Driving to Amsterdam - madness?

[lamandler]

Anyone made the trip by car (via Eurotunnel) to Amsterdam from London? We have a 4.5 yo and a nearly 2 yo and are considering visitng friends for a few days next month. It is so cheap to travel by car and seems like a less stressful way to go than battling airports/trains/taxis.

Has anyone done it and are we mad to even consider it?!

Where are you starting from? Do you live near London?

South west London start, thinking of getting 10am 'crossing'. A bit confused too because it says on website it is a 35 minute journey on Eurotunnel but the timings of the trip are more like 2.5 hours when I go to book

Easy. Used to be driven from Calais to n Germany loads

There is a ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland - have you looked into that?

That will be fine. On timings, as well as the crossing you need to arrive at least 30 minutes before your crossing - preferably a bit more - so you can check in and through passport control, and grab a coffee. Then there is the 1 hour time difference which makes up your 2.5 hours.

Ah yes, time difference, thanks for that!

We have done this before. Its really really easy, much less stressful than the airport. It takes four hours from Calais to Amsterdam on the motorway. Take some books as there is nothing to do in the Eurotunnell!

Leave plenty of time for the return euro tunnel or get an open ticket. We drove to S.Italy. The drive was fine with lots of breaks but had to rush a bit on the return journey and that was stressful!

We've done it. I don't think you are mad. We live close to you and did a tunnel crossing. I can't remember the time but I do remember having lunch in Antwerp. We were in Amsterdam by tea time.

You have to think about where you will park in Amsterdam. We parked in a secure park and ride and stayed in the city centre.

Hi, we do Glasgow to the South of France in 2 days with 1 overnight stop in Folkestone so your journey would be fine for us