A man caught a bus to Amsterdam instead of flying for under £30 - and said it was like getting a private taxi to the tourist hotspot.
Tom Burnett, a content editor at CambridgeshireLive, tried the new Flixbus service from Cambridge to Amsterdam that are available for just £27.99 a ticket. In summer this year, the bus operator launched a new service connecting Cambridge to the Dutch capital.
He documented his entire journey from boarding the service, travelling through London, over to Dover before catching the the ferry and then eventually onwards to Amsterdam.
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Documenting his experience, he wrote: "Booking was easy enough online and, like some airlines, you had the option of choosing your seat in advance. There's no extra charge for this - it's the kind of thing some budget airlines will try fleecing you for (that and daring to breathe on their planes).
"One thing that you can pay extra for is the seat next to yours. For £13.99 - around half the price of your own fare - you have the option of booking that seat so it stays empty. This is a really good feature. It might help some less confident travellers who are catching the bus alone feel safer knowing they're not going to be sitting next to a stranger for the entire journey.
"Not me though, I just forked out the extra because I'm a bit anti-social and invariably end up getting stuck next to someone who doesn't understand that 2am is rarely "start chatting to strangers" time.
"With a few clicks and a trip to Booking.com to find a hotel that was easy walking distance from a pub in Amsterdam I wanted to visit everything was sorted."
Tom boarded the green coach on Saturday, September 16 before showing his passport and e-ticket to the staff. Although the bus was busy to begin with, many passengers got off in London, leaving the near-empty service 'peaceful'. All passengers also get USB chargers and wifi on board, he explained.
"Long-distance coach travel is often maligned by those who don't do it due to their concerns. In my experience some of these concerns are more accurate than others," he added.
"One of those stereotypes about it that you regularly hear - that the toilets won't work - appeared to be confirmed within minutes of us departing Cambridge as one of the drivers (the one not behind the wheel at the time) informed us that the toilet was out of order. Not the news you generally want to hear three minutes in to a 12-hour coach ride.
"However this was resolved quickly while the bus made its way down to London. And it was there I got a real surprise about the journey - and thought I may well have wasted that £13.99 on booking the seat next to me.
"The bus made two stops in the capital, one at Stratford and one in Greenwich after a trip through the Blackwall Tunnel. And a lot of people got off, a lot more than I expected.
"By the time we left London there were, I believe, a total of 14 people on board a coach designed for a number closer to 60. Along with the two drivers there were 12 people from the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil and a few other European countries.
"I imagine the service might be busier in summer but as we raced down towards Dover it occurred to me this did not seem like many people at all. Nor the crowd I was expecting. I thought the bus might be more full of students looking for a day or two away from university but this was not the case.
"The opposite in fact, the coach was quiet the entire way to Dover, it was not raucous and was exceptionally peaceful. In the age of cheap flights the stag dos/raucous party groups fly to the Netherlands. If you are looking for a quieter way to get to Amsterdam and have the time to spare then this may well be it.
"In terms of the seats themselves, it's a coach. It's about as comfortable as you might expect. No coach maker ever made vehicles with seats that will make you fall asleep instantly upon sitting down, but it wasn't uncomfortable.
"The facilities were not too bad either. As well as the toilet (now restored and working, although I did not use it) you also got free Wi-fi - although this seemed a bit spotty at times once we reached mainland Europe - and a USB charging slot. In an age where an ever-growing number of travel tickets are on the phone, a charging slot is important (and not just for people posting inane social media status updates in the middle of the night like I was doing).
"The first time we had to get off the coach was at Dover when we cleared French passport control, this was effortless enough. One of the drivers took our passports for check-in with DFDS ferries and we had to wait while this was processed.
"Obviously Dover is a bit different. And soon enough we had our passports back - and as a bonus, DFDS had given us all a meal voucher. It's not clear whether all ferry services offer this on all services and your mileage may vary, but it was a welcome bonus.
"After a 30 minute wait - during which passengers were invited to stretch their legs - the coach boarded the ferry to Calais at around 11.40pm. Everyone headed up to the passenger decks (you can not stay in vehicles during a Channel crossing).
"Fortunately, our coach was parked close to the door up to the passenger decks and I managed to get up to the on-board restaurant quickly. What I would say for anyone who has a meal voucher, or wants something to eat on the ferry, is that it is best to get there as quickly as you can. A long queue quickly forms - even at around 11.50pm.
"The voucher entitles you to a meal and a drink - a range of soft drinks and water. There were a number of options including fish and chips. The chicken goujons, which would probably have been my preference, were labelled as 'for kids' and not wanting to humiliate myself more than I usually do, I opted for fish and chips and sat down near the front of the ship.
"It wasn't bad. It's free food on a ferry. It tasted fine. I did spot that the bread rolls on offer, which cost less than a Euro each were labelled clearly as "NOT INCLUDED IN VOUCHER". But I wasn't forking out so I went without - it's not a decision that haunts me.
"There was a massive queue still by the time I had finished my meal, about the same time the boat pulled away from Dover. So I went down a deck to the other café at the back of the ferry and had a pint and a wander on the outside deck of the ship as it chugged across the English Channel in the early hours.
"When it comes to great tales of adventure on the high seas, I'm afraid this particular crossing will not be making the cut. It could not have been smoother. Around 90 minutes later we arrived in Calais and got back on the bus. The bus ride crosses four countries on its route - the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
"Like most people on the bus I was trying to get some sleep at this point. And it has to be said everything was designed to accommodate that. The lights were down and the coach was quiet.
"The next thing I knew we were in Antwerp, Belgium where a number of passengers had got off. I nodded off again before we crossed the Dutch border and arrived in Utrecht. Due to the Schengen agreement there are no border controls between any of these countries, so if you're a heavy enough sleeper you can travel from Calais to Amsterdam and enjoy a good rest.
"Personally, I struggle with that. I tend to wake up if there's a slight movement/noise within about 20 feet of where I am. It's a fairly useless ability - and a pain when you're using long distance transport.
"After Utrecht, where one passenger disembarked, we made our way further north. The bus arrived at Amsterdam's Sloterdijk station shortly before 8am."
Summing up the trip, Tom added: "So overall, is this coach journey for you? I think it very much depends on what you're trying to do. If you're planning a loud weekend of drinking in Amsterdam then you're probably better off taking the plane. It definitely isn't a party bus - and a good thing too.
"Similarly, if you like an uninterrupted night of sleep, then you've probably got better options than this. You're not going to arrive in Amsterdam feeling refreshed and lively after this journey most of the time.
"However, if you're looking to get to the Netherlands on the cheap, don't mind feeling a bit knackered at the end of things and aren't expecting to spend a night on the cans then this is the closest you're going to get to getting a taxi from Cambridge to Amsterdam. And, I remind you, this is for less than 30 quid."
