Netherlands Transportation

A dense web of tram lines, bus routes and underground metros cover the major cities and link towns together.

No matter where you travel locally, all you need is the strip card ('strippenkaart') as it is accepted all over the country. These are sold at post offices, news agents, train stations, tourist info offices and at many hotels and hostels.

Stamping the card grants you an hour's worth of travel for as far as you like on as many buses or trams as it takes, as long as you stamp enough strips. Fold the card to the strip you want stamping and stick it into the validating machines on board the tram.

Chant this mantra before stamping your card: 'A strip for me, a strip for the zone I'm in and a strip for each zone I'm travelling into.'

In most city centres, that means stamping only two strips as you will probably stay in the same zone the entire time. Most bus and tram stops have maps showing the zones (based on local post codes, I think).

So if you're in zone 1000 and staying in that zone, you need 2 strips. For a trip from 1000 to 1001, it's 3 strips. From 1000 to 1002 (going through 1001), it's 4 strips, etc etc.

If someone is travelling with you, stamp your strip and then stamp theirs on the same card.

On most buses and on practically all Amsterdam trams, the driver stamps the card for you. They will also want to see your stamped card when you board if you're travelling within your allotted hour.

The time on the card is not an exact science and there were several times they were happy to let us on even though the stamp was a little over an hour old.

Not enough strips left? Stamp the last one on the old card AND the neccessary strips on the new card.

In April 2005 we paid 6.50 euro for cards with 15 strips (that's 43 euro cents a strip).

If you board a bus or tram and need to buy a ticket for your journey, you will pay at least an extra euro! That means a trip through central Amsterdam shoots up from 86 euro cents (2 strips) to nearly twice as much, at 1 euro 60 cents. So get stripping!

Netherlands Transportation

Visiting Netherlands?

Visiting Netherlands?