24-hour-unlimited-trainpass
- VagabondMira
- Sep 25, 2017
- 3 min read
A friend of mine had found a deal online: 24 hours’ time to travel anywhere in the Netherlands. Sadly, she was finishing her internship and sold the ticket to me. So I picked a lovely, sunny Saturday quite soon after I had started my internship and headed out.
I started early in the morning, a quick half an hour trip to Gouda just east of The Hague. Usually, during the weekend they have farmers’ markets outside and you can spend an entire day cheese tasting. I didn’t want to stop for too long so I didn’t really enjoy the cheese to the full extent but I could recommend a snappy stop by Gouda just to check it out. Through Den Bosch and Eindhoven, I headed all the way south to Maastricht. I must admit that it was an ambitious plan to head so far on a day I had planned to see all of the Netherlands but I was aware that a normal train ticket to Maastricht costs around 50 euros so I chose to gain the most financially by going there. It was a beautiful day, there are dozens of restaurants and cafes right by the canal side where you can stop to enjoy the day. I bought myself an ice cream and strolled around the centre. The walk to the border of Belgium is not too long; however, I chose to focus on the city itself. Maastricht is nicely urban, a bit German, a bit Belgian and a spoonful of Dutch.
From Maastricht, I headed back up North to Utrecht. I have a friend who really recommended the city and I went to his favourite café. Utrecht is filled with canals, wonky and narrow streets, art and colours. The train station is inside a shopping mall which already wakes you into the busy vibe of the city. My friend spent a week there this spring and apparently bought a bike from a random person for 20 euros for that week. I guess I would definitely recommend renting or buying a bike if visiting the Netherlands for more than a few days.
One of my main missions for the day was to see some windmills. I also had my mind set on some flower fields near Lisse but I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it there during the light hours. So I headed even further north from Utrecht to Zaandam where I had heard of some lovely windmill parks. I explored the lovely town of Zaandam and then took a short bus ride to Zaanse Schans which is like a windmill park. I managed to make it there just as the small stalls and shops closed and people were leaving but perfectly in time for the gorgeous sunset. It was dripping with a little bit of rain which caused the water to reflect the pink sunset even better. The park was silent and still and I witnessed one of the most calming sunsets.
There is a direct bus to the Amsterdam central train station from the park which takes around 30 minutes. The lovely thing about the Netherlands is that you can use your ov-chipcard for all transports in any city and the discount on paying with it makes the journeys much more affordable. I stopped by in Amsterdam for a snack and headed towards home. I was going to hop out of the train at Leiden but it was already dark and I was very tired for my excursion so I saved Leiden and Lisse for the next time.
Overall a very lovely and exhausting trip and I would definitely recommend it. A brilliant thing about the Dutch trains is that they always go the scenic route and you can get to know and enjoy the country quite well even though the train windows. For example, just as I left the Hague Central station in the morning, the train passed this idyllic park which had some kind of mansion in the middle. I made a quick calculation in my head and realised that it must be very close to my house. I did another excursion this Sunday on my bike because the weather was on point, and found that park! It turned about to be an old artist home and I strolled around the small pond for ages enjoying the sunlight bringing out the best of the autumn-kissed trees.
Love,
Mira
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