European Train Travel?
My husband and I are getting stationed in the Netherlands for 3-4 years so we definitely want to acquaint ourselves with as many countries as possible. Are you able to take a train from say, Amsterdam to Italy, or to Germany etc? Also, what's the price ranges for travel within Europe? Is it really expensive, cheap, or at least affordable. I can't find much information on it and I'm really curious what I have to look forward to.
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Amsterdam to Italy is a long trip by train. I live in northern Italy and visit the Netherlands frequently. When I do go, I fly for that distance. There are some good sites for budget flights like: http://www.skyscanner.it/ or http://www.whichbudget.com/
However, the trains are a great way to get around within the Netherlands and other trips. This is a great site for train travel in Europe. http://www.seat61.com/ It includes links to the various train websites where you can find schedules and prices and a lot of information on rail passes. One of the best sites for planning trips throughout much of Europe is the German site: http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml
I take the trains frequently to go out exploring from where I live. It's possible for me to go to Bologna or Verona, have dinner, and catch a night train to places like Paris, Barcelona, Munich, Vienna or Munich for the weekend. As noted above, for longer trips it can be more efficient to fly. But if you have enough time, then the train is also feasible.
I am not sure where you are moving from but I presume you are moving Stateside to Europe. If this is the case, I am surprised that no one has mentioned London yet, which depending on where you are in the Netherlands is only a 4hr 15min train ride away!
There is a simple change of train in Brussels, but this makes for another rather nice stop off too should you want to make the journey in two parts although you could feasibly leave early morning and stop off for a few hours and then continue your journey.
Fares start at around £45 one way and £79 return so it doesn't break the bank and is much quicker than flying when you take into account check in times. What's more it takes you city centre to city centre so there is usually little transfer time and cost.
Hope the move goes well!
http://loco2.co.uk/
Amsterdam is a city, you can take a train from Amsterdam to a city in Germany, yes. You could also travel to Italy by train from Amsterdam, but it will take considerably longer.
Train travel is affordable if you don't have to pay for a car as well. Cars are expensive to keep in the Netherlands, and very expensive to run.
Conley has most info you need, there is one site more which is useful when living in the Netherlands.
Traveling from the Netherlands you can use the Hispeed site for price information:
http://www.nshispeed.nl/en
I do not really like it, I prefer to use the French site for travel to and from France, the German site when they will sell the ticket and so on.
But the site does work and prices are good.