During our recent flight free journey from Italy to England, we had a 24 hour stop over in Utrecht before the final leg, catching the ferry from Rotterdam to Hull.
No doubt you have already been or plan to visit the iconic city of Amsterdam. It remains one of Europe’s top destinations for a long weekend. London to Amsterdam is in fact one of the Uk’s most popular routes. In 2019, 1.75 million travellers flew between the Netherlands and London Heathrow.
There is another, sometimes overlooked tool in our fight against climate change – taking the ferry.
Swapping out a short haul flight for a train and a ferry can reduce your emissions by 85%.
Taking the ferry to Holland makes a convenient alternative for people who are not London. The ports of Hull and Newcastle offer ferry connections to the Netherlands, giving the wider communities access to flight free travel.
We successfully booked our night crossing, with a little cabin and ensuite. We were looking forward to arriving on the ship and waking up in our destination. Unknowingly, when I booked our foot passenger tickets I somehow missed the coach transfer and so we risked paying a high price for a taxi! Coaches are provided by the ferry companies at an added fee and must be booked during the booking process, but I had completely forgotten to add it onto the itinerary!
If you, like us realise too late that you didn’t book onto the transfer coach to your ferry port terminal, there is another way!
As the time ticked down to our ferry check-in I asked coffee shop staff in Utrecht and looked at the public transpot system but nothing was coming out. Finally, when searching in a dusty cupboard at the back of the internet I found an old Reddit thread about a mysterious minibus that took tourists from various locations to the port, the Maasvlaktehopper.
The company is called EBS but the website is exclusively in Dutch. Luckily with some assistance from the receptionist in our hostel and some translation software I booked four seats on the bus for 16:30 that same day. I received a confirmation email straight to my phone.
This is how we got there.
Arriving in Rotterdam on the Intercity NS train, we caught the metro from Rotterdam Centraal to Borse (line D or E)
At Borse get a train and catch the train to Vlaardingen Oost (line A in direction Vlaardingen West)
At Vlaardingen Oost exit the station and you will find the bus stop directly outside. The minibus stopped at bus stop B.
The Maasvlaktehopper minibus arrived on time and we gave our names and showed the confirmation email.
We always look for parks on travel days and looking at the map we discovered a large green space right next to the pick up point at Vlaarginen Oost, so it worked out perfectly.
Not only is the Maasvlaktehopper minibus easy to get to and really convenient, we found an extra bonus at the bus stop. We arrived with lots of extra time so we could spend an hour in the park nearby. Heading left from the station and taking the second exit to Hargapad Road, there is a large park just behind the housing. A park with big skies, mature trees and play areas for children. This is perfect for people travelling with families and are looking for a space to run and rest between trains and ferries!
Click here to follow the link to the EBS Maasvlaktehopper
And for more information about the public transport network in the Netherlands follow the link here