London to Hull, Hull to Rotterdam

[hellokittymania]

I just went on the P and all ferry website. Are there any day ferries to Rotterdam or are they only at night? Is there entertainment and dining until late? Is there Wi-Fi?

What would be the easiest way to get from London to Hull? I am visually impaired so looking for the easiest way. Does anyone know if there is assistance at the ferry terminal?

Do the cabins have a toilet? Are their cabins for one person?

Do you definitely want to take the ferry? It sounds like quite a hassle of a journey from London. The Eurostar would get you there in 4 hours with a change in Brussels - not sure what assistance at Brussels-Zuid is like though.

Sorry if you've considered this and discarded it!

Jassy, I was reading the thread about what a great City Hall is since it's the cultural city of the year, so I was thinking of staying there for a few days. My final destination is a conference in the Hague.

I had totally forgotten about eurostar/Thalys. I am a lot more for Milyer with Gare du nord then the station at Brussels. Isn't there a train from Paris directly to Amsterdam or am I thinking of something else? Is it easier to get to the Hague from Rotterdam or Amsterdam?

I've been before and can answer some questions.

There is wifi in public areas but it's expensive. I think it's about £3 for an hour.

All cabins have a toilet and shower.

I think the smallest cabins are for two people but they can be booked by one person.

All ferries depart at night. There is food and entertainment until quite late.

You have to take a coach from the ferry port to Rotterdam station then make your own way into the train station. Same on return. There is info here about booking assistance. www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/traveling-with-a-functional-disability/assistance-while-travelling.html

I've checked and you can get direct trains from London kings cross to Hull.

If you decide to take the Eurostar then assistance is available in Brussels with 24 hours notice.

Oh you can also fly from humberside airport to Amsterdam then take the train to The Hague. Humberside is about 20 miles away from Hull.

I'm pretty sure you can get the Thalys from Gare du Nord via Brussels to Amsterdam.

If you fly then the train takes about 30 to 50 minutes and is a bargain at around 8.30 euros.

What about going from Harwich to Hook of Holland with Stena Line?

There is another ferry route from Harwich to Hook of Holland (and a train station at both ports). Not helpful for visiting Hull, but maybe something to consider for the return journey.

I'm pretty sure you can get a train from Paris to Rotterdam (which is only about 30 min train journey away from The Hague)

You have a choice of a daytime sailing or an overnight sailing on the Harwich route.

Thank you very very much. I know people say that you can find English speakers everywhere in the Netherlands, but since communication is so important for me, I have to ask if it's easy in Rotterdam? Getting lost with a language barrier is quite an adventure. I will try to find some apps that don't require wi-Fi but have some useful phrases in Dutch.

I speak French, so no problem in France or in Brussels, but I have gotten lost before in Bruges and could not find any English speakers. I just walked around and around and around for hours until I found my way to where I needed to go. If anyone is reading this who speaks dutch can you please tell me how to say please help me cross the road. Very important one.

I can't help you with any Dutch phrases but I promise you this:

Start the conversation in English and they will understand and respond in kind.

I've never met anyone Dutch who can't speak English and Rotterdam/The Hague are super cosmopolitan and friendly.

I second the poster who reccomends Harwich - Hoek Van Holland with Stena but may I suggest you fly London City - Rotterdam Airport? V cheap and frequent x

Ps: google translates "help me cross the road" as

"Help me alsjeblieft de weg oversteken"

This seems right (my Dutch is really shaky) x

OK thank you,

I've never found my inability to speak Dutch to be a problem in Rotterdam. The Dutch are embarrassingly good at English.

There are also some big multinational companies based there which run their day-to-day business in English (Shell, Unilever), and have a fair number of non-Dutch speaking staff living in the area.

If you choose to come to Hull for a few days of city of culture book on to Hull trains. The customer service is known to be good and they run direct from Kings Cross without changing. If you book far enough in advance they are also cheap. As you exit the station concourse there is a permanently manned city of culture stand where you would get lots of advice. The Holiday Inn Express is very central or the non-chain Kingston Theatre Hotel was highly rated by a friend who stayed there last month.