CONFUSING BUT ENJOYABLE! Flixbus London to Amsterdam with DFDS ferry across the English Channel

Any coach service which requires a drive-on/drive-off ferry link must be tried. However, the actual route was slightly different from that advertised. Very confusing, but very enjoyable. #flixbus #dfds #amsterdam
Filmed September 2023 | London, UK.
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*** TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:43 Departure from London
00:02:47 Dover
00:03:30 Boarding the ferry
00:09:22 Welcome to Calais
00:10:37 Bruges
00:10:57 Ghent
00:12:06 The Hague
00:12:26 Amsterdam Sloterdijk
00:13:49 Amsterdam Metro
00:14:07 Conclusion

[@stevekimbrey]

Very temped to get "Good morning, good morning. Wake up please" as my alarm tone XD

[@simonh6371]

Seen it many times but it still gets me every time, the departures board in Victoria Coach station which says ''departing flights'' in German! Because in German there isn't a single word for departures, there is Abreise for vehicles, Abfahrt for trains, and Abfluege for planes. I guess the person who translated it copied it from an airport departures board.

[@steve-marsh]

'Good Morning Good morning Wake Up Please' 🤣 Fantastic video mate! Surprised they give you a food voucher, I was sure there would be a catch like 'here's your voucher, but just to let you know the restaurant is closed'...

[@PlanesTrainsEverything]

I thought the driver's wake up call was hilarious. These long distance coach trips are hard work, but there's always something of an adventure with each one.

[@michaelkobylko2969]

Bruges and Ghent are beautiful cities. You should definitely explore them one day if you've not done so before.

[@craiglatham]

The railway station in Bruges is absolutely fantastic for the architecture and history.

[@mikestephens5622]

What a great little adventure! I don't know how you have so much energy at 4 in the morning 😊

[@liamtahaney713]

​@@craiglathampossible you have Bruges confused with either Gent-Sint-Pieters or Antwerpen-Centraal? Of the major Flemish cities, Bruges is the only one without a prewar railway station. It's perfectly serviceable, but anything but a highlight of the city.

[@simonbaker3612]

+1 for Ghent. Bruges gets a lot of the publicity but Ghent is an amazing place.

[@barvdw]

@@liamtahaney713 while postwar, the Brugge station is quite nice, and the wall paintings in the old ticket hall are beautiful. Ghent has a beautiful building, but the platforms are a mess, both the older ones (nice canopies, but very uncomfortable otherwise) as well as the new ones (comfortable, but partially still a building site). I honestly prefer Brugge at the moment.

[@timcharles6837]

Sloterdijk to Centraal takes about 5 minutes on the regular train & they run every 10 minutes or so.

[@JoelHaasnoot]

And you can use your debit or credit card now also!

[@user-qf1vx2wn2w]

Interesting trip you made joung man

[@truckerallikatuk]

The coaches use whichever is convenient or cheapest on the day. There's not a vast difference in timing between the two french ports. Dunkirk is further north, but it takes about an extra half hour at sea. Whereas Calais takes less time at sea, and it's less than 30 mins on the autoroute at coach speed to be passing Dunkirk's ferry exit.

[@GodAtum]

i had a ticket to Dunkirk and when it didn't stop there I was sooo pissed!

[@Fan652w]

@@GodAtum I hope you took the matter up with Flixbus!

[@benowtram831]

Can you smoke on deck seven on the ferry?

[@truckerallikatuk]

@@benowtram831 All current ferries have a designated outdoor smoking area. Sauce: I've used them.

[@lukekingsland4813]

The Dunkirk ferry goes closer to graveline than dunkirk

[@hippopotoftea]

To get from Sloterdijk to Centraal you either want to take an overground NS Sprinter (€2,60/6mins) or GVB Bus 22 (€2,37/22mins). Or if you want to arrive at the Leidseplein then Tram 19 (€2,11/20mins) would get you there.

[@Iamwatchingyou75]

Yeah, their are about 20 trains per hour from Sloterdijk to Central Station, costing €2.60, taking 6 minutes. Wouldn't recommend the Metro on that route. You can use you contactless debit/creditcard to open the gates and pay for the ride.

[@MrJimheeren]

It’s almost the furthest you can go on the metro. You have to make the full circle. More then half an hour

[@hanshartfiel6394]

I once booked with DFDS Dover to Calais. I was very early in Dover and they gave me the option to either wait there for about 90 minutes or take the ferry to Dunkerque in 20 minutes. Needless to say, I took the one in 20 minutes

[@lookingfortrouble6970]

Yes they have done this for me many times. It's always worth turning up early, if they have space they will let you the earliest they can

[@malthuswasright]

The main advantage of 2a is that it's usually directly behind the wheelchair space, so lots of legroom

[@leocasas5774]

My first time here and I really liked the video and your style. Well done. Thank you!

[@darkknight8139]

Great video! Those Flixbus routes are interesting to say the least. Seat 2A is indeed the best in any coach. If you take the train from Amsterdam Sloterdijk to Amsterdam Centraal, it will only be 10 minutes and will cost 2,60 euros. Only if you pay with your bank card or by a pre-bought ov-chipkaart, if you buy a one-way ticket for any train, an additional fixed fee of 1 euro will be added for the paper ticket itself... So, use your regular debit bank card to pay.

[@RoseSolane]

I had to laugh when you took the metro in Amsterdam. The train is much faster. Or you could have taken a local bus, that would have been faster then the metro. The flixbus station is also the entrance to the underground parking garage of the offices I work at. One of my colleagues takes a bus to get from where he lives in the East of Amsterdam to Sloterdijk via Central Station. Not as fast as the train, but much faster then the metro.

[@getyourwillhere]

Loved Bruges - went there specifically to see the Adoration of the Lamb

[@malo66]

Brilliant video!

[@barvdw]

Next time you're in the Netherlands, at most stations, you should be able to pay with your contactless credit card directly (tapping in and out like an OV-chipkaart, the Dutch Oyster Card), which is probably cheaper.

[@simonh6371]

Oyster cards are only for London, not for the UK.

[@barvdw]

@@simonh6371 correct, but seen the huge importance of London in the UK, I'd say most people even outside of London are probably somewhat familiar with the scheme, especially as it has been around for what, 20 years, now? And considering the Netherlands are basically just one big city with some agricultural parks in it...

[@simonh6371]

@@barvdw Most people in the UK hate London so I'd say most are not familiar with it. Yet more Londoncentric arrogance assuming that everyone is interested in London.

[@barvdw]

@@simonh6371 you don't have to like them, just be aware of what they have. Millions pour into the city daily for work or leisure, many using public transport. Heck, even most foreign tourists know by now not to buy the paper tickets, they're too expensive. Does 6yo Tonya from Keighley know about the Oyster Card? Probably not, but someone regularly watching anything on the BBC, ITV or Channel 4 has probably heard of it and knows it's used to pay for your public transport rides in London, especially someone even remotely interested in public transport, as many on this channel are. Oyster Card has been a pioneer in the field (especially in Europe, Japan, China and Korea were earlier), and it has influenced a lot of other cities around the globe.

[@kevinmcanulty2593]

thanks for another adventure

[@calebmumby5803]

Great journey mate

[@janetmackinnon3411]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@MaartenOtto]

Train from Sloterdijk to Centraal runs every 5 minutes and comes at €3,50 which only take about 5 minutes

[@Mogamishu]

Please stop spreading misinformation. Travelling by bus is safe and effective.

[@graemer3657]

DFDS sometimes give you the option of switching between Calais and Dunkirk departures if you arrive early and there is space (stops you waiting on the quayside too long)

[@JohninRosc]

Great video as usual. Amsterdam Sloterdijk sounds like a Ryanair destination.

[@DeKat-84]

It's not far from central Amsterdam on the train, and is actually closer to the city than "Amsterdam" Schiphol airport. 🤣😂

[@LukeSimmondsTravel]

Isn’t that Eindhoven for Ryanair 🤣

[@brentford2]

Great post. Thank you Scott

[@showmanpete2805]

great vid thanks for sharing....

[@EuropeNordeste]

Cool video Thanks. I see Flixbus is Serving Brazil nowadays. A good friend went from Montreal to NYC with FlixBus. My last time in London I went by train 🚊 with the Eurostar and I loved it.

[@roseogrady8785]

Impressed...Thank You.

[@keithmiller9665]

Nice video, thank you!😊

[@horsenuts1831]

Another great video. I love your work.

[@EnglishmaninMalta]

Interesting trip well done

[@jordikuijt1004]

"Any coach service which requires a drive-on/drive-off ferry link must be tried." There is one company offering a London route by ferry that had me interested for a while. Mainly because they also offer direct busses form Lisbon, Albufeira and other places on the iberic peninsula to Sofia, Bulgaria. These are as far as I can discover Europe's longest long distance coach routes. However they also have a London-Sofia route taking about 48hrs which also sells tickets to the intermediate halts, in Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. A channel crossing by boat to Belgium or Lille for some TGV action maybe worth a try on the Bulgarian busses of union-ivkoni.

[@graceandmarvellouswonders6249]

Thank you you have been very helpful

[@katiemace8864]

Great video Scott thank you we love watching these

[@wendlit]

The coach looked very comfy! The ferry was beautiful. I want to go to Amsterdam! 😀👋

[@DeKat-84]

It's a beautiful city, and well worth an explore. You could go for a weekend break or a full week's holiday and you would find plenty of options for things to do! ♥

[@andybaker2456]

I've stayed at Sloterdijk a couple of times when visiting Amsterdam, most recently in July this year. It's so quick and easy to get from there to Amsterdam Centraal that it makes the cheaper hotel prices very worthwhile. And yes, take the NS trains, not the metro! 😄

[@awild10]

That's what I did when I was booked into the XO Hotel Stoterdijk. There were loads of surface trains that take about 10mins to get to Centraal. Good video Scott but I think I'll stick to travelling in the day rather than an overnight coach. Easyjet from Gatwick to Schipol isn't much more expensive if you get the right time.

[@JonathanMcCormack]

@@awild10we stayed there as well in July. Was a bit annoyed to find it was non-alcoholic hotel 😂

[@littlebigman5791]

Nothing wrong with that

[@john07973]

10 years ago I had a friend living near Sloterdijk Station, we used to tram it to Dam Sq about 20 minutes

[@RabLavery]

Great vid Scott

[@stevedeakin1883]

Great video , I really enjoyed it thank you Scott 😊😊.

[@ollieollieollieeee8727]

Amazing video, would love to try it someday 👍

[@jenny.barter]

Love your videos mate really love them

[@davejono]

Happy travelling

[@jamessmith6402]

Thanks Scott very enjoyable video 👍

[@brianbrown8845]

Another great video as always Scott, stay safe and well.

[@danielpeters3764]

thank you Scot love all your videos I find them very interesting

[@Falwheel]

I’m hooked 👍🚂🚌✈️

[@paulpayton8238]

Thanks for sharing this video with us all interesting 😮

[@teresahill6356]

Thanks

[@martindavis6115]

Always wanted to go on this route. Thanks ever so much for sharing your experience of it

[@skacel7]

Very enjoyable watch :)

[@gordonmculloch4904]

Great informative video. Might attempt this trip next year taking my Brompton. Cheers 👍

[@sadakamber5843]

I've been wanting to do this journey myself, great video. Many thanks 😊

[@neilcoram3495]

Very interesting video

[@ScottishT]

Top content as usual from our Scott 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@noeonoohno4219]

Impressive how quickly your channel has grown. And you've gotten better at making videos. Well done fair play 👍

[@tims-gy8yz]

Thanks Scott, looks like you found a gem of a trip. That’s a nice touch, the meal voucher as well. I might have to try that journey myself. Looks a comfortable coach too. Thanks for sharing another great adventure. Tim

[@egpx]

So glad you do these overnight trips Scott, it means I don’t have to!

[@cadburykid141]

Great, Scott!! You go travelling so I don't have to. Nice video as always

[@Chronograph71]

Thank you, Scott! That was interesting. I used numerous modes of travel in my lifetime, but the longest ferry I ever took was less than half hour. And never an international ferry. So, you show me something completely new. 😁

[@Rajesh-mc2py]

Super 🎉

[@alanshelly7068]

This is awesome video buddy from Alan in Lowestoft buddy 😊

[@kazzicup]

I would enjoy this ferry trip. 💙💙🐟

[@marksmith7801]

Good vlog thank you as I am doing this journey on Monday

[@davidforrest4942]

Great video as usual Scott.. London Victoria coach station is becoming your second home keep up the good work 👍

[@duncanlewis5706]

Loved it when i used to do the same in the 90's

[@mccuejonathan]

Great video once again Scott. I’d highly recommend a look around Utrecht if you ever get the chance. I took a day trip from Amsterdam last year and it was stunning!

[@lindajoy7208]

I do enjoy your trips. It helps to be crazy sometimes. I should know 😅 Happy travels.

[@mjt8199]

You went for the beef rendang. Good choice and my usual meal on DFDS crossings.

[@peterhonig4954]

It was nice to see you had a 10 minute stop at the Belgian/Dutch border at Hazeldonk. And that is near my home town Breda.

[@marius1987ism]

Love the music, whoever is editing your videos ia doing a great job, overall very nice content, cheers.

[@imsbvs]

I was at Amsterdam Sloterdijk station in August, it's an easy tram ride from the city centre - and surface trains too!!

[@yorkshirepullman4584]

Hi Scott, I have finally watched all of your videos after 3 months of catching up. Your vlogs are really fun, never too long and something interesting always pops up. Last month while on a visit to Glasgow, I added a trip to Paisley to see the gargoyles. Please keep up the good work

[@walterfillingham]

Another great video Scott. Being a steward myself I think a lot of the areas will be tapped off for cleaning by night stewards. Having less passengers at night, it’s ideal time for deep cleaning or maintenance tasks each night in different areas of the vessel by the night stewards.

[@NaoPb]

Interesting! I did not think of that.

[@thijsdejong7355]

I live near the Hague CS , so funny to see this. Great video, keep on traveling

[@iamliamt]

I live in Folkestone... Always great watching travel vloggers either do Dover ferries or eutotunnell! My neck of the woods. Great video!

[@markh8116]

It made me smile when the title of your video popped up. I’m due to make exactly the same trip in a couple of weeks. I’ve been to Bruges before with Flixbus , but through the tunnel. I’ve also done the crossing out with DFDS to Paris Bercy Seine. I agree with your thoughts about the station when you made the same trip, far from salubrious . I made the return via the bus and ferry also, but unfortunately if was P&O on the return and no meal voucher.

[@jamesrobinson9194]

Subscribed! A great report. I've used Flixbus a few times back in 2018 and never had any issues. Cheap and cheerful.

[@jondavies9347]

Ah Den Haag along with Scheveningen,two of my favourite places in The Netherlands (Holland).Always catch the trains .

[@anthonydowling3356]

If that bus had gone to Utrecht it would be no hardship .I find it cheaper and less crowded than Amsterdam and only 30 min by train from Central Amsterdam .

[@nathanclarke9048]

I just watched this vid and booked my ticket back to The Hague… I’ve got plenty of time so thought why not ;-)

[@tabby2499]

This citylink service is great .and BETTER because it goes Daily. In low and high season Daily . Several times The other service did not have that service just twice a week . When i did it in may this year. It was great. We were amazed that both coaches and the f erry worked so well together wirh one price. 30 euros. Cant complein there. CITYLINKS DAILY SERVICE FROM THE FERRY IS GREAT.

[@johnlaidlaw1146]

Love the obscure routes Scott. Found myself stranded in Malaga in the summer after a spontaneous pneumothorax and could not fly nor was i fit to travel the channel tunnel. Luckily i am a subscriber and had watched the over night flixbus service which uses the ferry 🤓. Keep up the great content

[@rogink]

Not sure a trip from London to Amsterdam counts as 'obscure' :)

[@joannharrington2279]

Lately watching your videos I want to get my passport out and book a flight to the UK to do one of these trips to other great countries in Europe.

[@aidanfolkes]

When you were entering Sloterdijk station, I was beseching you not to catch the metro. 😂

[@Jablicek]

I just rounded out 2 months in Europe coming back from Bruges on Flixbus. The 30-minute stop you mention is a rest break for the driver(s) - their being on the ferry isn't a break, they have things to do that you don't see. Personally, I'd rather be a touch late and have drivers who are fresh than be one of the accidents coaches have. Hope you enjoyed your time in the Netherlands!

[@philipwalton4877]

I’m glad you do this so the rest of us don’t have to. Not in a million years would I endure that nightmare of a journey 👍

[@onlineamiga]

You should see his latest one. London to Sofia on a bus.. 50 hours of pure torture!!

[@winkee1915]

Not a bad route if you can sleep some of it. Free meal tickets are still included as of last week for anyone wondering - only if they use the DFDS ferry though.

[@tonymcdonnly6492]

Thank you, Scott. This padt August 2023, I took Flix bus from Lisbon to Madrid; then from Frankfurt to Maastricht; until my nightmare ride coming from Leeds to London when a male paasenger revealed he was high on an hallucenegenic drug. Flix buses are great. You should have filmed the interior of the bus including their bathrooms. Now I can take Flix from Amsterdam to London overnight. Thanks for showing us how. Keep up the good work!

[@baseballfan99]

Great video as always FlixBus use Sloerdijk as their base for Amsterdam, I was rushing last time I arrived as the coach from Düsseldorf was 3 hours late but at least there were plenty of trains to Central. I am taking a Hull to Rotterdam mini cruise in December to visit the Mauritius art muses, in The Hague. It’s very cheap in the low season and you get a bed so much better than a coach.

[@TregMediaHD]

Nice video . As a brit living in outer Netherlands near the german border . It was great to see the well trodden path again .. I will respond deeper in another comment but greetings from a Scots bairn in Ommen Nederland

[@Fan652w]

Thank you for a very interesting video! i was particularly pleased to see that the coach served Bruges and Ghent. These cities used to be easily reachable from London for 'foot passengers' by using the Dover-Ostend ferry and then a short train ride on a frequent service. If you want to reach Bruges or Ghent by Eurostar, you have to change at Lille or Brussels.

[@frglee]

There is a direct Eurostar service from London St Pancras to Amsterdam Centraal now with 6 trains in each direction each day. It takes about 4 hours. There are a further 7 trains each day which involve connecting trains, presumably at Brussels Midi.

[@AnnieLongGone]

Oh lordy, that brings back memories. Way back in the 1970s, after backpacking overland (where possible) from Amsterdam to Melbourne, Australia, I returned to Amsterdam from Victoria coach station in London through a shonky but very cheap travel company. Nothing seemed to go to plan, including spending a night under a table in the bar of an ancient ferry from Dover to Zeebrugge in Belgium - I hasten to add that I was completely sober but the boat was tiny and rustic and under the table was the only place I could find to lay down. Had to keep my face to the side and my mouth closed to avoid being used as an ashtray. I can't remember where we landed, but it certainly wasn't Zeebrugge. The coach from wherever it was in Belgium to Amsterdam was comfortable enough (hallelujah!) and I managed to get a couple of hours of much needed sleep. Then I was dumped not at Amsterdam central station as scheduled but about 2 kms east along the Amstel river. Not a taxi to be seen so ended up walking to the station and then took a taxi to the home of a fellow expat resident. Great to see him and assorted droppers-in after so long away, but I was expected to sparkle and I was all sparkled out.

[@firestarter1888]

got to the money shot!

[@Gribbo9999]

Rendang and chips . Yeah Scotland's favourite pub night food. "Hotter coming out than going in."

[@mikepowell2776]

Just amazed at how much Sloterdijk area has changed since I passed through in , I think, 1976. Before there was a metro, anyway. We went Harwich to Hook of Holland, land sectors by train. There’s a ‘direct’ coach/ferry/coach service to Krakow you might try. I overcame my dislike of airports after that. Enabling the vicarious experience of sharing your travels is always a pleasure.

[@WBTravels]

@12:33 The guage aka Den-huage serves as a secondary city for utrech, its a ultra-modern commercial & office center with a massive transportation hub with Rail & Light rail, Trams, more than 30 local bus lines, & many many intercity bus routes.

[@craiglatham]

Try the coach service from Rotterdam all the way to Gibraltar. Eurolines. If you have the right ticket then you can stay until the next coach wherever possible at all the stops all the way down to Gibraltar. Alas the bright lights of benidorm were enough to cut my journey short.

[@MrRovers1984]

I'm doing Leeds to Prague on flixbus in August. It does the ferry across and up to Amsterdam. Looking forward to it

[@Spaps0]

Lucky. I was taking this exact coach at 10pm a few months back, to Ghent. I was looking forward to the ferry, but we ended up going on the Channel Tunnel train. Sad times.

[@theon9575]

I ❤ Flixbus! I live in Amsterdam and use Fluxbus often for work and family visits to various cities in western Germany, northern France including Lille, and the Belgian cities. Until 3 years ago, I used trains for this travel, but now PREFER to use Flixbus mainly because it's faster than trains to anywhere in Belgium, it'smore frequent & convenient, it's only slightly less comfortable regarding space. And yes, it's MUCH cheaper than any of the trains. I'm an older retiree and always pay the few € extra that it costs to book a forward seat behind the driver - there, i sit comfortably with panoramic view, listen to music via the inboard wifi and a journey of a few hours is over in no time! I actually PREFER IT to economy-class Eurostar (formerly Thalys).

[@AndrewG1989]

Epic coach trip to Europe via the English Channel. 😊

[@vivianhughes9347]

Hey, Scott. Filixbus have just announced £3 single fares anywhere in UK! How about you travel the longest possible journey for just £3? There's a challenge for you!