Durham-Groningen-Brussles-Durham

[cuccir]

Hello,

I need to travel from Durham to Groningen for work purposes, out on Sunday 30th June. My work ends on Thursday 4th July, but I'm planning to add some holiday and thought that I'd travel to Brussels on the 4th, and travel back to Durham on 6th July.

I have a small travel budget that I'm free to book and spend myself, as long as costs aren't unreasonable. I'd really like to do this by train, both out of carbon-saving desire (my organisation would support this, but not offer extra budget!) and general interest, but it's a little bit confusing to someone who hasn't traveled by train to Europe before.

It seems that my best bet is:
* To buy my Durham - London CIV tickets as and when they become available (about 2-3 weeks time)
* To buy a London-Gronignen and Groningen-Brussels ticket as soon as Thalys fares become available (probably about 1 weeks time - the non-Thalys journey looks too long and cumbersome!)
* To buy my Brussels-London ticket ASAP

From what I can tell with playing around with earlier dates, it doesn't seem to be possible to book through tickets to the Netherlands from elsewhere in the UK (Rail-Sail would be not very practical from the North-East. And the ferries are far too expensive...)

Where do I stand with regards to delays on this journey? I understand that in the UK I should be able to buy an advance to London CIV - but how do I get journey planners to sell me those, or is it a station job? It seems like the best bet is to buy a through ticket London-Groningen on the outward leg: is this right, or can I get better savings splitting in Brussels and would I be covered re delays?

 

[radamfi]

(Rail-Sail would be not very practical from the North-East. And the ferries are far too expensive...)

Have you checked the Hull to Rotterdam ferry? I don't think it is very cheap though.

Last time I checked you couldn't get London to Groningen through fares via Thalys, only London to Amsterdam. You could get a ticket from London to Rotterdam and then pay €23.80 walk on fare for the single to Groningen.

Brussels to Groningen is only €40 single full fare if you don't use Thalys. That's a walk on fare on unreserved trains so delays wouldn't matter. Using Thalys usually costs a lot more.

 

[cuccir]

Ferries are definitely out of the question with regards to cost.

NS Hispeed Online is willing to sell tickets involving Thalys from London to Groningen, from €154.10. These involve changes at Schipol. While the non-Thayls routes are cheaper, if I'm doing the trip in one day from Durham-Groningen, the extra time isn't worth it!

Looking at it, I think maybe Rail-Sail might be the cheapest option for the outward trip. I can do 'Any Greater Anglian Station' to 'Any Dutch Station' for £75 on the way out. Are these tickets only valid on Greater Anglian trains?
--
Yes - so Rail-Sail would mean getting an Advance to Peterbrough, then my £75 ticket would get me to Groningen?

 

[radamfi]

NS Hispeed Online is willing to sell tickets involving Thalys from London to Groningen, from €154.10. These involve changes at Schipol. While the non-Thayls routes are cheaper, if I'm doing the trip in one day from Durham-Groningen, the extra time isn't worth it!

That may actually be just two tickets in one payment. Schiphol - Groningen section will be unreserved. It might be worth checking if London to Rotterdam on Thalys is cheaper combined with a single from Rotterdam to Groningen by regular train. The main time saving with Thalys is between Rotterdam and Antwerp.

 

[jkkne]

Hello,

I'd really like to do this by train, both out of carbon-saving desire (my organisation would support this, but not offer extra budget!) and general interest, but it's a little bit confusing to someone who hasn't traveled by train to Europe before.

There's not going to be much difference in carbon count between flying and train I'd imagine.

I'd be tempted to hop on easyjet or KLM from Newcastle to Schipol and train in from there purely for convenience.

Taking my brain off and going with a train heart....yeah, go by train

Have you considered DFDS from North Shields to Ijmuden then train from there?

 

[gordonthemoron]

you may like to check with Greater Anglia if a SailRail ticket is valid from Peterborough. When I did that 4 years ago the SailRail ticket was only valid from Ely and I had to get a separate ticket from Peterborough

 

[30907]

Sailrail is definitely valid from Peterborough and there is no prohibition on using CrossCountry, though I don't see you'd need to.

If you are arriving Groningen on the Monday, I wouldn't want to rely on the tight Sunday connection in Cambridge, and would go for the 1745(?) PBO-Colchester; sadly, the Manningtree station pub is closed on Sunday nights....).

Sailrail covers you to Groningen via any reasonable route (eg the new Lelystad line) and operator but with a small supplement on Fyra. You can safely catch the 8.25 from Hoek, I've always made the earlier one.

 

[Oscar]

There's not going to be much difference in carbon count between flying and train I'd imagine.

What makes you think this? Have at look at this comparison of the environmental impact of this journey by different modes. I imagine cutting out Thalys from Brussels to Schiphol would make rail even more environmentally attractive.

A London-Spezial from Leer (Ostfriesland) to London with a stop-over in Brussels (enter for example "via: Hamm" on DB website (from 59€) and a single to Leer (13.90€ on DB site) could be a cheaper if slower way of getting back.

 

[cuccir]

Cheers for advice everyone. Just to update: I've decided to Sail-Rail out and Eurostar back. Thanks again!

 

[30907]

Well worth aiming to reach Harwich International at 20:43 - boarding starts around then and it puts you ahead of all the London passengers.

Looks like you'll need to double check the timetable when the summer edition comes out, as the OJP is throwing up both a bus Ely-Bury St Eds and one right through to Ipswich. Although the ticket isn't GA only, you might have an "interesting" time using it on XC from Ely via Norwich....

And I recommend the waiter-service restaurant (there's a small discount for pre-booking which gets you a reserved table). The default currency on board is the Euro BTW, last time I travelled the exchange rate for Sterling cash transactions wasn't brilliant...