From Bermondsey to Rotterdam/Vlaardingen?

Question

Okay, so I'm a 15-year-old girl.

I've decided that I'm going to live somewhere in the Netherlands when I'm older.

But my geography, travel and maths skills are awful, so I have some questions:

1- Where are Rotterdam and Vlaardingen (I know they're in Holland, but which part- wikipedia wasn't clear enough)?

2- How do I work out the currency (how do I convert pounds to euros)?

3- How do I get there (how long will it take, when's the best time to travel, etc)?

4- What do I do when I get there (in terms of accomodation)?

If you want best answer, regard the following:

-No negative stuff about the Netherlands.

-No trying to be funny.

-No 'you shouldn't' be thinking so far ahead at your age' rubbish

-Please be clear and concise.

-I have already tried wikipedia, google and ask.com, but if you can find anything from these/other sites, please say in your answer

Best answer to whoever helps me the most.

Answer 1

well i've got to say 'bla bla' has given you the best answer to all your queries, you should take her advice, and she should change her name to 'miss/mrs google'

Answer 2

working out the currency - at the minute, the exchange rate is about 1.21 euro to the pound.  so all you need to do is multiply the amount of money you have in pounds by 1.21 (or whatever the rate happens to be at the time)

accommodation - you could go out to the area beforehand for a few days, and have a look at which parts of the city you'd like to live in.  also, visiting first would mean that you could see which estate agents were over there, and take details of their web address, so that you could then find something while you're still in the UK.

it sounds like you're taking quite a sensible approach to all this, even if you are only 15.  good luck.

Answer 3

Well I’m not desperate for the points, so I’ll write it in the same way as I normally write answers, and not to any “rules”

1- They are both located in the province “Zuid Holland” (South Holland) and are very close to one another - 14km (which is 8.7 miles) and equates to 17 minutes driving time.  You can see both on a map here (route planner which shows a map plus directions) http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/g...

2- A nice site to use (you can just type the amount in and it converts it for you into/from any currency to another is http://www.xe.com/ucc/

3- Living in Bermondsey, you have any number of options to get to the Netherlands

I presume you mean you want to get to Rotterdam, (because Amsterdam and Eindhoven also have airports which are used a lot), but ok, working on the premise that you want to move to Rotterdam then you have a number of choices:

(a) by plane – VLM flies from London City to R’dam, and KLM from Heathrow to Rotterdam.  However flights to Rotterdam have a tendency be more expensive than those to Eindhoven  Amsterdam, so if you are visiting NL then just check Eastjet from Gatwick to Amsterdam, or Ryanair from Stansed to Eindhoven (although you have to factor in the train costs which you can check on this site in English http://www.ns.nl/en/).  London to Amsterdam takes 1hr 15 mins (approx).  To get the best prices, book well in advance and this site is nice as it gives you all airlines and the cheapest price on offer collected from different sites  http://www.skyscanner.net/.  If you are moving over here then do not go by plane as the excess luggage charges will cost the earth!

(b) By car/ferry you can go from Harwich to Hoek van Holland which takes 6hrs 15 mins and you can book here http://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/  and then a train from Hoek van Holland to Rotterdam.  

(c) By coach.  This is really cheap, but you would have to check how much luggage you can take with you http://www.eurolines.co.uk  From London to Rotterdam ranges from 9 hours to 11 hours

4- Don’t just move over.  Take a trip (or more than one) first and check out the accommodation situation (either online or via agencies) and also the job situation (again there are sites like www.monsterboard.nl/ or you can go to an “Uitzendburo” (job agency) depending on your education and desired occupation.  Talk to local people to get a feel of the place, what are the better places to live etc etc

One point you haven't mentioned is the language.  Yes the level of English in Amsterdam, Den Haag and to a lesser extent Rotterdam, is good, but you will need to learn Dutch to help you with how to deal with shopping, utility bills, filing taxes, etc etc.  So check out if there is a night-time or summer course close to where you live and start now.  The more you learn the easier it will be

Personally I don’t think it’s wrong for you to be thinking ahead.  I think actually you are a smart cookie for thinking about your future and what you want to do with it.  A lot of people just amble through life without a direction. It’s always good to have a dream, and if you can make it real, well that’s perfect, so I for one, wish you the very best of luck