netherlands

Amsterdam is a particularly popular city for travellers, not least for its thriving nightlife and beautiful historic centre. But along with the throngs of visitors come high prices, and if not adequately prepared, the unsuspecting traveller can find themselves spending considerably more money than they had intended to.

With a bit of planning, however, it's possible spend time in Amsterdam without blowing a fortune - or, at the very least, being able to save your money during the day so that you can party hard at night, if that takes your fancy. This guide tells you how.

Budget Travel Online has a series of budget travel guides to Europe; here, they provide some suggestions for a day trip to Utrecht, in The Netherlands.

"Ignoring the tacky 70s mall that houses the Utrecht train station, press through the narrow medieval streets to the Oudegracht, the "old canal," dug around a thousand years ago. It's lined with bookshops and restaurants with terraces directly on the water."

The Amsterdam/London Express was, for several years, the most hassle-free method of getting between the two cities. One ticket would get you from London Liverpool Street Station via train to Harwich, then on a fast hydrofoil to Hoek van Holland, and then finally on another train to Rotterdam, The Hague or Amsterdam, in around six hours.

Sadly, the hydrofoil was removed at the beginning of 2007, but the service remains, now using ferries, and renamed as the DutchFlyer; possibly in jest, as the service takes twice as long as it did previously.

However, it still remains one of the least problematic methods for getting to the Netherlands, since there's no annoying airports to deal with. And, as The Guardian explains, you can travel with a clear conscience, too.