Europe: Amsterdam and region, Den Haag and South Holland, Brussels, Paris
Actually I have posted similar post before, but it was mainly about transportation in Central Europe countries. This post will be focusing on Western Europe countries' transportation, but you can always click to this link to see the post :)
Traveling in Europe with public transport requires you to do a thorough research. You need to know, understand, and choose which ticket that will give you the most benefit with reasonable price. And also, you need to know where you will go each day so you will know what ticket you should choose. A detailed plan will help you a lot, for sure!
Okay, so here we go. My family and I traveled to Europe for vacation, and for me, after that I'll be spending one year for completing my undergraduate program in Groningen! We traveled from 19th-29th August and here I'll share the details how we travel between cities or countries.
1. Amsterdam and region (19th-20th Aug)
For each day we bought different ticket. So we knew that we're going to travel within Amsterdam on the first day, and travel around Amsterdam region the next day. Region here means Volendam, Edam, and Zaanse Schans. Of course you can add other towns included in Amsterdam region to your list!
The first day we bought GVB 24 hrs ticket costed €7.50 each person. This ticket allows us to travel by metro, bus, and tram of GVB unlimited. I think this is a pretty good deal, cause we had so many places to visit with so little time.
The next day, we bought 1 day Amsterdam and the Region ticket costed €18.50 each person. It's more expensive, yes, but if you use it well, you'll thank it! It doesn't only allow you to travel by GVB transportation, but with other operators, too, like Conexxion, EBS, and even NS! We also use this ticket to travel within Amsterdam. And oh, we even travel by GVB boat with this ticket! (but I think if we buy GVB transportation card, we still can use the boat since it is owned by GVB).
2. Den Haag and South Holland (21st-22nd Aug)
Actually, we plan to only traveling in Den Haag, but we saw that there is a ticket for traveling to Den Haag and nearby cities, such as Rotterdam and Kinderdijk! Because we had 1.5 days to spent there, so buying 1 day traveling ticket is a pretty good deal! The first day was dedicated for traveling outside Den Haag, which were. Rotterdam and Kinderdijk. The ticket, which costs €13.50, also allows us to travel with public transport in Rotterdam. Apparently Den Haag, Rotterdam, and nearby cities are served with public transports by HTM. And for going to Kinderdijk, we can use Waterbus (yep, a boat) from Rotterdam. It is included. Be aware that this ticket cannot be used to travel with NS. Too bad!
On 22nd Aug, we bought 1 day ticket for traveling in Den Haag. It costed €6.50 each ticket. We could only use tram and bus with this ticket. Well, that's fine, because we could visit everything we want to visit with this ticket, even we got to visit Scheveningen Beach! So cool 😎
Brussels (22nd-23rd Aug)
For Brussels, we only bought one day ticket for 23rd Aug, because we arrived at night at the hotel and decided we stayed in hotel. The travel ticket for 24 hrs costed €7.50, and we can use metro, tram, and bus by SITB MIVB. Although Brussels has 2 transport companies, another one is de Lijn, every touristic places in Brussels can be reached by SITB MIVB, so no need to be worry.
Paris (24th-26th Aug)
Paris' 1 day ticket, not 24 hours ticket, is called Mobilis. It costs €7.50 each ticket. We travelled in Paris for two days, so everyone has to buy 2 one day tickets. The rule of the game is simple, everytime you enter a bus or metro (haven't used any tram in Paris, or maybe there is none..), you should validate it. If the ticket is not working, you can go to the metro station and talk to the officer there, I think it's normal if the ticket is not working if it's still valid for that day.
For one journey ticket, Paris is the cheapest. It costs only €1.90. And the machine to buy the ticket also accepts banknotes so it should be okay to travel. The only downside is the fact that they don't provide escalator or elevator to enter and to exit the metro station. So for you, big luggage traveler, GOOD LUCK.
Groningen (26th-29th Aug)
I have to say that I'm not big fan of the bus here in Groningen, it's less frequent, well, maybe because most people here cycle everywhere so the bus are not really needed. For one hour ride, you can pay €2.50/person, and if you think you want to travel more frequently with bus, consider buying 1 day ticket. It costs €10 and one ticket can be used for 2 people! Oh.. If you want to take the bus, you have to sign first with your hand so that the bus will stop at the bus stop.
