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Advance travel info for IETF-78 Maastricht

2010-03-28 17:57:11
Even though many of you are still fighting jet lag, it's never too soon to 
start thinking about the next IETF meeting! Below some musings on how to get to 
Maastricht from various airports to aid those who want to book their plane and 
possibly train tickets.

Lunch:

But before that: Maastricht is the Netherlands' 19th largest city, about the 
same size as Ann Arbor. (Just over 100k inhabitants.) The MECC conference 
center is 2 - 3 kilometers from the city center, where the restaurants are. 
That's too far to walk for lunch, and I doubt the city busses or taxis are up 
to the task of transporting a thousand hungry IETF'ers back and fro in the 
alotted time, either. So it would be very good if lunch arrangements similar to 
those in Dublin could be made.

Ground transport:

Maastricht is located in the far southeast of the Netherlands, 215 km (by road) 
from Amsterdam. The city is located on the Belgian border and is also very 
close to Germany. There are some smaller airports closer to Maastricht than the 
ones mentioned below, but those don't serve many destinations and don't connect 
to the rail network so more hassle and as much or more time to reach Maastricht 
despite the shorter distance. Only consider these smaller airports if you know 
what you're doing.

You can of course rent a car at one of the airports and drive to Maastricht, 
and even commute between the MECC and your hotel by car if the hotel is located 
outside the inner city, but you'll probably need to get into the city for 
dinner anyway and being a few thousand years old, Maastricht's city center 
isn't really built for cars.

The most convenient airport to use would be Schiphol (Amsterdam) airport. From 
there, it takes about 2 hours, 35 minutes with one change to get to Maastricht 
by train with a connection every 30 minutes. A second class one way ticket is 
27.50 euros. The last train from Schiphol to Maastricht is at 22:16. The first 
train to Schiphol arrives at nine.

A good alternative is Brussels, from where Maastricht is about two hours with 
one or two changes and one connection per hour with regular national and 
international trains. The last connection to Maastricht is at around 21:39. The 
first train to Brussels airport arrives at nine on weekdays, ten on weekends. 
There are also a few high speed train connections which save you 30 minutes.

If you're arriving in Europe through Frankfurt or Paris, it may not make too 
much sense to first connect to Amsterdam or Brussels and then sit in a train 
for a few more hours. You may as well take the train directly from these 
airports to Maastricht. However, consider that missing train/plane connections 
is your problem, while plane/plane connections are the airline's problem. 
(Financially, at least.)

From Frankfurt, there is one connection per hour (weekdays) or one every two 
hours (weekends) that takes 4 hours, 46 minutes with regular national and 
international trains. The last connection to Maastricht without high speed 
trains leaves at around 18:22. The first connection to FRA without high speed 
trains arrives at 13:36.

From Frankfurt it is (of course) faster to take a high speed train, and from 
Paris it's the only option. The downside of high speed trains is that you 
can't just hop on like on a regular train, you need to book or reserve a seat 
on a specific train. Also, they run less often so if you miss one, you're in 
big trouble. Also check prices before you book (usually available 90 days 
before the travel date), international trains in general and especially high 
speed trains can be quite expensive.

From Frankfurt, there is an ICE connection several times a day that takes 
between 3 hours and 3 hours 41 minutes with 2 or 3 changes. The last 
connection to Maastricht is at 21:09. The first connection to FRA arrives at 
10:16, 11:51 on sundays.

From Paris, there is a thalys connection every two hours or so in the weekend 
and a bit more often during weekdays. The journey takes between 3 hours, 15 
minutes and 4 hours, 10 minutes, with one or two changes. The last connection 
to Maastricht is at 20:04 on weekdays and 18:49 on weekends. On weekdays, the 
first train to CDG arrives at 10:44, on the weekends 11:36.

You can also get from Heathrow to Maastricht in 5 to 6 hours with 2 or 3 
changes, but as the last connection from Heathrow is around five and from 
Maastricht the first one arrives at around noon (two hours later on weekends), 
this seriously limits your flight options.

The best place to investigate rail connections is http://www.bahn.de/ You may 
also want to check the website of NS, the Dutch railways: http://www.ns.nl/ 
(but only for Dutch trips, their international planner is incomplete and will 
often only show longer and more expensive options) and 
http://www.maastrichtbrusselexpress.nl/ I have no recommendations on where to 
book train tickets.

From Schiphol, the recommended way to get to Maastricht is with a change in 
Utrecht. Don't go through Amsterdam, it takes longer and it's not covered by a 
regular ticket. From London, Paris and Brussels airport you have to change in 
Brussels South/Zuid/Midi or Brussels North/Noord/Nord. (The latter is faster 
if it's an option.) You may have to change again in Liège. From Frankfurt, you 
may either change trains in Liège (Belgium) or in Aachen. From Aachen, you 
have to go across the border to the Netherlands in Heerlen and then on to 
Maastricht.

Note that because the big cities are so close together, the Dutch rail network 
has a lot of commuters so it's best to avoid peak times, and/or consider 
traveling first class. However, by late july the students that fill up the 
trains, especially during the friday afternoon peak, have their summer break. 
Don't bother buying tickets for the Schiphol - Maastricht train in advance, 
it's a hassle and the price is the same on the day of travel anyway. However, 
for international train tickets it's generally cheaper to book early and it's 
important to get those reservations in for the high speed trains.

The sun sets around 21:30 the week of IETF-78, so even if you're attending the 
last session on friday and fly on saturday morning you can catch a train to 
Amsterdam or (my recommendation) Rotterdam and do some late afternoon / early 
evening sight seeing (from the outside at least - most attractions will be 
closed by then) and stay there overnight to avoid the need to get up insanely 
early to catch the train to the airport for a morning flight. (That train that 
gets you to Schiphol at 8:59 leaves Maastricht at 6:26.) The train from 
Amsterdam central station to Schiphol takes 15 minutes, from Rotterdam there 
are a few connections that take 25 minutes.

I'll have more information about travel within Maastricht itself and some other 
details a few weeks before the meeting.

Some names in Dutch:

Parijs - Paris
Londen - London
Brussel - Brussels/Bruxelles
Luik - Liège
Aken - Aachen
Keulen - Cologne/Köln
Nederland - the Netherlands
Duitsland - Germany
België - Belgium
Frankrijk - France
Engeland - England

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