Cheapest and easiest way around Rotterdam/Hague/Schipol

[Fedupandstressed]

Going to Rotterdam for Xmas markets in the last weekend of December. We have the flights and hotels paid for.

We intend to go to The Hague, possibly Gouda dependent on market dates. DS wants to go into Amsterdam (ugh)

I just need to know if there's a tourist card for the trains. I sure I had one last year for Rotterdam but I can't remember.

In Rotterdam you can get an RET day ticket for all buses, trams and the metro. Useful to know that this would also take you to The Hague as the metro goes between Rotterdam and there. RET passes don't cover NS national trains though.

In The Hague a similar card is available, issued by HTM. I'm sure both RET and HTM passes can also be bought online.

There is also a Tourist Day Ticket which covers public transport, except NS trains, within the province of South/Zuid Holland, which would include Gouda but not Schiphol/Amsterdam.

Do have a look at the 9292 app, where you can plan any public transport journey and also buy e-tickets. The NS app does the same for national trains: on some routes it will also sell discounted fares if you buy at least the day before travel.

If all of that is too much faff🙂, you should be able to just check in and out contactless on all Dutch public transport, though this may be dearer than sone of the options above. That said, one of my cards, a Mastercard debit card, didn't work at the NS ticket barriers when I visited a few months ago, despite NS saying it should.

Have a great trip!

PS the Tourist Day Ticket also includes the Waterbus which goes from Rotterdam to Dordrecht, if you fancied that.

>>DS wants to go into Amsterdam (ugh)
On the day you go to Gouda, go on to Utrecht. Almost as pretty as Amsterdam and actual Dutch people — not tourists! — live there, even in the centre.