Air Travel

The easiest and only realistic option is to fly to Amsterdam (or Düsseldorf) from Helsinki. We usually book the journey from Vaasa, giving us an hour-long connecting flight to Helsinki. You can, of course, take the train or car to Helsinki, but you must consider things that could go wrong on the way down and mess up your plans.

The cost for a flight to Amsterdam from Vaasa is about €500, and from Helsinki, about €350. Finnair and KLM are usually the airlines used, but you can certainly take Lufthansa or AirBaltic, for example, though the journey will be more complicated, and you have to get to Helsinki or Tampere somehow.

The flight from Helsinki takes about 2.5 hours and is quite pleasant, allowing you to relax a bit. The lounge is an excellent alternative to the Oak Barrel if you have a longer layover. Paying nearly €15 for a single beer is a bit steep.

JesperW demonstrates some of the beverage selection on the return trip in 2024.

The Train Journey in Holland

Once you arrive at Schiphol outside Amsterdam, you can take a train to Nijmegen. The train costs about €25/one-way, and tickets are purchased at a machine or via the train company’s app. If you are two or more, it pays to buy group tickets in advance and thus travel for around €7–€17, depending on the number of passengers. The train station is located beneath the airport, so it is easy to find.

The journey takes about 1.5 hours and may be direct or require one change during the trip.

Note that there is no restaurant car, so any refreshments must be purchased beforehand. It can also be dirtier than what we are used to when traveling with VR, but nothing bothersome.

One thing worth mentioning is that you need the ticket to exit the platform; the ticket is scanned at the gate, so do not throw it away.

The Bus to Camp Heumensoord

There is a bus to Camp Heumensoord that starts at the train station. You buy a ticket by checking in with your bank card when you board. And remember to check out when you disembark; if you forget to check out, you will be charged the cost of a full day ticket instead. If I recall correctly, a single ticket was about €3.

The bus stops outside the gate, and you then have to wait for someone from the delegation management to come and let you in.

The Return Journey

The return journey is very simple; it is the same trip but in reverse order.