Months ago I debated how best to get to Rotterdam. I didn’t want the hassle of flying, didn’t fancy the long old drive to Dover and beyond, and so stumbled upon the Dutch Flyer. For £45 you get a train from Liverpool Street to Harwich, the ferry to the Hook of Holland and a train ticket to anywhere in Holland – for me Rotterdam, naturally. Add thirty quid for a cabin overnight on the boat and thirteen pounds for the train from Grantham to London and that’s the whole trip done.
I now sit, with the one pint of overpriced Strongbow I will be consuming before bedtime, on definitely the most immaculate ferry I’ve ever sat on. After a pain free journey on the trains where I got to stretch the legs and enjoy the scenery, I’m beginning to feel this was a very good choice and quite an undiscovered bargain in terms of getting to Europe in comfort. My cabin is small, but perfectly formed, with everything you’d expect in a budget hotel but an awful lot cleaner.
We arrive in Holland a little before eight am, the fun bit is going to be trying to find the hotel, of which I have no idea where it is other than it is in Rotterdam. But I’ll save that worry for tomorrow and for now enjoy this big gem of a ferry and hope for a good night’s sleep.
