Gouda visit by train with Cheese Experience Entry from Amsterdam

Definitely go to Gouda and book the Cheese Experience in advance. It’s interactive a fun and very well organized. They do stick to the time slots, so plan on being there close to your time. Just don’t book through this particular company that includes the train. Trains are easy to do on your own by just tapping in and tapping out with your credit card or phone. The company that put this package together is terribly unhelpful. I wrote them the day before our tour because I was planning out our next morning and didn’t have our train tickets yet. They said I would receive them “shortly” or “early in the morning.” Got up the next morning and no tickets. I had planned for us to take an earlier train to Gouda to explore the town a bit before our Cheese tour, but this company felt they needed to tell me that I didn’t need to do that and I should just take the train that would get me there right before my tour. They state the the train ticket is open and dated, so why can’t I take any train I want? That’s not for them to decide. Finally, after begging, they sent a link to the tickets and we dashed out to catch our train. I tried using the QR code on the tickets to scan in at the train station and it would only let one of us through. I determined later that it’s because the scanner was reading my credit card and not the QR code. So I got charge for two round trip train rides to Gouda on top of it. The tickets they linked me to said the need to be printed. As I’m dashing out the door of my hotel to try to catch a train, how exactly am I supposed to print these tickets? The person on the phone also told me that it didn’t matter what time I booked the Cheese Experience tour for. That’s not true! If it was, then why do they ask you to book a time when purchasing this non-refundable package? This is the most ridiculous experience I’ve had with a Viator tour and I hope they cancel out his particular offer. It’s just not worth it. It’s non-refundable, of course, so why didn’t they send me my tickets as soon as I paid for them? They never answered that question. I’ve disputed the train charges with my credit card company, but who knows if they will honor it since the NL train company isn’t at fault. Lesson learned: Just get your own train tickets day of but book the Gouda Cheese Experience in advance with another booking company here on Viator!