[Albion] Amsterdam by road

[timbha]

It’s been a few years since I’ve driven in that area. Anyone know what the situation is with Tolls on the France, Belgium, Holland route?
Are there Toll stations with barriers where you just swipe your credit/debit card and get charged until you leave the toll road? Or do you have to set up an account, etc?

 

[Machiavelli]

Did it in 2014. IIRC, no tolls. Flat, easy straight roads. You should be able to get from Calais to Amsterdam in about six hours.

 

[Guinness Boy]

It’s been a few years since I’ve driven in that area. Anyone know what the situation is with Tolls on the France, Belgium, Holland route?
Are there Toll stations with barriers where you just swipe your credit/debit card and get charged until you leave the toll road? Or do you have to set up an account, etc?

Google Maps is your friend here.

Just plan a route with 'avoid tolls' checked.

The quickest route has no tolls.

 

[timbha]

Google Maps is your friend here.

Just plan a route with 'avoid tolls' checked.

The quickest route has no tolls.

View attachment 168968

Marvellous. Thank you

 

[Bozza]

Sounds like you don't need this information now, but in case yo do need to go through tolls, we hit a fair few between Geneva and Marseille and I used ApplePay on my phone for all of them, so pretty much any card will work for you.

 

[Is it PotG?]

Get the boat to Dunkirk, saves on driving time.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Did it in 2014. IIRC, no tolls. Flat, easy straight roads. You should be able to get from Calais to Amsterdam in about six hours.

6 hours . I've done it in 4 and a bit a few times.

 

[Ali_rrr]

As others have said, 6 would be really unlucky unless you hit rush hour around Antwerp. The ring road is horrendous there.

Once you're in NL it should be fairly plain sailing.

 

[Hastings gull]

Get the boat to Dunkirk, saves on driving time.

I have done this route by car for years. Yes, driving time is shorter as you confirm, but then the ferry time is longer, so not much gained, if at all. Also, beware that the Dunkirk ferries are not as frequent, so if you miss one . . . I am basing this on a year ago or so, when I last used the route, but if you are travelling on the day, do check carefully what the situation regarding Antwerp is. It is busy at the best of times, but there could still be huge hold-ups as massive road works are taking place, because a new tunnel is being constructed under the Scheldt. If your satnav or whatever tells you that the situation in Antwerp is bad, take that hint seriously and then look at another alternative. Look at the route from Ghent to Middelburg, again going under the Scheldt (you have to pay the toll) -mileage-wise it may be longer but could in the end be quicker. Hope this helps.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

As others have said, 6 would be really unlucky unless you hit rush hour around Antwerp. The ring road is horrendous there.

Once you're in NL it should be fairly plain sailing.

I'm on the Shuttle 9;20 on the Wednesday. Therefore with the hour ahead we will be in Calais by 11;10 so hope to be in our pre-booked car park by 3;30. Pick the tickets up from Dam Square then

 

[McTavish]

Get the boat to Dunkirk, saves on driving time.

Or even better go from Harwich.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

Done the drive quite a few times to Amsterdam and all the way to Sweden.

Leaving early from here is key. I would go via the tunnel and get the earliest one you can. Being in France early doors and through Antwerp earlier in the day is usually a good idea. Once you're past Antwerp it's usually pretty plain sailing.

A good tip, use the Waze app on your phone instead of (or as well as) Google maps. It reacts very quickly if there's an incident on the road ahead and reroutes you. Saved me hours the last time I drove back.

 

[Ali_rrr]

I'm on the Shuttle 9;20 on the Wednesday. Therefore with the hour ahead we will be in Calais by 11;10 so hope to be in our pre-booked car park by 3;30. Pick the tickets up from Dam Square then

Not bad! Definitely done it right by getting the earlier one!

 

[chaileyjem]

I'm going on a coach there and back. I thought if i could do up and down to Man Utd (A) and back in a day on a coach . i could do a one way to AMS. but its scheduled for at least 10 hours from London Vic coach station to centre of AMS. Big chunk of that will be getting to and through the Eurotunnel etc.

 

[trueblue]

Done the drive quite a few times to Amsterdam and all the way to Sweden.

Leaving early from here is key. I would go via the tunnel and get the earliest one you can. Being in France early doors and through Antwerp earlier in the day is usually a good idea. Once you're past Antwerp it's usually pretty plain sailing.

A good tip, use the Waze app on your phone instead of (or as well as) Google maps. It reacts very quickly if there's an incident on the road ahead and reroutes you. Saved me hours the last time I drove back.

Not used it abroad but my experience of Waze from a lot of driving here is that, while it's quick, it can be a bit trigger happy with the rerouting on motorways. Very good for local roads. Sometimes on the motorway it'll try to take you off to save a few minutes which is rarely worthwhile if there's a blockage as a) the smaller roads very quickly clog up and the ETA soon rises and rises b) it might just be some debris being cleared or similar, in which case the motorway very rapidly gets back to top speed. So agree it's definitely worth having another app open to see how much time Waze is meant to be saving.

 

[Bombardier]

Calais to Amsterdam showing a tadge over 4 hours. Having driven to Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp many times previously I can't see how it's 6 hours plus. With a clear road anyone driving to Amsterdam should be able to make it easily enough in time for beer o'clock!

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

6 hours . I've done it in 4 and a bit a few times.

Just showing off because you drive a Ferrari?

 

[Trufflehound]

As has been mentioned above, it's a good idea to avoid hitting the Antwerp ring road at peak times.

A lesser-known pinch point if you're driving via the A27 between Breda and Utrecht is a bridge around the town of Gorinchem. I wake up every morning to Dutch news radio and that area features more often on the traffic reports than anywhere else in the whole country, SNAFU'd on about 4 days out of every 5.

If you're not scared off by a little Dutch language, the ANWB (Dutch AA equivalent) website has the most real-time traffic information in the Netherlands: www.anwb.nl/verkeer They have an App too

And yes, just checked and there's a 6km queue with a 25-minute delay around Gorinchem as I type... (granted, it's southbound this time).

 

[AK74]

I find the tag very helpful for toll payments in France:

Emovis Tag UK

Travel without stopping on European Motorways. Emovis Tag UK can provide UK customers with a tag for automatic payment of motorway tolls in France, Spain & Portugal.

www.emovis-tag.co.uk

 

[Trufflehound]

I find the tag very helpful for toll payments in France:

Emovis Tag UK

Travel without stopping on European Motorways. Emovis Tag UK can provide UK customers with a tag for automatic payment of motorway tolls in France, Spain & Portugal.

www.emovis-tag.co.uk

There are no tolls on the stretch of French motorway between the tunnel and the Belgian border.