With us having arrived back in The Netherlands by way of a Deutsche Bahn (DB) Intercity service from Hannover, our arrival into Rotterdam at the end of this leg would just leave a couple of local trains/metros before boarded the ferry home. And so, for this final long-distance train of the trip from Hilversum to Rotterdam Centraal, we’d be travelling onboard one of NS’ (Dutch Railways) new Intercity trains in 1st class. These Intercity Nieuwe Generatie (ICNG) trains have been introduced since my last journey on an NS ‘Intercity Direct’ service so I was looking forward to trying one out.

After an enjoyable couple of weeks spent based in Dresden and Hildesheim, with plenty of exploring of both those cities and day trips to others, it was unfortunately time to head home. The journey back to the UK would see us heading back to The Netherlands and the city of Rotterdam, before catching the overnight ferry back across the North Sea to Harwich. However, before we got there, there would be a couple more interesting trains to try out and so, after a short S-bahn ride into from Hildesheim, we found ourselves at Hannover Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) once again, ready to begin heading west.

After a full day of exploring the wonderful city of Hamburg which included the obligatory visit to Miniatur Wunderland as well as plenty of other sights, it was time to make my way back to Hildesheim. For this return journey, I’d be travelling on a Deutsche Bahn (DB) ICE service from Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) to Hanover Hbf where I’d change on to the Hanover S-bahn network to get back to Hildesheim. And so, with about an hour before the train departed I was sat nursing a coffee in the McDonalds overlooking the platforms at Hamburg Hbf as although DB do have a lounge for first class passengers, access isn’t allowed for those travelling on cheaper tickets.