----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Elliott" <chelliot@xxxxxxxxx> To: "Richard Barnes" <rbarnes@xxxxxxx> Cc: "IAOC" <iaoc@xxxxxxxx>; "Iljitsch van Beijnum" <iljitsch@xxxxxxxxx>; "IETF-Discussion Discussion" <ietf@xxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 11:03 AM Subject: Re: Advance travel info for IETF-78 Maastricht > Richard, > > The site for the IETF in Dublin was easily an order of magnitude > farther from the city center than the MECC. In Dublin, there are few places where we can have something to be eaten. very inconvenient. If IETF or the host can arrange some shuttle bus to the nearby restaurant, that will be perfect. or more bikes; or someone opens the temporary restaurant for IETFers. :) > > Google Maps lists several restaurants in the 2-3km range walking. > That's doable even by an overweight out-of-shape American like me with > the normal 1.5 hours for lunch. Would do me good to spend more time > walking than eating. We could even advertise the meeting as a easy to > moderate workout week! > > I like the idea of rental bikes, but I suspect they may sell out > faster than rooms in the attached hotel... > > Enjoy! > Chris. > > > -- > Chris Elliott > > > On Mar 28, 2010, at 9:55 PM, Richard Barnes <rbarnes@xxxxxxx> wrote: > >> [Added IAOC] >> >> Iljitsch: Thanks very much for this information. I was not aware of >> this: >> >>> The MECC conference center is 2 - 3 kilometers from the city >>> center, where the restaurants are. >> >> IAOC: I had been getting used to the idea of Maastricht, with it >> being historic, nice city center and all. Iljitsch's observation >> makes me wonder if we learned nothing from Dublin, and are now >> choosing IETF venues from here: >> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_the_World#Remoteness> >> >> --Richard >> >> P.S. "WTFIAOC" is worth 65 points in Scrabble. 69 points in the >> Dutch edition! >> >> >> >>> 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, yo >>> u may either change trains in Liège (Belgium) or in Aachen. From A >>> achen, you have to go across the border to the Netherlands in Heer >>> len 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 >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Ietf mailing list >>> Ietf@xxxxxxxx >>> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Ietf mailing list >> Ietf@xxxxxxxx >> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf > _______________________________________________ > Ietf mailing list > Ietf@xxxxxxxx > https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf > _______________________________________________ Ietf mailing list Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf