News of: Sunday, October 01 2006,
In 2 weekends on a row you can travel for E 2.- for a return ticket between Amsterdam and Den Haag (The Hague). This is normally E 17.50.
The reduced price is paid for by the government, because they want to reduce car traffic temporarily on the A4 highway, between Den Haag and Amsterdam. In two weekends (see below) there is maintenance work taking place on the A4.
The tickets can be bought on the train stations Amsterdam Centraal Station, Den Haag HS and Den Haag Centraal.
The train takes about 45 minutes to Den Haag, and stops at Leiden and Schiphol airport. There are several trains per hour.
You need to buy a 'Railrunner ticket' for each person. This ticket is normally for kids only, but for the occasion it works as a ticket between Amsterdam and Den Haag.
- the ticket is a return ticket
- you must travel on the line Amsterdam - Schiphol - Leiden - Den Haag (i.e. not via Haarlem)
- the cheap ticket is only second class
- only valid on Sept 30/Oct 1 - Oct 7/8. According to the phone info line 0900-9292 also on Oct 14/15, but this could not yet be verified.
- return ride must be taken on the same day (as with all return tickets).
- there are night trains between Amsterdam and Den Haag (but less frequent, and they can take a bit longer).
- From Amsterdam, the destination can be either Den Haag Centraal or Den Haag HS (Hollands Spoor)
For train schedule information, see the NS railways website.
The E 2.- rate means it is not only cheaper to travel to Den Haag, but also to Leiden and even Schiphol Airport.
Den Haag is one of the 4 main cities of the Netherlands, it is the seat of the government, most embassies are here, and here is also where you can find the Queen's 'working palace' (at Noordeinde) and her residential palace. Main attractions are the Binnenhof (the parliament building), Madurodam (city with miniature buildings), and the Mauritshuis Museum (Dutch masters). Also, the city has a nice old centre with many shops (not open on Sundays). Den Haag is located at the sea: you can easily take a tram (line 1 or 9) to Scheveningen, to go to the beach. Here you can find the famous Scheveningen Pier and the Kurhaus restaurant.
Leiden is a typical 17th century town, with canals, good shopping and various museums. Leiden is the place of birth of the painter Rembrandt.
