Amsterdam by bus from London?

[Lovelyweatherbluesky]

Have anyone done this? Want to see a friend but don’t want to spend a fortune. Just a long weekend, travelling alone. Eurostar is looking expensive.

Which bus companies can people recommend?

I don’t know about buses, sorry, but sign up to the Eurostar mailing list because they’re always mailing about sales like £39 single to Paris etc. Worth keeping an eye out.

how about getting the bus to Newcastle and then the ferry across? If you only want to go for the day the ferry there and back is your overnight accommodation and they will bus you into the centre from the port.

Will check this. Thank you

Will do this, thanks.

You can get flights for very little if you book at the right time

Not sure why I didn’t think of this. Will look at all the options. Thanks.

I think the main problem with a bus is how long it would take. My daughter went on a trip to Amsterdam recently by coach, and they had a full day (10-12hrs) of travel each way.

If you get early morning or late evening flights you can get a return for under £100, as long as you just take hand luggage.

Thank you. Will look at flights, seems like the best option

Look for the flights for sure at first. You can get really good deal.
I've never taken such a trip, but I've already had a few long bus rides, and it's very exhausting.
And some bus prices can be even more expensive than a plane ticket.

Check Eindhoven, Aachen and Brussels airports too. They're almost always cheaper than AMS and it's only 2-3h transfer. Otherwise, for buses, Flixbus is normally reliable but it will take you forever. You could also look at BlaBlaCar. There are normal people going Paris-Ams, and sometimes UK-Ams en route to Poland, but sometimes they expect you to share the driving

I wouldn’t bother with a bus. I’d either fly or do Rail and Sail. Train from London to Harwich, ferry to Hook of Holland, train to Amsterdam - it won’t let me insert a link to Great Anglia’s website, but the Rail and Sail page says it’s from £58 each way…

I fly on a regluar basis and if you can get away without hold luggage you can get a cheap EasyJet flight or even a BA if you are flexible with times and dates.

Check out Southend airport. They fly several times a week lovely little airport and cheap! Can get train there from Liverpool Street it has its own station

I've gone by overnight coach between London & Amsterdam a few times some years ago: first with Eurolines when it was linked to National Express, then on another occason with Ouibus.
It does take ages and can be very tiring, especially if like me you find it impossible to sleep when travelling. You can get very cheap deals if that's the deciding factor, but even then popular dates/times/routes get booked up quickly and "dynamic" pricing then raises the cost of any remaining seats.
I believe FlixBus now run between the two cities, and they seem to have a better reputation and also more on-board facilities. I haven't travelled with them though, so can't comment from personal experience.