Positioned below 250km aside, the nice information is that it’s very easy to journey from Amsterdam within the Netherlands to Cologne in Germany.
An important metropolis pairing in the event you’re visiting western Europe, these 2 cities provide sufficient similarities to provide you a incredible flavour of this area, however differ sufficient that hitting up Amsterdam and Cologne in a single journey will permit you to really feel such as you’ve explored 2 completely separate locations… and nations.
The Dutch capital of Amsterdam, well-known for its great museums, canals, tulips and bikes is awash with historical past and ambiance and makes for an ideal 3 day metropolis break.
In distinction, Cologne in Germany lies within the industrial west of this nation and provides an incredible perception into native life on this busy riverside metropolis well-known for its liberal and inventive ambiance.
Collectively they type a incredible pairing for a 5 day journey and the very fact it’s really easy to journey between them solely provides to the attraction.
With each bus and practice journey choices, in addition to self-drive routes, between these 2 cities, this text will carry you all the main points about to make it, together with the professionals and cons of every route.
So let’s get caught in…
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Amsterdam to Cologne: The Fundamentals
To start out off, I need to offer you a imprecise thought of distance, as a way to begin to visualise the journey between these cities.
Because the crow flies, it’s 214km between Amsterdam and Cologne and there are a number of alternative ways you can also make this journey relying in your price range, timeframe and journey fashion.
For the needs of this text, I’m going to debate travelling from Amsterdam to Cologne i.e. within the course of north to south, however please do keep in mind, you’ll be able to completely journey the opposite means too.
All this data will nonetheless apply if you’re travelling from Cologne to Amsterdam, you’ll simply need to comply with it in reverse!
I typically get requested wherein course I like to recommend folks journey in, however my reply is all the time the identical, it actually doesn’t matter.
Decide the route that works finest given your itinerary, your bucket record spots and the time of 12 months you might be travelling.
For those who’re flying out and in of Europe (or coaching elsewhere afterwards), then checking the costs of onward journeys from every metropolis could assist sway your choice as you which ones metropolis you end in.
Oh and a phrase of warning, Cologne is named Köln in German, so don’t get confused in the event you see this identify getting used on practice and bus journey planners too!
Additionally price noting that each one the main points contained inside this text had been present on the time of publication, however timetables and schedules do change, so please test Trainline and Flixbus for the most recent journey information.
#1 Amsterdam to Cologne By Practice
The sensible factor to know is that there are direct practice providers between Amsterdam and Cologne.
The quickest approach to journey between the two cities, direct trains take round 2 hours 45 minutes.
There are round 6 direct practice providers every day, so I’d definitely advocate choosing considered one of these choices in the event you can, as they’ll be faster and easier to navigate.
If the timings don’t match up together with your desired journey occasions, then there are additionally an enormous variety of every day trains with a mix of 1, 2, 3 and 4 adjustments.
As all the time, I’d go for the rail journey with the least variety of adjustments – this can make your life a lot simpler, and keep away from your journey being thrown into disarray if considered one of your trains is delayed and also you consequently miss a connection.
Direct trains are operated by the German nationwide railway firm, Deutsch Bahn, whereas these with adjustments might also embody trains operated by the Dutch nationwide railway firm, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and even Thalys, which is a highspeed consortium of the French, Belgian & Dutch nationwide railways.
Rail Stations
All trains depart from Amsterdam Centraal which is, because the identify suggests, positioned within the centre of the Dutch capital.
Trains will then arrive into Köln Hbf, which can also be centrally positioned inside this German metropolis as nicely.
This implies strolling or utilizing public transport to get to or from each stations to your lodging is more likely to be easy – hoorah!
Tickets
Trains from Amsterdam to Cologne run between 1am and 10pm and price as little as 20€ when booked prematurely, however can rise to over 50€ when purchased nearer to the date of departure.
As is often the case when reserving trains that cross European borders, there’s basically 2 choices for this journey – reserving by way of the nationwide railway web sites or reserving by way of a world one.
Fairly often discover the nationwide websites of European practice operators might be clunky to make use of, onerous to decipher and tough to pay in foreign currency echange or with worldwide playing cards.
Which is why I all the time use Trainline to guide all my rail journeys in western Europe.
I really like how straightforward they make it to check journey choices and guide tickets securely in English and throughout a spread of currencies (Euros, British Kilos and US {Dollars}).
Trainline even have an incredible app, which lets you not solely guide tickets on the transfer, but additionally retailer your e-tickets (disposing of the necessity to print something out or waste time on the station) and their journey planner – basically letting you recognize in case your practice is on time, late and so forth.
Principally, Trainline makes life really easy for worldwide travellers that they’re nicely definitely worth the €1-2 reserving payment in my view.
You may as well guide tickets 180 days forward of your journey with Trainline, which is the longest lead-up time of any practice reserving web site I’ve discovered.
For apparent causes, versatile and refundable fares are dearer, however do provide the possibility to vary or cancel in the event you’re journey plans are a bit flaky.
In any other case, in the event you’re fairly positive your plans are attending to go to, nicely, plan(!), then I’d go for the bottom value.
These are usually non-refundable and non-exchangeable tickets, however are often considerably cheaper making them worthwhile in my view!
Relying on the service, there’s generally versatile, semi-flexible and non-flexible choices on provide.
Seat Reservations
As a price range traveller, I’d all the time choose for the standard ticket, because the trains on this a part of Europe are greater than snug sufficient.
When reserving with Trainline, commonplace seats are the norm, however you’ll be able to typically specify in the event you’d prefer to be forward-facing, have a window seat or be close to a desk / energy socket.
As a result of I typically prefer to work on trains, I discover this particularly useful!
What Trainline additionally provides you management over is whether or not you’d like some type of versatile or refundable fare.
Eco Journey
The incredible information is that the trains from Amsterdam to Cologne are electrical, which implies they’ve a low carbon footprint.
If you’re making an attempt to journey in a extra sustainable, the practice is due to this fact an effective way to go.
Given the truth that practice journeys between the two cities are additionally quick, nice, stress-free and comparatively good worth, means it’s an incredible all-round possibility for making this journey.
Baggage & Bikes
When it comes to sensible details about what to anticipate from the practice journey between Amsterdam and Cologne, you’ll be happy to know that there’s no restrictions on baggage.
So long as you’ll be able to carry your baggage onto the practice, there’s often ample rack area at both finish of the carriages, in addition to above seat area for smaller luggage.
These trains do have room for bikes to be taken onboard too, however cycle areas are restricted and have to be booked prematurely.
If it’s worthwhile to prepare baggage storage in both Amsterdam or Cologne, then I extremely advocate LuggageHero – an incredible left baggage app I’ve used throughout Europe myself.
#2 Amsterdam to Cologne By Bus
After which there’s the bus possibility for travelling between Amsterdam and Cologne, which does take just a little bit longer, however might be less expensive.
Some great benefits of taking the bus between the two cities are that it’s direct – the quickest is round 3 hours 45 minutes – and may value as little as 15€ even when booked only one day prematurely.
There’s additionally a number of connections a day to select from – round 5 direct every day – and these embody a spread of drop-off factors together with Cologne East, Cologne airport and Leverkusen – which is a transport hub on the outskirts of Cologne.
For those who journey to Leverkusen, then you definitely’ll must pay for and catch a suburban practice onwards to the centre of Cologne.
Low-cost and simple, I’ve really made this journey myself. It value me lower than 5€ for stated suburban practice, which took below half an hour, so it’s not an enormous drama.
For all Amsterdam to Cologne bus journeys, Flixbus is my advisable firm.
Once more you’ll be able to evaluate journeys and guide tickets securely and in English on their web site right here.
The opposite possibility is to get a Flixbus to Dusseldorf from Amsterdam after which a Flixtrain into Cologne Central – that is the one journey possibility that takes you into the guts of the German metropolis itself.
All Flixbuses depart from Amsterdam Sloterdijk and providers embody snug seats, wifi charging factors and bathroom services – though I do advocate you go earlier than you board!
#3 Drive from Amsterdam to Cologne
Travelling by highway from Amsterdam to Cologne ought to take you round 3 hours and is quickest alongside the A1, A30, A12 and A3.
As you’ll be staying inside the EU, there are not any border checks and crossing between the two nations is straightforward, even unnoticeable!
After all, you’ll be able to take your individual automobile on this journey but when, as a substitute, it’s worthwhile to rent a automobile in Amsterdam, try these nice offers.
Hiring a automobile might be costly, particularly while you add in gasoline and parking prices, however in the event you’re travelling as a gaggle or household, it turns into extra inexpensive and naturally, provides the flexibleness to cease and discover alongside the way in which.
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Amsterdam and Cologne Journey Ideas
If you wish to study extra about Amsterdam, then try this text I wrote concerning the excellent 3 day itinerary for this fab metropolis – it provides you the proper journey lowdown on town, together with the place to remain, in addition to the most effective locations to hold, eat, sightsee and luxuriate in.
Don’t miss the Noord district in Amsterdam both when you’re visiting. Try my full journey information to this nice a part of town right here.
Alternatively, my record of the highest issues to do in Cologne will provide you with all the data it’s worthwhile to take pleasure in this bucket metropolis.
My German itinerary can also be the proper accompaniment in the event you’re planning to spend longer on this nation and sightsee past Cologne – which I extremely recommend you do.
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And for spending cash in Europe in a means that provides actual alternate charges, no markups and no sneaky transaction charges, you’ll be able to’t go fallacious with a incredible Smart card – I by no means journey with out mine!
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And there it’s, my information for the whole lot it’s worthwhile to learn about travelling from Amsterdam to Cologne.
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