Amsterdam

shane86

Anyone know of any cheap deals to Amsterdam from Dublin? The only Dutch destination Ryanair seem to do is Eindhoven, which is in the far south iirc. Anywhere in North East Germany they fly to that is closer? Would I be better off with Luxembourg even? Also, Im told Ryanair dont operate through the travel agents, how do I go about booking them without a credit card in person (none of the lads going has one, and due to the destination asking mothers or girlfriends for a lend isnt quite an option, seeing as the mothers will believe we are gone on a jolly to Galway and the birds told we are visiting relatives down the country that weekend ).

Only direct flights to the dam i could find were hugely overrpriced with UK airlines, Id appreciate some guidance on this

Thanks

edit- North West Germany I meant for anyone who already read it, christ what am I like.

rick_fantastic

i booked amsterdam for 3 nights going on 11th jan @ 6 am in the morning coming back sunday night 6pm.

flying to charloi in brussels and then getting train to amsterdam from there (takes 2+1/2hrs)

total cost for flights, train and accomodation = €215

flights 30€ return
train 50€ return
accomodation €135

you could always get one of those 3v cards to book the flights

killbillvol2

Aer Lingus fly from Dublin to Amsterdam and can be reasonably priced depending on the date.

Ruu_Old

Try Czech Airlines, its one stop in Prague but might be cheaper than the others.

Tuesday_Girl

A direct flight with Aer Lingus is normally your best bet, I live in Amsterdam and I rarely pay more than E100 - E120 return when I go home. You could possible get a cheaper flight to somewhere else but when you consider train fares and the additional time spent travelling, the direct flight works out better.

griffdaddy

Razzle wrote:

A direct flight with Aer Lingus is normally your best bet, I live in Amsterdam and I rarely pay more than E100 - E120 return when I go home. You could possible get a cheaper flight to somewhere else but when you consider train fares and the additional time spent travelling, the direct flight works out better.

i'm gonna be living there for a year in september going to college in UvA. how're you finding living there compared to Dublin? i've been there a few times and it seemed like one of the best cities ever, but whats it like staying there long term?

empirix

rick_fantastic wrote:

i booked amsterdam for 3 nights going on 11th jan @ 6 am in the morning coming back sunday night 6pm.

flying to charloi in brussels and then getting train to amsterdam from there (takes 2+1/2hrs)

total cost for flights, train and accomodation = €215

flights 30€ return
train 50€ return
accomodation €135

you could always get one of those 3v cards to book the flights

Dude, this is a horrible way to go, i had to do this once and it sucked big time, i'd pay the extra money to go direct, the early flight really ****s you up, the getting the bus from the airport to the station and then changing in Brussels for the train, no thank you

griffdaddy

yeah i went through charleroi before as well, it's a pain in the arse. Eindhoven is a really good way to go, and its more or less the same price

rick_fantastic

i dont mind the train journey. better posting stuff back from belgium than direct from amsterdam too!

griffdaddy

rick_fantastic wrote:

i dont mind the train journey. better posting stuff back from belgium than direct from amsterdam too!

you can post/bring stuff* back from eindhoven without any trouble, thats how the majority of dutch people bring a little away with them as far i know.



*may or may not mean windmills, clogs etc.

Tuesday_Girl

griffdaddy wrote:

i'm gonna be living there for a year in september going to college in UvA. how're you finding living there compared to Dublin? i've been there a few times and it seemed like one of the best cities ever, but whats it like staying there long term?

I havent lived in Dublin, but Amsterdam is a great city to live in, it's much cheaper than Ireland, the public transport and infrastructure are great, there is loads to do both culturally and socially, and the weather is somewhat better here than in Ireland.

I hadn't intended to stay this long (9 years) but I love it here and I don't have any plans to leave in the near future.

jester77

Bremen is in the North west of Germany but you are still nearly 5 hours on a train to Amsterdam. Aeroflot or one of their subsidarys flew from Shannon to Amsterdam. Not sure if this is still operating but your best bet is to fly direct Dublin-Amsterdam. If you fly into a differnt country then I wouldn't bring any goodies across the border on the way back, there are regular checks on the trains, they even look in the bins beside your seat!

empirix

jester77 wrote:

Bremen is in the North west of Germany but you are still nearly 5 hours on a train to Amsterdam. Aeroflot or one of their subsidarys flew from Shannon to Amsterdam. Not sure if this is still operating but your best bet is to fly direct Dublin-Amsterdam. If you fly into a differnt country then I wouldn't bring any goodies across the border on the way back, there are regular checks on the trains, they even look in the bins beside your seat!

i am just back from working in Belgium and i used to go to the dam(owl hotel is good) every 2nd wknd as i was in a particularly boring part of Belgium, never seen anybofy checking on the trains, i used to stash mine in my bag in a hidden pocket in a pair of shorts and then put the bag in the overhead rail a few seats down and on the oppositer side, no problems at all, having said that if there was checks and they did get my bag i probably would of owned up as my clothes are quite expensive, take my chasnces

penexpers

The bus from Eindhoven to Amsterdam only takes about 90 minutes IIRC.