How to buy cheap train tickets in Netherlands

It’s funny how distances are perceived in The Netherlands. If I speak to someone from the USA for instance, a 5-hour train ride gets you into another city. In The Netherlands however, you would be in Germany, Belgium or even France. Still, we moan when we have to take a train for 45 minutes to see friends or relatives or friends. Not only do we think it’s far, but expensive as well! A train ticket from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, for instance, will cost you €30.40. What if I told you that you could get the same train ticket for €11? In this guide to booking cheap train tickets in Netherlands, you will find out the train travel secrets of the Dutch.

Buying a train ticket from a bakery

The way these cheap train tickets in Netherlands are sold is quite quirky. Although there is an official website for buying Dutch train tickets, they won’t really advertise their deals widely. It’s when you are doing groceries, buying beauty products, or buying a croissant that you will see posters advertising cheap train tickets. Makes sense, right? Well, that’s the way it goes in The Netherlands…

There are different shops that have discount train ticket promotions from time to time; they use a rotation system where a promotion would never be in more than 1 store at the same time.

These are the shops where you can regularly buy cheap train ticket deals:

Important to note: every promotion has different terms and conditions which you need to check out before buying the ticket. Promotional tickets have a limited period in which you can purchase them, and you will often have to use them within a certain period as well.

Etos (chemist and cosmetics)

You will find this store everywhere in Amsterdam and in practically every other city in The Netherlands. They often have the “Day Train Ticket Netherlands” promotion, where two people can travel anywhere in The Netherlands for €19.90 in total. The two people have to travel together while using this ticket, so it isn’t possible to use it as two single tickets for 1 person.

• €19.90 total for two people for unlimited journeys on one day
• Can be used any day after 11:00 and before 04:00 the next day
• You will receive a physical ticket to use for checking in and out
• The ticket is not valid on bus, metro, or tram. It is valid on all trains in the Netherlands, so not only the NS branded trains (also Arriva, Syntus, Connexxion). Not valid on the Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris
• To use the tickets on the ICE or Intercity Direct (a direct train between Schiphol and Rotterdam) you will have to pay a surcharge of €2.40 in the form of an extra ticket for a single trip.

 

Blokker (practical household items)

Blokker is another common shop that can be found in cities and big villages all around the country. They sell practical household items such as cleaning products, cutlery, light bulbs, and teapots. With their promotion, you can travel through The Netherlands with another person for €29 in total.

• €29 total for two people for unlimited journeys on one day
• Can be used only outside rush hour. So from Monday until Friday, you can use the ticket before 06:30, from 09:00 till 16:00, and after 18:30. On weekends you can use the ticket without time restrictions
• You will receive a physical ticket to use for checking in and out
• The ticket is not valid on bus, metro, or tram. It is valid on all trains in the Netherlands, so not only the NS branded trains (also Arriva, Syntus, Connexxion). Not valid on the Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris
• You can use the tickets on the ICE or Intercity Direct (a direct train between Schiphol and Rotterdam) without surcharge outside of rush hours, which for this specific route are different: 6:30 – 09:30 and 16:00 – 19:00.

 

Kruidvat (chemist and cosmetics)

A similar shop to Etos, and also found in many cities and towns. Their promotion is great for people traveling on their own and in the weekend: for €13.99 you can travel on a Saturday or Sunday in between a certain period.

• €13.99 for one person for unlimited journeys on one day
• Can only be used on Saturdays or Sundays between a certain period. Can be used for unlimited train travel in The Netherlands on the day of use, so it’s not just a single or return ticket
• Comes as an e-ticket, so needs to be printed or downloaded to the NS Xtra App
• The ticket is not valid on bus, metro, or tram. It is valid on all trains in the Netherlands, so not only the NS branded trains (also Arriva, Syntus, Connexxion). Not valid on the Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris
• To use the tickets on the ICE or Intercity Direct (a direct train between Schiphol and Rotterdam) you will have to pay a surcharge of €2.40 in the form of an extra ticket for a single trip

 

Bakker Bart (bakery)

This is where it gets weird. Not only houseware stores, supermarkets, and chemists participate in these promotions, also a chain of bakeries. The good news: you’ll get a voucher for a snack and hot drink when you buy your train tickets from them!

• €19 for a return ticket for one person
• You will receive a voucher for a hot drink (coffee, tea, or cappuccino) and snack (cheese croissant, ham & cheese croissant, sausage roll, or “frikandel sandwich”)
• Can be used Monday until Friday after 09:00 and without time restriction in the weekends
• You will receive an e-mail with a code to receive your train ticket via the NS.nl website, and an attachment with a voucher for your drink and snack. The drink/snack voucher needs to be printed, the train ticket can be printed or shown to the conductor on your mobile phone
• The ticket is not valid on bus, metro, or tram. It is valid on all trains in the Netherlands, so not only the NS branded trains (also Arriva, Syntus, Connexxion). Not valid on the Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris
• To use the tickets on the ICE or Intercity Direct (a direct train between Schiphol and Rotterdam) you will have to pay a surcharge of €2.40 in the form of an extra ticket for a single trip

 

Hema (“everything store” with Dutch products)

Hema is great. They have just about everything you’ll ever need, and they put their own twist on it with their branding. They even have their own health insurance program! Great shop if you need to buy gifts for others or, apparently, if you want to buy cheap train tickets in Netherlands. These are the terms:

• €17.50 for a return ticket for one person
• You will receive a free HEMA tompouche, which is a typical Dutch pastry filled with cream
• Can be bought via HEMA.nl/tickets or in any of their shops
• Can be used any day and time. The trip is a “normal” return on one day between two stations.
• You will receive an e-mail with an e-ticket to receive your train ticket via the NS.nl website. You will receive a voucher for the tompouche as well.
• The ticket is not valid on bus, metro, or tram. It is valid on all trains in the Netherlands, so not only the NS branded trains (also Arriva, Syntus, Connexxion). Not valid on the Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris
• To use the tickets on the ICE or Intercity Direct (a direct train between Schiphol and Rotterdam) you will have to pay a surcharge of €2.40 in the form of an extra ticket for a single trip

 

Albert Heijn (supermarket)

Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn has also jumped on the cheap train ticket bandwagon. Their promotion is in the form of a cheap day train ticket which you can buy inside one of the stores. The terms:

• €15 for one person for unlimited journeys on one day
• Can be used only outside rush hour. So from Monday until Friday, you can use the ticket before 06:30, from 09:00 till 16:00, and after 18:30. On weekends and holidays, you can use the ticket without time restrictions
• You will receive a physical ticket to use for checking in and out
• The ticket is not valid on bus, metro, or tram. It is valid on all trains in the Netherlands, so not only the NS branded trains (also Arriva, Syntus, Connexxion). Not valid on the Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris
• To use the tickets on the ICE or Intercity Direct (a direct train between Schiphol and Rotterdam) you will have to pay a surcharge of €2.40 in the form of an extra ticket for a single trip

 

Other occasional promotions

• Restaurant chain La Place occasionally sells a return ticket for €25 per person
• The website Actievandedag.nl (Promotion of the day) sells day train tickets which can be used for unlimited train travel for €20.50 per person
• The NS (Dutch railways) themselves sometimes have promotions or special tickets, such as an “event ticket” which can be used as a return ticket for €10 per person
• Website Eurosparen has promotions on where you can get a return ticket for €18 per person including a dairy drink called Vifit

How to find the cheapest train ticket in Netherlands at any given moment

There are a few nifty websites, unfortunately, all in Dutch, that can help you find the cheapest ticket for the journey(s) you want to make. When I plan to go somewhere, be it for a single trip, a return trip, or a full-day trip around the Netherlands, I always check these websites first to see what the cheapest ticket is I can get.

If you are looking for a cheap single or return ticket:

• The “treinkaartjes” (train tickets) page on Treinreiziger.nl will help. Here you can fill in your departure and arrival stations, and the site will show you a list of promotions that are on. The good thing is that they show all promotions, not just the ones that you can buy online. This gives you a great overview.

If you are looking for the “day train ticket” promotions like the ones mentioned above:

• A good resource is the “NS dagkaart met korting” (NS day train ticket with discount) page on Treinreiziger.nl. They basically run a blog here with the latest promotions, with the ones that are expired greyed out.

I have found a cheap train ticket, how do I buy and use it?

So you have found a cheap train ticket that you can buy online, how does it work? Each promotion has a slightly different way of buying the tickets, but they are more or less the same. In this example, I will use a promotion from Actievandedag.nl. This is how it works:

1. Once you have clicked on “koop ticket” (buy ticket) you will be asked to fill in your details to create an account
2. You can pay your train tickets with iDeal (an online payment system for Dutch debit cards), and sometimes also with Paypal, Visa, or MasterCard.
3. You will either receive an e-mail with a QR or barcode on it which you can print and use to scan at the gates on your departure train station, OR you will receive a pdf file with coupon codes on it. Make sure that you don’t use those to check in, because they won’t work
4. When you receive a pdf file with coupon codes, go to the “couponcode verzilveren” page on NS.nl and enter your code. It will ask you on which day you want to travel, and after that, it will generate the e-ticket for you on the site itself. You can download these and print them out to use to check in. Make sure you don’t forget to check out as well.

Buying a train ticket to visit Amsterdam?

Aah, Amsterdam, the city I call home. I have been living here for more than 3 decades but the city always surprises me. It’s constantly in motion, expanding, reinventing itself. With this comes a huge turn-over of places to eat, have coffee or go clubbing. I keep track of the best places I go to myself and recommendations I get from others. I listed my favorite cafés in Amsterdam to get a decent cup of coffee, quirky restaurants where you can eat for less than €15, an awesome tram museum, and the best underground clubs in Amsterdam.

Have you found another way of buying cheap train tickets in Netherlands? Let me know in the comments.