London to Amsterdam in 48 hours: A two-day itinerary

Catching a train into the capital opens up the continent, and continuing straight on to Amsterdam gives you a proper European trip over just a couple of days. Once you get there, filling your itinerary isn't hard, as there’s plenty to see and do.

Hop on the train and step into the city centre

Figuring out how to travel from London to Amsterdam by train is mostly about getting to St Pancras, the only station that operates high-speed trains to the Dutch capital. By booking in advance, you will enjoy attractive fares. Save on the cost of your trip by staying flexible on your departure date and time.

The train drops you right at Amsterdam Centraal, which sits on the waterfront. Walk out through the main hall, and you're immediately looking at dark canals, narrow seventeenth-century facades and swarms of black bicycles clattering over the cobbles. There isn't any industrial periphery to get through first. Once your bags are dropped off at your hotel, you can step outside and start exploring the local culture.

Exploring markets, galleries and neighbourhood streets

You might begin by wandering south through the main canal rings down to Museumplein. It's a huge patch of lawn caught between the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. You'll usually catch local buskers playing near the water basins while people sprawl on the grass. Getting museum passes on your phone a day or two before you leave Sussex might be wise, mostly so you don't end up standing in a morning queue when you could be staring at Vermeers.

When hunger hits, you could cross over into De Pijp. It feels completely different from the museum district, with a louder, local grit centred on the Albert Cuyp Markt. You'll likely catch the smell of warm caramel from the stroopwafel irons well before you see the stalls, surrounded by vendors slicing young Gouda. Grab a fresh waffle, pick a small table outside a corner spot and just watch the street move.

Walking west brings you into the 9 Streets, where small stone bridges connect tight lanes full of vintage clothes, old records and independent bakeries. One thing to keep in mind while looking up at the gables is to stay off the red asphalt. Dutch cyclists move fast; they don't stop for tourists, and they expect the lane to stay clear.

Getting around and unwinding by the water

If your feet give out, thankfully, getting around isn't much of a challenge. Blue and white trams run down the main corridors, and you can just tap a UK contactless card on the reader when you step aboard.

Towards evening, you could look for a canal-side table along the Prinsengracht. Eating local Dutch food outdoors while wooden tour boats slide under lit stone bridges is about as good as a city break gets.

If there's time on Sunday before heading back to Sussex, a fifteen-minute local train out to Haarlem takes you to quiet cobbled courtyards and traditional windmills. It caps off a couple of days away without leaving you feeling like you were running on a stopwatch.