Getting to Rotterdam inexpensively

zag

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Weekend break for Mrs Zag beckons and Rotterdam has a particular attraction which might bring us there.

I am trying to work out how to get there and unfortunately Basiqair/Transavia don't do Friday mornings and Mrs Zag doesn't do Thursday mornings for work reasons. This leaves Friday 2200 which isn't exactly ideal for making the most of the weekend.

An alternative is Ryanair to Eindhoven and a train to Rotterdam, but knowing Ryanair the transfer to Eindhoven train station will take about 90 minutes and cost more than the flight.

Does anyone know the situation with regard to Eindhoven, or alternatively any other cheap alternative airports with links to Rotterdam ? I have had a look at flying to Schipol, but the EI fares on a weekend are pretty crumby.

Any alternatives out there ?

z
 
zag said:
An alternative is Ryanair to Eindhoven and a train to Rotterdam, but knowing Ryanair the transfer to Eindhoven train station will take about 90 minutes and cost more than the flight.

Does anyone know the situation with regard to Eindhoven

z

Strangely for RyanAir, Eindhoven Airport is actually in Eindhoven - rather than in an even more godforsaken place 100Km from Eindhoven! Transfer to the train station should take 15mins but taxis are expensive. To check out rail connections, try:

http://www.ns.nl
 
Brussels isn't much further from Rotterdam than Eindhoven is and there's a train station right at the airport in Brussels - www.bahn.de for train information. Might be worth checking out Aer Lingus fares to Brussels (Ryanair to "Brussels South" isn't going to be much good as it's a long way from brussels in the wrong direction).

According to google Eindhoven Airport -> Eindhoven Train Station = 25 minutes .. .and then it's 1h10 by train to Rotterdam ... From Brussels Airport it's just over 2 hrs to Rotterdam ... not a lot in it really

Unless the fares to schiphol are really crazy I'd be inclined to go via Schiphol ... either Eindhoven or Brussels look like they'd be adding a fair bit of overhead time for a weekend trip.
 
Why not consider going out on Friday, returning Monday evening? You still get the weekend, but you trade a Friday night for a Sunday night...

I know a few people who thought they had a great deal taking Ryanair to Brussels and then training / bussing up to Holland. Almost all said they would never do it again, as it took up most of the useful time of their weekend.

If you're heading for Schiphol and are based North of Dublin, you could consider going from Belfast - easyjet go direct, but their fares are generally as expensive if not more expensive than aerlingus.
 
All sorted, thanks.

We decided to go for the late night flights on Friday direct to Rotterdam in the end and back on Monday. The weekend hotel rates are indeed good value.

z
 
Hotel New Yorker is quite a nice hotel if you want a recommendation.