Wolverhampton to Glasgow Central – Avanti West Coast in Standard Premium

The end of October last year saw me heading to Glasgow once again for work however, due to engineering works on the East Coast Mainline north of Doncaster and a fully booked Sleeper, I had to take a different route to normal. My route of choice was to head across to Birmingham and then catch an Avanti service from there and, with a four-hour journey to Scotland ahead of me I of course lined up a Seatfrog upgrade. Unfortunately, whilst on my way across to Birmingham, it became clear that my relaxing journey was already off to a bad start…

Hoek van Holland to Harwich – Stena Line ‘Stena Hollandica’ in an Outside Standard Cabin

With our holiday in Germany coming to a close and us having reached Rotterdam earlier in the afternoon onboard an NS ICD service, all that was left to do was make our way back to England. As with leaving the UK at the start of the trip, our return was to be via an overnight ferry, once again with Stena Line doing the reverse crossing from Hoek van Holland to Harwich. And so, after catching a local train from Rotterdam Centraal to Schiedam Centrum and a metro from there to Hoek van Holland Haven, we were at the port at 1900, around three hours before departure.

Hilversum to Rotterdam Centraal – NS Intercity Direct in 1st Class

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.

Hannover to Hilversum – Deutsche Bahn IC in 1st Class

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.

Hannover – Capital of Lower Saxony

With our base for the second half of our holiday in Germany being the town of Hildesheim, located around 30km to the south-east of Hannover, it would have been remiss of us to not spend at least one day exploring the capital of Lower Saxony. With two S-bahn lines and a regional train service connecting Hildesheim to Hannover, it’s a quick 30-minute train ride to the heart of Hannover city centre. From Hannover Hbf it’s easy to get around the city, with connections to the city’s U-bahn as well as being just a short walk from many of the sights.

Hamburg to Hannover – Detusche Bahn ICE in 1st Class

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.