Bicycling in Amsterdam and other Amsterdam, Netherlands Transportation Tips

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bicycle
Getting TO/AROUND: If you do not want to walk around all day the City Centre of Amsterdam then consider renting a bicycle. Amsterdam is probably the most bicycle friendly city in the world. Each city street has a bicycle lane and with the narrowness of the Amsterdam streets, this is a good alternative to cars. The city is also very flat so one can ride around with out much difficulty as there are no hills to climb and tucker yourself out. This also presents a problem, in my eyes anyway. There are almost too many bikes on the streets of Amsterdam. You have to watch where you are walking or you might walk head on into a bike as they wizz by with great speed. Try not to walk on the designated bicycle lanes at all. Oddly enough in terms of bicycle safety, Amsterdam rates way behind by home town of Toronto. No one here wears a bike helmet, something that strongly encouraged by the local authorities in Toronto.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: I only took the metro system of Amsterdam out to the Arena Stadium and back and I was very impressed. It was clean and efficient. The metro consists of three lines and I think that they are building another. However if you do not intend upon leaving the city centre of Amsterdam, there is little likely hood that you will use this system. It was designed with commuters in mind rather than for tourism.
A single ticket for the metro is a whopping 3 Euros but this gets you a ride for at least 1.5hrs where you can tranfer onto either a tram or bus. If the cost seems expensive, consider that you can purchase a 24 hour, 48 hour and 72 hour ticket for a much more reasonable cost of 6.30 Euros, 10.00 Euros and 13.00 Euros. Tickets are available at each metro station. You have to punch your ticket at a machine upon boarding. There are also kiosk throughout the city were you can buy tickets. The website posted below is one of the best that I have ever visited concerning city transport. It even has an English page.

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Phone: +31 20 460 6060
Website: www.gvb.nl

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: Central Amsterdam is small enough to walk across if you are reasonably fit. However if you are pressed for time the best way to get around Amsterdam is by tram. These blue and grey vehicles run along 17 tram routes that snake there way around the city. Conveniently 11 of them start at the Centraal Station. These trams run very frequently. The trams tickets can be purchased at numerous locations around Amsterdam including from the tram drivers, conductors, the tourist office, newstand kiosks and from automats at the train station and on board some of the trams. Tickets can be purchased for all kinds of time periods or number of rides. As most tourist do not take the tram rides too often around the city, I recommend that you buy a single ticket for 1.40 Euros. This will allow you to ride not only the tram but the buses and metro for one if you need to transfer. Remember to validate your ticket with the yellow machines located on the trams.

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Phone: 0900/9292;
Website: www.gvb.nl