International train tickets

Buying a train ticket in the Netherlands is usually a simple task; go to the ticket machine, type your destination stations and pay directly by card. However, if you wish to go international, you might face some problems. If your destination is one of the ~20 biggest cities in Europe, no problem, you do not even have to go to the international ticket office at the station, you can buy the ticket directly from the NS ticket machine.
But if your destination is any smaller international station, you will have to buy your ticket at the ticket office, BUT not any international train ticket office, since only the ticket offices at the larger stations have the system for international tickets to all international stations. So in fact, you will probably have to buy a ticket to a larger station and go and buy your international ticket there.

Buy a ticket to buy a ticket? Yes, unless you can wait three days for delivery of your ticket, because then you can just book and buy your ticket online.

Photo courtesy: Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons