Getting Around Amsterdam

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Arriving in Schipol airport I faced the first challange when I bought a train ticket at the ticket machine to Amsterdam.

It actually gave me two choice of routes. I then bought the cheaper one (Euro 3.80 in October 2012). As it turned out this is for any sprinter train. You may use any train BUT the Fyra trains which cost a supplement. Since the train journey is short anyway there is no point in buying the more expensive ticket IMO. What upset me, was that if you pay by credit card there is a surcharge of 50 cents. Not having a debit card which I can use abroad, I had no option to get the ticket at its basic price. The machines don't take cash and apparently when you buy it at the counter there is a surcharge too.

For Amsterdam itself, I bought us 48 hour cards at the GVB office in front of the Central Railway station in Amsterdam. You will find this office to the left of the tourist office with a separate entrance. I bought the tickets from the card with pin machine at no surcharge for credit cards. You could also draw a number and buy it from the counter.

From the tram/bus driver you can only buy a one hour or 24 hour card. Please note that if you want to buy a top up card, then the basic card costs you 5 Euro. IMO this is only worth it when you plan to revisit Amsterdam various times within 3 years.

Information about public transport in Amsterdam

http://www.9292ov.nl/ and http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ for the English version. Or call 0900-9292 (70 cpm) (all public transport in the Netherlands)

http://www.gvb.nl/ (bus, tram and metro)

http://www.connexxion.nl/ (bus)

http://www.ns.nl/ (train)

Transportation around Amsterdam to museums, attractions, beaches and historic towns within an hour: http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/aroundamsterdam/regionaltransport

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport is modern and easy to navigate. You'll find all kinds of overpriced shops and bars and a clean and efficient atmosphere. The lines for international departure can be a bit slow and long, so be sure you allow yourself enough time to catch your flight. The best way, in my opinion, to reach the city or to get from the city to the airport is by train. The embarcation point and arrival point is in Central Hall which is near key airport gates. The trip to and from Centraal Station only costs 3.10 Euros (February of 2004).

While in the Canal tour, we came across many of these tourist boats docked at the habour. From the outside, it looks totally Huge and peeking inside, we could see people in fine dining areas, glittering chandeliers .. sort of like the Titanic (before it sank, of course) :-p

An easy way to get to your Hotel in Amsterdam, is with the Schiphol Hotel Connexxion service. I booked it at the Airport on arrival and paid for the return trip, this in 2009 cost 22euro. I then walked outside to where it was waiting, and it wasn't long before I was on my Hotel's doorstep. For the return journey, my Hotel rang and made the booking a day before, (this is required) and once again, I was picked up from the Hotel and taken to the Airport. I found it very convenient. There website will show you a map of the Airport with where there counter is located.

My flight from Bangkok to Amsterdam was with KLM Airlines. As it was an 11 hour flight, I thought that we would have individual Television sets, but this was not the case. You only had Televisions scattered throughout the Plane, which meant you had to watch that Movie! My flight back was the same. Food sometimes was Ok, and other times awful. Service varied from good to not the best as well. I was told by another "flyer" that they used to be a top Airline, but are no more, after my experience, I think this is true.

At SCHIPHOL airport use the yellow machines(instructions in english), put 3.60euro for a ticket and take a train(one every 10') to CENTRAL STATION which is in the center of the city. There you will find the Tourist Info where you can buy a map for 2 euro but the most important is that there is also the starting point or the 10 tram lines that will bring u to your hotel. What's more u will find there many buses or the metro station.

The city is walkable and most of the sights are in the center but buy a stripenkart(15 strips 6euro, 45 strips 20euro) because you can use it at trams/bus/metro (1zone 2 strips, 2zones 3 strips, it's easy and anyway the driver will validate it for u) and not only in A'dam but in other cities too like Roterdam, Den Haag etc

Everyone in the city has a bicycle, even the tourists so it's a good idea to explore the city at least for some hours with a bicycle. There are several places to hire a bike but my favorite is ORANGE BIKE at Singel 233(50meters from Dam Square). They have new bikes. for 3 hours(6euro), for 1 day(8,5euro), for 7 days and more(4euro per day). Never leave unlocked your bike!

There are many boat tours(7euro for 1,5hour) in the city but take one the first day so u can have a good view of the city and the canals so to know where u are and what u see later. Usually they have tape guides except the museum boat that works like a bus with stops that u can hop on and off. There are also canal bikes but be careful of the bigger boats please! :)

Although there´s a lot of water in and near to Amsterdam you better go by train or car to Amsterdam. You go 2.5 hours from Brussels by car, 3.5 hours from Hannover by car as well, train should be similar.
Take care in the Netherlands, they control a lot the traffic, don´t drive too fast. In the Netherlands max veolicity is 110 km/h.