Getting There By Air:Rotterdam Airport (RTM)
Tel: (010) 446 3444.
Website:
www.rotterdam-airport.nlRotterdam Airport is the nearest international airport, and is located 20km (12 miles) south of The Hague.
It is small with limited but high quality facilities including an upmarket self-service restaurant, an attractive grand café/restaurant, a currency exchange bureau, a duty-free shop, a couple of other shops, good conference and business facilities, executive
lounge and international car hire operators.
From here the RET airport shuttle bus runs to Rotterdam Central Station (15 minutes) from where you can take the train (around 25 minutes), bus or tram (50 minutes) to The Hague.
However Rotterdam receives relatively few flights and the vast majority of visitors fly into Schiphol (Amsterdam) Airport.
Schiphol (Amsterdam) Airport
Tel: 0900 7244 7465.
Website:
www.schiphol.nlFacilities include several banks, bureaux de change and ATMs and a post office, dozens of restaurants, cafés bars and over 100 shops and first-class business facilities. All major national and local car hire operators, and travel agencies and tour operators are represented.
Trains depart every 30 minutes or so to The Hague and take 30 minutes. Schiphol is the country’s principal hub and one of the busiest airports in the world with hundreds of charter and scheduled flights calling daily.
Getting There By Road:From Britain the closest port to The Hague is the Hook of Holland (sailings to Harwich) 22km (13.5 miles) west. Other alternatives are the shorter crossings, but much longer drives, between Dover and Calais (327km/203 miles to The Hague), Dunkirk (288km/179 miles to The Hague) or Zeebrugge (210km/130.5 miles to The Hague). An excellent motorway network connects the Netherlands to the rest of Europe. A green ’E’ indicate an international highways, a red ’A’ a national highway, and yellow ’N’ for smaller routes.
Driving is on the right. Speed limits are 120kph (75mph) on motorways, 80kph (50mph) on major roads and 50kph (30mph) in towns. Children under 12 years should not travel in the front seat. An International Driving Permit is not required, as long as a national driving license from the country of origin is held. EU pink format licenses are accepted. Trailers and caravans are allowed in without documentation. A Green Card is advisable but not compulsory. Without it, drivers with motor insurance policies in their home country are granted only the minimum legal cover in The Netherlands - the Green Card tops this up to the level of cover provided by the driver’s own policy.
The yellow cars of the
Royal Dutch Touring Club (ANWB/Wegenwacht) (tel: (070) 314 1420; website:
www.anwb.nl), patrol major roads 24 hours a day, with qualified mechanics equipped to handle routine repairs.
Emergency breakdown service:
ANWB 0800 0888
Eurolines international coach services (tel: 954 907 844
or 902 405 040; website:
http://www.eurolines.com/) operates a daily
National Express service to Amsterdam taking between 11 hours 15 minutes and 12 hours 15 minutes.
Getting There By Rail:Eurostar (tel: 08705 186 186; website:
www.eurostar.com) runs from London to Brussels in 1 hour 51 minutes. From here to The Hague a fast
Thalys (tel: 0900 9228; website:
www.thalys.com) train takes 2 hours.
Den Hague Centraal Station (CS) is the well equipped main railway station. From here it is a 10 minute walk to the city center.
The Dutch rail network is operated by
NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) (tel: 0900 9292/6; website:
www.ns.nl).
Getting Around:The Hague city center can be covered easily on foot with a good network of
trams and
buses covering outlying areas.
The local tram and bus company is
HTM (tel: (070) 384 8666; website:
www.htm.net). Pick up a timetable from the tourist office. Buying a one-day ticket or a
strippenkaart (from the tourist office, post office or other outlets, but not on board) is cheaper than buying single or return tickets. If you buy a
strippenkaart (which come in either 15-45 strips) a basic fare is two strips plus an additional strip for each
grenze or zone you pass through. Tram 1 is a useful line, running from Delft to Scheveningen via the Centrum (city center) and Vredespaleis (Peace Palace).
TaxisReliable operators include
HCT City Tax (tel: (070) 383 0830),
Hofstad Taxi (tel: (070) 346 2626),
Rijswijkse Taxi Centrale (tel: (070) 390 6262) and
Taxi Hegro (tel: (070) 386 0202).
Car HireAll major national and international car hire companies operate from Amsterdam airport and several can also be found in Rotterdam airport.
In town try
Avis, Theresiastraat 216 (tel: (070) 385 0698; website:
www.avis.nl) and
Hertz, Binckhorstlaan 318 (tel: (070) 381 8989; website:
www.hertz.com), or local operators
Bloemfontein, Bloemfonteinstraat 87 (tel: (070) 380 9874) and
Low Price, Prins Hendrikstraat 60 (tel: (070) 363 2609).
Always park in a secure place if possible, and beware of theft of belongings from vehicles.
Bicycle HireCycling is a very popular way of getting around town and with many dedicated cycle paths is recommended as long you have some experience of urban cycling. Pay special attention to trams and other cyclists and never leave your bike unattended unlocked. Cycles can be hired at the railway station: ask at the station information desk.
The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
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