Amsterdam

Availability

Book Now

Overview

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. With more than one million inhabitants in its urban area, it is the country’s largest city and its financial, cultural, and creative centre. Amsterdam is colloquially known as Venice of the North, because of its lovely canals that criss-cross the city, its impressive architecture and more than 1,500 bridges. There is something for every traveller’s taste here, whether you prefer culture and history, serious partying, or just the relaxing charm of an old European city.

More information on Wikitravel

Amsterdam Airport

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ( IATA: AMS ) is one of the busiest airports in the world, situated 15km south-west of the city.

The national carrier for the Netherlands is KLM, now merged with Air France. With partner Delta Air Lines they offer worldwide connections. The US, Asia and Europe are particularly well served at Schiphol. British Airways offer up to 15 flights per day to 3 London Airports; Heathrow, Gatwick and London City.

Transavia, Jet2.com, Easyjet, and other low-cost carriers serve Schiphol, providing a fairly economical way to city-hop to Amsterdam from other spots in Europe.

When leaving Amsterdam, give yourself enough time to get to your plane and through security (especially when flying to the United States)! Schiphol is a large airport — be there at least 2 hrs in advance. If you have time to kill, drop into the Rijksmuseum’s Schiphol branch, between E and F Pier (non-Schengen area airside), which is free and open 07:00-20:00 daily.
Coin-operated storage lockers are located along the main hallway through the transit/departure area, across from the start of the E wing. From €6 per 24 hr, maximum one week.

Airport Transfer

Train
From Schiphol there is a direct train to Amsterdam Central Station, for €3.90 (or €7.80 for same-day return), in 20 min. Buy the ticket from the machine (yellow with blue writing, pictured here on the right); if you purchase your ticket at the counter you will pay €0.50 extra. There are many machines. Most machines accept credit or debit cards, but sometimes they don’t accept cash. Don’t buy the comfort class ticket, buy a single ticket for second class. This ticket is valid on Sprinter, Intercity and night trains to Amsterdam – but not on Thalys.

The train station at Schiphol is located underground, under the main airport hall; trains to Amsterdam Central Station usually run from platform 3. Keep in mind that there are two separate railwaylines to Amsterdam; one goes to Amsterdam Centraal station and the other goes to Amsterdam Zuid (Amsterdam South). There will be a lighted sign board on the yellow train. The train for Centraal will say either: AMSTERDAM CENTRAAL or AMSTERDAM CS. These lines are not connected with each other so check if the train you board goes to the Amsterdam you want.

There are 4 to 5 trains per hour between Schiphol and Amsterdam in peak times. Trains run all night, although between 1am and 5am only once an hour during week days. The airport is connected with Amsterdam twice an hour in weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights). The price and duration of the journey are the same as during the day.

Watch out for pick-pockets and baggage thieves: a common trick is a knock on your window to distract you, so that an accomplice can steal your luggage or laptop. Another one is to have an accomplice jam the doors and then steal your luggage. The thief jumps out and the door immediately closes, making it impossible to catch them. However, in recent years, railway police have made a great effort to reduce this sort of crime; nowadays it is at ‘normal’, big-city like levels.
Bus
If you are staying near Museumplein or Leidseplein, you could also use the Amsterdam Airport Express from Schiphol to the city centre. A trip takes about 30 min and leads directly to the Museumplein and Leidseplein. The bus is accessible by a single ticket (€5), a round trip ticket (€10) or a ‘Amsterdam & Region Day Ticket’ (€13,50).

The Amsterdam Airport Express departs every 15min from platform B9, daily 05:00-00:30. From midnight until 05:00, night buses run to and from the airport. If you don’t want to change buses, take night bus N97 for €5. This bus runs once an hour.
Taxi
Taxis rates are as follows: You pay a start rate of € 2.89 plus € 2,12 per km and € 0.35 per minute (jan 2014). The ride costs about €40-50 to go to the airport, from downtown Amsterdam. Depending on the time of day and traffic levels, it could take only 25 min. If you’re unlucky, it could take twice as long.

Other Airports

Using airports other than Schiphol could prove cheaper in some cases, as some budget airlines fly to Eindhoven and Rotterdam Airports. Then buses and trains can be used to get to Amsterdam. Renting a car is also an option. A taxi is advisable if booked upfront, from Rotterdam to Amsterdam a taxi would cost €33, and from Eindhoven from €60.

From Eindhoven Airport ( IATA: EIN, ICAO: EHEH ) take a local bus (Hermes bus 401, duration about 25 minutes, frequency about four times per hour, €3.20 on board or €1.71 using an OV-chipkaart) to the train station, from there take a train to Amsterdam (duration 1hr 20 min, frequency four times per hour, single €17.20). Alternatively, take the express bus directly from the airport to Amsterdam central station, which takes 2 hr 15 min. This service goes only 3 to 4 times per day; see their website for a schedule. The ticket price is €25.50 for a single or €42.50 for a return.

From Rotterdam The Hague Airport ( IATA: RTM, ICAO: EHRD ) (“Zestienhoven”) take a city bus (RET “airport shuttle” bus 33, duration 25-30 minutes, frequency every 10-20 minutes, €2.50 on board or €1.39 using the OV-chipkaart) to Rotterdam Centraal train station, from there take a train to Amsterdam (duration about an hour, frequency every 10-20 minutes, single €13.40).

Schiphol airport is 11 km from the centre of Amsterdam in a straight line, Rotterdam is 57 km and Eindhoven is 107 km. Other airports that could possibly be used are: