full details, to check/book flights and discover the best ways to transfer into the city upon arrival.

London to Amsterdam by ferry

Strictly speaking you cannot get a ferry from London to Amsterdam. The closest ferry port to London that services Amsterdam is Harwich.

Harwich is in Essex and 1hr 10m away by train from Liverpool Street, London. From Harwich you cross to the Hook of Holland which is very close to Rotterdam. From here you need to transfer to Amsterdam using either trains or bus. Most people using the ferries will take their own car for the travel flexibility it offers upon arrival. It is roughly an hour drive from Rotterdam to Amsterdam.

The ferry from Harwich runs once during the day as well as one night crossing and takes around 7-9 hours. There are also ferries to Holland from Newcastle and Hull, these take much longer.

For full details on using a ferry to get to Amsterdam visit our specialist ferry to holland page.

London to Amsterdam by coach

A perenial favourite of large groups, stag-do’s and hen parties, the coach from London to Amsterdam still offers a cheap, flexible route to Amsterdam. Booking tickets in advance will give you the best value and cheapest route to Amsterdam, so if you are on a budget and not in a rush, getting a coach to Amsterdam is a great choice.

As technology has progressed coaches have become much more efficient and cleaner. This makes sharing the carbon footprint of coach travel with your fellow passengers a more eco-friendly way to travel. You will also enjoy comfortable seats, more leg room and as most routes will run through the night, you can sleep through the journey and arrive refreshed.

The journey time by coach from London to Amsterdam is around 12 hours 45 minutes, mostly driving at night.

The coaches leave from Victoria Coach Station in London and arrive at Sloterdijk Station in Amsterdam. This is in the west of Amsterdam and around a 5 minute metro train ride from the centre.

You can book tickets, learn more about the coaches, stations and costs by visiting our amsterdam by coach page.

Cruise from London to Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a major destination for cruise liners and part of the itiniary for many routes. Outside the ocean cruise liners there is also a bustling river cruise market in Amsterdam, with river boat arrivals docking at the back of Centraal Station in the centre of Amsterdam. The cruise ships usually dock slightly further outside Amsterdam at the main Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (PTA) or at Ijmuiden Felison Cruise Terminal. Of these two, the PTA is the closest to the centre of Amsterdam.

From London you would need to travel to Southampton or Dover ports and pick up your cruise ship there. Both of these are easy to get to by train or bus from London.

For full details of both the ocean and river cruise options in Amsterdam visit our cruise to Amsterdam page. We also have a dedicated page about Southampton to Amsterdam cruises.

Cheapest way from London to Amsterdam

As you can see there are many ways you can travel to Amsterdam from London. These include the train, coach, ferry, plane and cruise ship.

When looking at costs though things get a little more complicated. Clearly a cruise to Amsterdam will be a separate entity and not easily comparable to a city break trip to Amsterdam. There are also other considerations like practicality and the time the journey takes, so everything depends on if you are looking for speed or price.

Below is a simple costs comparison of the options (ignoring the time they take):