There are now two options for taking a direct train from Basel to The Netherlands
Final Destination: Amsterdam Centraal/Amsterdam CS
This train also calls at: Arnhem and Utrecht
Departing from Basel:
This is the only direct daytime train service between Switzerland and The Netherlands and it is usually scheduled to depart from Basel Bad Bf station at around 15:20.
Though due to the length of the journey, this train is particularly vulnerable to having its schedule altered due to works on the line, especially at weekends.
It also usually commences its journey at Basel SBB station at around 15:15.
1 x train per day
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
Finding this 1 x direct train of the day when booking online can be tricky; there will also be a plethora of alternative journeys available, all of which involve making a connection.
So look for the journey that only has ‘ICE’ in the train details column and usually departs from Basel Bad Bf station at around 15:19.
Choosing your departure station:
This train commences its journey at Basel SBB station and then calls at Basel Bad Bf.
So use Basel Bad Bf as the 'from' station when looking up tickets for this train; they can be much cheaper than journeys from Basel SBB.
Seat reservations:
Book 1st class ticket journey tickets on DB Bahn and your seat reservation is included, but they're optional when booking 2nd class tickets, or if you will be travelling with a 1st or 2nd class rail pass.
Making the reservation is highly recommended, if you want to be sure of being able to sit in the same seat, all the way from Basel to Amsterdam.
The alternative route via Paris:
If the limited numbers of discounted tickets for this direct train have sold out, travelling via Paris can be the cheaper option - on a combination of Lyria trains from Basel to Paris and then by Thalys train from Paris to Amsterdam.
However, there are two points to be aware of:
(1) the journey via Paris involves a transfer across the city between two Paris stations (the ticket price won't include the transfer),
(2) the trains to Paris depart from Basel SBB and not Basel Bad Bf.
So if the discounted tickets for the direct train have sold out; then search again, changing the 'from' station to 'Basel SBB', or use the non-station specific city name.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
DB Bahn | from €39.90 | |
NS Intl | from €39.90 |
On departure from Basel the part of train heading to Amsterdam is usually joined to another train that will be heading to Dortmund.
If you only see 'Dortmund' on the departure screens, then it's likely that the info will ALSO apply to this Amsterdam train.
The train journey from Basel to Amsterdam:
This journey has three distinct phases:
(1) From Basel to Frankfurt Flughafen, this is a fairy typical German express train journey, though the train will be on a higher speed line from Offenburg to Karlsruhe.
(2) Between Frankfurt and Siegburg/Bonn, to the south of Koln, the train will be travelling at around 280 km/h on Germany's fastest high speed lines; so this part of the journey has a wow factor.
(3) Between Koln and Amsterdam it is the many towns that the train passes through which add interest, as the train will unsurprisingly travelling across a flat landscape.
Final Destination: Amsterdam
The train also calls at: Arnhem (07:51), connect for Nijmegen; and Utrecht (08:33), connect for Rotterdam.
The train is usually scheduled to depart from Basel SBB station at 23:13 and from Basel Bad bf at 23:23 and arrive in Amsterdam Centraal at 09:14.
If your journey is commencing in Basel city , heading to the German 'Bad bf' station in the city will typically be both faster and cheaper.
Though before calling at Basel Bad bf, train will also call at the main Swiss station in the city, Basel SBB; join the train at Basel SBB if you will be connections from other destinations in Switzerland; or the EC train from Milano, which typically has a 25 min connection into this train
1 x train per night
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
The train conveys:
The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.
Click the train details below for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
Rail pass users must reserve before boarding these trains,
You can now book rail pass reservations without paying booking fees on the OBB website (OBB operates these trains).Though the process for doing so isn't particularly obvious, hence this step-by-step guide.
By booking online you can avoid the booking fees which will be payable at the station in Switzerland.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
OBB | * | |
DB | * | |
SBB | * |
This train is in effect two trains combined into one departure:
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This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.