If you want some "pain" use ferry and train.
A story about traveling from Flensburg, Germany to Edinburgh by ferry and train. 🚊⛴
Spoiler: I would do it again.
When I booked my stay at ECS-Scotland, very early the question came up about how to travel to Edinburgh. While browsing through the list of possible flight connections there was this growing bad conscience about sustainability. And it was not getting better after reading the blog from Angelica on the ECS Scotland website. So Angelica travelled from Italy to Edinburgh by train. Hmmm. Soooo, should be possible from Germany too, right?
The Beginning of the Plan
But you know what? It really stressed me out. Not using an airplane takes more time, is more expensive and browsing through the train systems of different countries sometimes is real pain in the arse. Especially, when you have in mind that it is a piece of cake to just book a flight. After some research, I came across the website www.wirsindanderswo.de, where you can pick up a lot of information about traveling by train and ferry. And what really hooked me was the ferry connection between Amsterdam and Newcastle. I liked the idea of visiting an island by ship. Don’t know why, but immediately this little explorer in me woke up and kicked the idea of using the plane away. After that, it was easy as pie.
The Booking
So I booked the ferry (https://www.dfds.com) including bus transfer between ferry and the train stations in Amsterdam and Newcastle. This can easily added during the booking process. The train ticket can be booked by www.bahn.de and for Scotland by https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
The Journey
The Journey itself was a full package of stories you can tell at home: Trains were cancelled, there was this drunk party group on the bus transfer and I got seasick on the ferry upon arrival. Passport control was very strict, having school and accommodation information available is really helpful.
On the other hand, there were these really nice talks to locals on the train. With Julia, where I learned a lot about psychological tests and with Antje there was this nice talk about living in Netherlands including some insider tips for a possible next visit in Den Hag (for sure by train). Even this drunk tall Scottish man sitting next to me in the bus transfer to the ferry was some kind of lovely as he apologised very politely as he almost felt asleep on my shoulder a few times.
The train route between Newcastle and Edinburgh is really great – try to get a seat at the window next to the coast. In Edinburgh, you arrive right in the heart of the city. Just a view steps away there is a high probability to get welcomed by a piper on the Royal Mile. On the return journey, leaving the port of Newcastle was mystical, when the ship slowly sailed through the magical illuminated Scottish winter evening. If you want to feel like the captain, check out the outside area right under the bridge on deck 8.
Conclusion
So in the end it took me 32 hours for each direction. In addition, to the lovely stay at ECS Scotland, travelling to Scotland by train and ferry was an extra adventure with many shining memories and totally worth it.
Tips for the ferry
- The ferry is very punctual. Plan enough time buffer for your journey to the port.
- The shipping company's bus transfer is very useful, as the buses go directly to and from the train stations in Newcastle and Amsterdam.
- The bus transfer can be added during the booking process of the shipping company. I would recommend to book this in advance.
- Be prepared for a longer immigration check in Newcastle. In addition to your passport, also have documents about the language course and accommodation ready. It took me round about an hour before I was able to leave the port terminal.
- Passport is mandatory. ID card is not sufficient.
- The Scots are highly skilled at forming queues without pushing forward. I enjoyed adapting to this a lot.
- The ship provides outdoor areas on the upper decks. You can have a nice view there. Don’t forget to check out the outdoor area in the front of the ship right under the bridge on deck 8.
- The ship is a ferry not a cruise ship. So it is some kind of basic. But there is a small cinema, a shop and the possibility of having dinner and breakfast. ⛴️
- Be prepared for some rough sea. This can sometimes happen on the North Sea. 🤢
Thanks
Many thanks to Norbert for sharing his journey with us. If you would like to share your journey to Edinburgh or a fun trip around Scotland, get in touch.
