Trains from The Hague to Amsterdam, Schiphol, Rotterdam and Brussels

The Hague has two main stations and they are not alternatives.

Den Haag Centraal is a terminus: trains arrive, reverse and go back.

Hollands Spoor sits on the through line south, so trains that are passing through on their way somewhere else call there instead.

Get that the wrong way round and you will stand on the wrong platform in the wrong part of town.

For Amsterdam, Schiphol, Utrecht and Gouda you want Centraal.

For anything running the length of the country north to south, HS is often the one, and it is on tram lines 1, 11, 12 and 16 rather than the tunnel lines.

Amsterdam

Two intercities an hour run from Den Haag Centraal to Amsterdam Centraal via Leiden, Haarlem and Sloterdijk.

A second class single is 15.30 euro at the 2026 full rate, 12.24 euro with a 20% discount and 9.18 euro with 40%.

A second pair of intercities an hour runs the other way round, from Hollands Spoor via Schiphol and Amsterdam Zuid, continuing north to Almere, Lelystad and on to Zwolle, Groningen and Leeuwarden.

If your destination is the Zuidas rather than the canals, that is the train.

Schiphol

Two intercities an hour from Den Haag Centraal, via Leiden, on the services that carry on to Groningen and to Leeuwarden.

A single is 11.10 euro full price, 8.88 euro at 20% off and 6.66 euro at 40%.

One thing to watch when your route runs over the high-speed line.

NS charges a supplement for the Intercity direct and the ICE, 3.20 euro for a single in 2026, and it applies on the stretch between Schiphol and Rotterdam Centraal.

Travelling from The Hague to Schiphol does not involve it.

Travelling from The Hague to Rotterdam via Schiphol, which a journey planner will occasionally suggest, does.

If you fly often there is a monthly IC direct supplement at 92.50 euro, and an IC Direct Altijd Toeslag Vrij at 74.50 euro a month for people who already hold an NS Flex subscription.

Rotterdam

The shortest and the cheapest of the four.

A single from Den Haag Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal is 6.40 euro full price, 5.12 euro at 20% and 3.84 euro at 40%.

Two intercities an hour run from Centraal through HS and Delft, and there are four sprinters an hour on the same corridor from HS calling at the local stops.

Two intercities an hour also run Den Haag to Rotterdam and on to Breda, Tilburg and Eindhoven, and another two to Dordrecht, Roosendaal and Vlissingen.

Between them that corridor has more trains than any other out of this city, which is why plenty of people here work in Rotterdam and think nothing of it.

Brussels, and the thing nobody tells you

There is no direct train from The Hague to Brussels and there has not been one since December 2021.

The old Beneluxtrein called at Hollands Spoor; its replacements do not.

What runs now is two different services, sixteen trains a day each, and they are genuinely different trains with non-interchangeable tickets.

The Eurocity Direct takes the high-speed line: Brussels to Rotterdam Centraal in 1 hour 30, calling at Schiphol, Amsterdam Zuid, Almere and Lelystad.

The classic EuroCity runs Brussels to Rotterdam via Antwerp, Noorderkempen and Breda in 2 hours 7, and is noticeably cheaper.

From The Hague you change, and Rotterdam Centraal is the obvious place to do it.

Add the twenty-odd minutes and the 6.40 euro to get there, and Brussels is still a comfortable day out.

B-Europe quotes second class returns from Brussels to Rotterdam from about 20 euro on the Eurocity Direct and from about 13 euro on the slower EuroCity.

For Paris and London, Eurostar leaves from Rotterdam Centraal and Amsterdam Centraal.

You cannot tap in with a bank card or an OV-chipkaart for it: Eurostar needs a ticket with a reservation, bought in advance, and your domestic leg to Rotterdam is a separate matter.

One oddity worth knowing about: the European Sleeper night train, which runs three nights a week between Brussels and Berlin and on to Prague, does call at Den Haag HS.

It is the only direct international train this city still has, and it leaves in the evening and arrives the following morning.

What to buy if you travel regularly

NS raised fares 6.5% on 1 January 2026, and its own reporting is that discount products are selling harder as a result.

The ones that matter:

Dal Voordeel is the obvious first move: 6.35 euro a month on NS Flex, or 76.20 euro a year if you travel on saldo, and it gives 40% off outside peak hours, at weekends and on public holidays.

Look at the Amsterdam fare again: 15.30 euro becomes 9.18 euro.

Two return trips a month pays for it.

Weekend Vrij is 39.50 euro a month for unlimited weekend travel, or 43.50 euro with weekday off-peak discount folded in.

Dal Vrij, which is unlimited off-peak travel across the country, is 127.95 euro a month, and 59.95 euro if you are over 65.

Altijd Vrij, unlimited at any time, is 399.95 euro a month.

Two products were withdrawn from sale on 1 February 2026, Weekend Voordeel and Altijd Voordeel.

If someone recommends one to you, they are working from last year’s advice.

Children, dogs and bikes

Kids Vrij lets under-twelves travel free with a paying adult, though it needs a personal OV-chipkaart, which costs 7.50 euro if you do not already have one.

Without that, a Railrunner ticket is 2.50 euro and covers a child for the whole day.

A dog day ticket is 3.70 euro.

A bicycle day ticket is 8.50 euro, and bikes travel outside peak hours only, which is the one respect in which the train beats the bike-and-tram problem inside the city, where trams take no bikes at all.

Paying

Tap a contactless bank card, exactly as on the tram, with one difference that catches people at the barriers: NS wants at least 20 euro of available balance on the account before it will let you check in.

The whole system is covered in the OVpay article, including what to do when you forget to check out.

A single-use paper chipcard from the machine carries a 1.60 euro surcharge on top of the fare, which is another small argument for the card in your pocket.

Some of the outlying stations are worth knowing about if you are still choosing where to live.

Ypenburg has its own station eight minutes from Centraal, and Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indie in Bezuidenhout is five.

For a commute that starts with a train, the station is worth more than the square metres.

Sources

• NS Tarieven Consumenten, geldig vanaf 1 januari 2026: second class single fares by tariff unit giving 15.30 euro, 12.24 euro and 9.18 euro for Den Haag Centraal to Amsterdam Centraal, 11.10 euro, 8.88 euro and 6.66 euro to Schiphol, and 6.40 euro, 5.12 euro and 3.84 euro to Rotterdam Centraal; Toeslag ICE / IC direct 3.20 euro; IC direct Toeslag maand 92.50 euro; IC Direct Altijd Toeslag Vrij 74.50 euro a month; Dal Voordeel 6.35 euro a month on NS Flex and 76.20 euro a year on saldo; Weekend Vrij 39.50 euro and 43.50 euro including off-peak discount; Dal Vrij 127.95 euro and Dal Vrij 65+ 59.95 euro; Altijd Vrij 399.95 euro; Railrunner 2.50 euro; Dagkaart Hond 3.70 euro; Dagkaart Fiets 8.50 euro; Kids Vrij free with a personal OV-chipkaart costing 7.50 euro; a 1.60 euro surcharge on single-use chipcards; Weekend Voordeel and Altijd Voordeel no longer sold from 1 February 2026
• Treinreiziger.nl: NS fares rising 6.5% from 1 January 2026, with NS reporting increased sales of discount products
• Den Haag Centraal and Den Haag HS service lists (Wikipedia, current timetable sections): two intercities an hour to Amsterdam Centraal via Leiden and Haarlem, hourly services to Schiphol and Amsterdam Zuid continuing to Groningen and Leeuwarden, two an hour to Rotterdam, Breda, Tilburg and Eindhoven, two an hour on the Vlissingen route, and four sprinters an hour from HS to Rotterdam and Dordrecht
• B-Europe, Eurocity Direct: Brussels to Rotterdam in 1h30 on the Eurocity Direct calling at Schiphol, Amsterdam Zuid, Almere and Lelystad, and 2h07 on the EuroCity via Breda; sixteen trains a day on each; tickets not interchangeable; indicative second class return fares from 20 euro and 13.10 euro
• Beneluxtrein (Dutch Wikipedia): Den Haag HS no longer served by direct trains to Brussels since December 2021, with passengers changing at Rotterdam or Breda
• NS International: Eurostar requires a ticket with a reservation and cannot be used with the OV-chipkaart or a single-use chipcard, and the Intercity direct supplement applies between Schiphol Airport and Rotterdam Centraal
• European Sleeper: the Brussels to Berlin and Prague night train calling at The Hague, running three nights a week in each direction
• NS, travelling and paying with your debit card: a minimum of 20 euro available on the account before a train check-in is permitted
• Gemeente Den Haag, slim parkeren Park + Ride: eight minutes by train from Station Ypenburg to Den Haag Centraal and five minutes from Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indie