Planning a long weekend away from Manchester to Amsterdam? Before you book the flights you might want to consider using the train, it's the environmentally friendlier option and doesn't take as long as you'd think.


The journey is made up of:


1. Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston

Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Cost: £70 return


2. transfer from Euston to St Pancras


3. London St Pancras to Brussels direct on Eurostar

Time: 2 hours on train

Cost: £70 - £120 return


4. Connect to Thalys train in Brussels


5. Brussels to Amsterdam direct on Thalys

Time: 2 hours

Cost: £100



Buying Tickets


The costs used here are not based on advance booking fares so you could potentially cut that down or even halve it, we've just provided that as a guide if you're booking relatively last minute. There are a few ways to book this, firstly you'll need to book the Manchester to London trip using National Rail or Virgin Trains. Then you can either book the entire European leg using the Eurostar website, or you can split it between the Eurostar site, the Thalys site (you can also try the Belgian national rail site for this). It's worth shopping around to get the best prices and as ever with train travel the earlier you can book and the less flexibility you need the better.