Most would be familiar with taking the aeroplanes and even the trains to get around Europe. But, have you ever considered the sea route? Stenaline has a London - Amsterdam / Cambridge - Amsterdam route that allows you to go to bed in the cruise, and wake up in The Netherlands! This overnight cruise helps you to save a night on hotel stay and time wasted on travelling in the day!
We took Stenaline to get from Cambridge to Amsterdam. This service is a Rail and Sail route and the schedule is as follows:
Train from Cambridge to Harwich - 19:44 to 21:29
Ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland - 23:00 to 08:00
Train from Hook of Holland to Amsterdam - 08:56 to 10:56
* Timing for Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are slightly different
They also have a similar route from London to Amsterdam. Do book the tickets beforehand as they do get booked out during peak travel season. Tickets start from 83 pounds per person and do be prepared to pay more as you reserve the better cabins (e.g. outside cabins with windows, etc).
Train from Cambridge to Harwich International Port
It was a comfortable train ride from Cambridge to Harwich that took around 1 hour. Do grab dinner before boarding the train! After arriving at the station, it was only a short walk to get to the Ferry Terminal.
As you can choose to board the ferry earlier, when we've reached there wasn't much of a crowd. There's some form of immigration that you'll have to clear before you head to board a bus that will bring you right onto the ferry. Stenaline also allows travellers to bring along their cars with them and we've noticed many travellers doing so!
So the bus drove right into the ship and we were told to disembark and take the lifts up to our cabins!
On board Stenaline!
We reserved the 2-berth outside cabin and we were very glad that it came with such a huge viewing port! It was really nice looking out of the window in the day when the sun rose, just before we disembarked. It was a small cabin, but had everything we needed. As it was our first time on a cruise, we thought that the cabin was really clean and luxurious! (And it was indeed so as we took DFDS Seaways from Oslo to Copenhagen but found that we very much preferred Stenaline)
After putting down our bags and freshening up a little, we went out to explore the cruise ship! Though we had our dinner prior to boarding the cruise ship, we were craving some sweets and went to the restaurant to have some desserts!
On board Stenaline, you'll be able to find restaurants, entertainment rooms that has video games, and an outdoor viewing deck. Unfortunately it was so cold we only managed to get a glimpse and had to hurry in to warm up!
It was past midnight after having our desserts and exploring the cruise ship. We headed back to our cabins to get some rest as we would have to wake up before the 8am disembarkation!
You absolutely do not have to worry about sleeping past your alarm, as the cruise ship has an alarm that will gently wake you up with loud but soothing music.
After reaching Hook of Holland, you will be ushered to take the train (about 2 hours) to Amsterdam! It was a short but memorable cruise!
Instead of taking the train from London to Amsterdam, do consider this ferry option as it saves you time and cost of your accommodation!
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