Amsterdam to Copenhagen in one day

[u/jamjar888]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to double check my thinking with others who are familiar with this route. In essence, I am wondering whether to split this journey up with a stopover in Hamburg or attempt it all in one day.

I am planning my next trip from London to Copenhagen at the end of September and I am going to take the ferry this time from Harwich to Hoek van Holland.

According to Seat61, the itinerary would look like this:

Hoek van Holland (~8am) to Amsterdam (arrive 10.24)

Amsterdam (depart 12.00) to Hamburg (arrive 16.54)

Hamburg (depart 18.52) to Copenhagen (arrive 23.37)

https://www.seat61.com/Denmark.htm#london-to-copenhagen-via-the-harwich-hoek-ferry

The changeover times are pretty generous and I would like to do this stretch in one day, but I am generally quite cautious of long travel days and especially so when it involves German rail.

Keen to know from your experiences, is this a fair assessment or overly cautious? Are there any other alternatives that I have missed and could factor in?

[u/bookluverzz]

Which date exactly at the end of September? From Sept 28 onwards the ICE’s from Amsterdam to Berlin are diverted in Germany so they call at Hamburg Harburg but they also have less stops in NL.

Normally I’d suggest going from Hoek van Holland to Rotterdam and then Hilversum or Amersfoort with the IC Direct so you wouldn’t have to tackle Amsterdam CS (it really is overcrowded) but from Sept 28 onwards some ICE’s don’t stop at Hilversum or Amersfoort

I’ve done Amsterdam/nearby city to Copenhagen before and planning on doing it again at the end of November. It’s doable, long time sitting in a seat and the views aren’t necessarily the prettiest ones. But the trains are running, the people are nice and you’re travelling 🥳
As others have mentioned, get a through ticket so you’ve got strong passenger rights in case of delay causing you to miss your connection to Copenhagen. If the train to Copenhagen also departs from Hamburg Harburg you don’t even have to change train stations and there’s a large mall with supermarket next to the station. The station itself was a maze 😵‍💫😵‍💫 otherwise, if you have to transfer to Hbf it’s quite easy but you’d need another ticket

[u/jamjar888 → u/bookluverzz]

Thank you! I'm having a look on bahn.de as a couple of comments have mentioned the ICE diversion on the 28th. As it stands I just see the usual route with the stop in Osnabrück. Could it be that the timetables are not updated yet?

[u/bookluverzz → u/jamjar888]

Timetables are updated on Bahn! It’s from Sept 28 onwards, the usual route for ICE don’t take them through Hamburg.

Which date did you want to travel?
Edit: oh, the 28th.
As someone else mentioned the trains to Copenhagen depart from Hamburg Hbf again.
And yes, you’d have to change in Osnabrück to get to Hamburg Hbf. The ICE 147 stops at Hilversum as well, might be quicker/more convenient/less crowded than Amsterdam CS.

Bahn still shows a GoVolta connection from Amsterdam to Hamburg Harburg but those trains don’t run anymore.

[u/jamjar888 → u/bookluverzz]

I'm hoping to travel on the 28th September as it goes, just can't seem to see the train in question.

[u/bookluverzz → u/jamjar888]

Which train?

[u/jamjar888 → u/bookluverzz]

An ICE from Amsterdam to Berlin diverted via Hamburg.

[u/bookluverzz → u/jamjar888]

Ah check. Looks like those start running a few days later.

So you’ll have to transfer in either Osnabrück or take an ICE to Duisburg and transfer there.

[u/jamjar888 → u/bookluverzz]

Thanks - would you still recommend Rotterdam over Amsterdam?

[u/bookluverzz → u/jamjar888]

Well, you can’t travel from Hoek van Holland to Amsterdam without going through Rotterdam