Public Transport

This was a real eye-opener on the trip.  We used Oyster cards in London and something similar in Den Haag, and we recharged them at machines or at information offices.  In Edinburgh and Glasgow we bought daily tickets, and in Berlin and Frankfurt there were multi-day passes.  And they all worked on trains, buses and trams - faultlessly.  And they weren't too expensive.

Of course, such public transport can only function when it's been well-planned, integrated, fitted into the city and is a viable alternative to car ownership.  Although it must be noted that while Honey in London can get around mostly by bus, she is going to buy a car to cope with a toddler and a baby.

What really got to me though was the general attitude to public transport, compared to what we have in Australia - especially Canberra.  They might have had different timetables on the weekend, but it wasn't obvious.  Compare that to taking an ACTION bus from one of our outer suburbs on a Sunday afternoon.

The staff at the big stations in Brussels, Schipol and Berlin were very helpful, and - despite their protestations - agreeably fluent in English.

Finding information about trains in various places wasn't too hard, but occasionally provided a problem.  Commuter trains in London and the Netherlands and the S- and U-Bahn in Germany all had displays that told you when the next train was due and where it would be going, and they also announced what the next stop would be.  The trams in Den Haag did this so regularly that we were chanting along with the announcer "de volgende halte is ...".

The only real problem was had was in Frankfurt, which should have been the easiest really.  The timetables seemed to indicate that the best way to get to the airport was to get the 9 S-Bahn, which left around 7pm from platform 21.  But, just before 7 a train came into that platform and shut down.  Fortunately, we were able to check with a couple of other passengers and they confirmed that the train at the adjoining platform also went to the airport.  A ten-minute ride later, we were there with plenty of time to spare.