For a weekend on Amsterdam’s Haarlemmerstraat, the useful finish line is the front door of your accommodation. A Eurostar search ends at Amsterdam Centraal. A flight search ends at Schiphol. You can compare the two prices in a minute, but those prices only buy part of each journey.
Here is a one-way comparison for one traveller leaving a flat in Kentish Town, London, with one overhead-size bag. All fares, the sterling value of the Dutch rail ticket and the journey times in the worked example are illustrative. For a real booking, use the same travel date, bag and destination on both sides of the page.
Start by picking two departures you would actually take. A cheap early flight is a poor comparator if the first convenient train to Heathrow arrives too late for it. A cheap evening Eurostar may require an extra afternoon off work. Write your earliest possible departure from home and latest acceptable arrival in Amsterdam at the top of the page. Discard options outside those hours before comparing prices.
Give each fare the same job
| Cost for one person | Direct Eurostar | Heathrow to Schiphol flight |
|---|---|---|
| Main ticket | £94.00 | £61.00 |
| Travel from home to departure point | £3.50 | £14.00 |
| Bag supplement in this quote | £0.00 | £19.00 |
| Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal | — | £5.50 |
| Walk from Centraal to the accommodation | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| Total to the door | £97.50 | £99.50 |
The air ticket starts £33 below the rail fare. The traveller finishes £2 better off by train once the bag and both airport journeys are included. The same person taking just the small bag included in the example airfare would spend £80.50 by air and save £17 against rail. Measure the bag you actually plan to pack before adding a supplement to either quote.
You can also use these numbers while shopping. With the overhead bag, the flight’s extras total £38.50. Subtract that from the £97.50 rail total and the airfare would have to be £59 or less to match or beat the train. With the smaller bag, the extras fall to £19.50 and the equivalent airfare rises to £78. These are useful numbers to keep beside you when the advertised fare changes at checkout.
Two people sharing a suitcase can produce a third result. Assume both pay the same fares shown, the airline charges £19 for one bag, and they can fit their belongings into it within the allowance. The rail journey costs £195 for two. The flight costs £122 for tickets, £28 to Heathrow, £11 from Schiphol and £19 for the shared bag. That makes £180, a £15 saving together. If the airline fare shown applies to only one remaining seat, repeat the search for two passengers before relying on that figure.
Eurostar’s adult Standard allowance includes two pieces of luggage and a small hand item. Its maximum bag length on London routes is 85 centimetres, and you must be able to carry your bags yourself. For the flight, read the dimensions of the included item on the fare you are pricing. A case sold as cabin luggage might exceed that fare’s allowance. If buying a fare bundle for its bag, enter the bundle price once and remove any duplicate bag charge.
Put the station and airport waits back on the clock
Eurostar runs direct services from London St Pancras International to Amsterdam Centraal. Its published London arrival guidance is 75 minutes for Standard and Plus. Heathrow recommends two hours at the airport before a flight to Europe. Use the instructions on your train ticket or airline booking where they differ. For the Dutch transfer, Schiphol puts its railway station beneath the terminal and gives about 17 minutes for the train ride to Centraal. Walking to the platform and waiting for the next departure need their own allowance.
| Elapsed time in this example | Train | Plane |
|---|---|---|
| Front door to station or terminal | 25 min | 70 min |
| Pre-departure time | 75 min | 120 min |
| Scheduled time on train or flight | 260 min | 75 min |
| From arrival to Amsterdam Centraal | Already at Centraal | 40 min to platform + 12 min wait + 17 min ride |
| Walk from Centraal to the front door | 12 min | 12 min |
| Total elapsed time | 6 hr 12 min | 5 hr 46 min |
The flight saves 26 minutes on this itinerary. If the walk, border queue and any baggage wait at Schiphol take 70 minutes instead of the 40 budgeted to reach the platform, the flight now takes 6 hours 16 minutes, four minutes longer than the train with the same onward waiting time. Neither result is a promise about queues. It tells you which part of your plan has the power to change the answer.
Check that the rail search result really is direct. Eurostar also sells London to Amsterdam journeys with a change in Brussels. For one of those, use the elapsed time printed for the whole itinerary, including the interval between trains. Likewise, the flight figure needs the scheduled time from departure to arrival. Starting a stopwatch at take-off and stopping it on landing would leave out part of the time you spend aboard.
At Schiphol, follow the station signs to Schiphol Plaza and check the departure screens for the next train serving your stop. If you pay by contactless card, the airport says the yellow readers stand above the escalators and lifts. Check in there and check out at your destination. Getting a ticket, locating the reader or waiting for a lift belongs in the time before the train ride. Anyone needing a slower walking pace can change that allowance without altering the scheduled rail journey.
Rework the last leg for your own address
Start with the address on the accommodation booking. If you are staying near Schiphol for an early meeting, the ride into central Amsterdam may serve no purpose. If your door is a short walk from Centraal, keep that walking time on both sides. For a fare quoted in euros, record the exchange rate you used so a change of currency does not masquerade as a cheaper journey.
If you are booking a return, compare the complete return prices offered by each operator. A Sunday flight might bring you back after your preferred connection from Heathrow, while a Sunday train might depart before your last engagement in Amsterdam finishes. Price a mixed journey too if the outward and homeward options suit different parts of the weekend. Calculate each direction using the address where that particular journey will actually start.
Consider two departures that fit the price examples but leave home at different times. If the train traveller leaves Kentish Town at 08.00 London time, six hours and twelve minutes later is 15.12 in Amsterdam, with the one-hour clock difference. Suppose the flight traveller can leave home at 09.00. The shorter journey then delivers them at 15.46 local time. A host who has to leave at 15.30 could hand keys to the train traveller. The flight traveller would need another arrangement.
Before booking, write down the final arrival time in Amsterdam local time next to each total. Comparing elapsed minutes avoids mixing departure and arrival clocks. Comparing the local arrival times answers a different, practical question. Will you reach the accommodation before the host stops handing out keys?