Ditching Flying for the Stena Line Ferry – Rail and Sail to Hook of Holland!

Ditching Flying for the Stena Line Ferry – Rail and Sail to Hook of Holland!

Let’s ditch flying and dive into a  fun and memorable adventure across the North Sea.   We’re swapping cramped aeroplane seats  for the luxurious Captain’s Class cabin on   Stena Line’s Rail and Sail overnight  ferry, promising to deliver us tomorrow   morning to the colourful tulips and rickety  Windmills of the Netherlands! Join us for our  

Highlights of this pretty unique way  of getting from London to the Hook of Holland. You join us at a busy London Liverpool  Street Station as we make our way to catch the   Dutch Flyer, Rail and Sail to Harwich International  pitched as a seamless way to get from London to Holland. 

Let’s find out just how good this service  is, it’s certainly not something we’ve tried before!  Our tickets allow us to travel from any Greater  Anglia Railway Station to Harwich International   and transfer to the overnight Ferry. A QR code  on your booking means you can scan through to  

The platform at the station, no additional ticket  needs to be purchased. The journey from Liverpool   Street takes 1 hour and 40 minutes on a direct  service, although depending on the time of day   others require a change. We booked on the Stena  website, so you can find out all the details here.  

We’ll share the costs of our trip at the end.    We departed on time and compared to many trains on the UK Network this was a pretty modern carriage  with toilets, something that is appreciated on longer journeys.

We took this trip over the Easter weekend  break with the hope that the tulip season would be   in full swing and we could see them in all their  glory when we arrived in Holland. You never can  

Tell when they’re going to flower so it was a bit  of a gamble. Did it pay off? You’ll have to watch   the future episodes to find out!    As Darkness fell  and the melodic sound of the tracks had us almost

Falling asleep we approached Harwich International  and our huge Stena Ferry came into view. The first thing that impressed us at the port  was just how quick and easy it was to disembark   the train and walk into the waiting area for  boarding. It was just a few minutes from the station platform.

Boarding starts at around  8:30p.m. for the 11:00 overnight service.   we’ll arrive in Holland at 8:00 a.m. You  can also do this trip in the daytime with   a sailing at 9:00 a.m. and you’ll arrive at  5:30 p.m. You go through security just like at the airport

And a quick passport check  before they allow you on the gangway to board. We’ve only had a cabin on the QE2  floating hotel in Dubai before and knowing   how hard that liner was to navigate we thought it  might be a bit of a mission, however the friendly  

Crew and pretty easy to understand signage  meant it wasn’t long before we found our   Captain’s Class two birth cabin, one of only  four of this type. So book early if you want to grab one.  There are several cheaper cabin  options but if you do sail overnight a cabin  

Is compulsory, sitting on the standard seating  is only for day crossings. We’ll see more of   the facilities on board later, first let us show  you the cabin once we work out how the lights work! Ah! There you go, a modern lounge area with  comfy seating leads onto the bedroom with two  

Huge port holes overlooking the bow of the  ship.   A full-size double bed with excellent  quality bedding and separate duvets encourage  a good night’s sleep. The ensuite bathroom   with shower meant no sharing at the end  of corridors, towels and toiletries were provided.

We were impressed with the  amount of space we had and even more so to   find the mini bar stocked full of goodies all  included in the ticket price. Wines, beers and Snacks. Tea and coffee-making facilities and a large TV gave us everything a quality hotel would provide.

When it comes to eating and drinking  on board, there are plenty of options on Deck 9   with two restaurants, three bars and a  coffee bar, although we only had a drink.   Prices will be in Euros even when in a  UK port. A beer was around €7 a pint   

Any soft drink like Coke was €4 which seemed a bit high! As an example, fish and chips were €13,50 for a decent portion. We filmed this just after boarding, so the ferry looks pretty empty.    It did fill up closer to departure. A dutyfree shop was available that closed at the time  

Of filming they open after departure  and close 1 hour before arrival at the destination. There is a cinema on board, as well as a lounge area, showing sports, and the latest golf in this case. Out on the Sun deck or Moon deck as it  was for us, you can take in some of that  

Salty sea air and choke on diesel fumes as  the trucks, cars and cargo are added for the crossing. From our room, we watched the last of the  lorries make it aboard before the ropes   were thrown back and we quietly reversed out  of the dock heading for Holland some 30 minutes late.

As we passed out of the port of  Harwich, there was no motion at all.   You could hardly believe you on a ship, would  we be able to maintain that feeling when   we hit the high seas? With that, it was time to  use our cabin as intended for a good night’s sleep!

It’s now 7:00 local time we will be docking  in Hook of Holland in around about 1 hour.   Freight drivers are requested to make their way to the  truckers restaurant where breakfast awaits you.    All other passengers can go to The Taste Restaurant  where breakfast is being served. The announcement  

The announcement that we had an hour to go was a bit of a rude awakening in the morning, it was just after   7 a.m. meaning we would arrive at the hook of  Holland on schedule. The sleep was incredible  

And comparable with any hotel room. I guess our  only gripe was that, even though we were in the   most expensive cabin breakfast was not included.  It could be pre-booked for an additional fee.   That brings me to the price of our one-way trip  the rail and sail offer was £90 for two people  

And then the cabin is added on top we paid £142  for the night with a few other nominal fees our   total was £247, which we didn’t think was bad  value for money as it included our overnight accomodation. 

Of course, you can do this trip in  cheaper cabins or from just £90 for two people on   the day service with no cabin. You are required to leave your cabin as the ferry docks and wait on Deck 9 until doors open. This does take about  30 minutes to sort out, so we didn’t start moving  

Until around half past 8. Leaving the Stena Line ship we  disembark straight into the ferry terminal just as   convenient as at Harwich. Onward travel by train to  anywhere in the Netherlands used to be included in  

This ticket but that seems to have stopped now,  so you will need to buy your own train ticket   at a machine to ride the Metro into Rotterdam for  connections across the Netherlands.  

The Metro runs every 20 minutes and you need a credit card to  buy a ticket, cash is not accepted. One ticket was €4,50. The ride takes about 25 minutes  to Schiedam Centrum where you can connect   to anywhere in the Netherlands. Amsterdam  for example, is an hour and 30 minutes from here.

We continued on to Central Rotterdam. Next time we enjoy an explosion of  colour at the world-famous Keukenhof Park, where   the 79 acres are transformed each spring into a  kaleidoscope of vibrant tulips and other flowers. We’ll also enjoy the country’s cycling  culture by pedalling around Kinderdijk the  

Incredible waterways and Windmills on the  outskirts of Rotterdam. Subscribe now so you don’t miss the next episode of our Holland trip. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you on the next one!

We are heading to Rotterdam on the Stena Line Ferry Rail and Sail service from Harwich International.
Ditching flying the Stena Line Ferry was a great alternative to flying and included our overnight accommodation. The Stena Line Rail and Sail package is billed as a seamless way to get from London to Holland and so we wanted to try it out.
You can book the Stena Line Rail and Sail from this website https://www.stenaline.co.uk/rail-and-sail the package includes train travel from any East Anglia railway station to Harwich International and your ferry ticket. If you are travelling overnight then you must have a cabin, and we thought we’d try out the Captain’s Class Cabin, of which there are only 4 on board.
Was it a luxurious way to travel? Watch to find out more.

Book here https://www.stenaline.co.uk/rail-and-sail

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00:00 Introduction
00:32 Train to Harwich International
02:12 Boarding the Stena Line Ferry
02:55 Captains Class Cabin Tour
04:37 Deck 9 Facilities
06:45 Arriving in Hook of Holland
07:26 Cost of the Trip
07:55 Getting to Rotterdam by Train
09:16 Next Time Tulips and Windmills

#stenaline #ferrytoholland #railandsail