Schiphol = Amsterdam International Airport and other Amsterdam, Netherlands Transportation Tips

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: For those who come from afar, the International Airport of The Netherlands: Schiphol, is the gateway to enter our country and especially the capitol Amsterdam. More information on my special "Schiphol-page", but here I want to mention the luck you might have by arriving on route and fly over Amsterdam. This is a truely amazing sight and the best welcome you can ever imagine. Approaching Schiphol from the North-East you will have a magnificent view of the canal-rings of Amsterdam. For those who miss it, well, underneath here is a aireal photograph.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: 1. from Schiphol International Airport
From the airport it is quite easy to reach Amsterdam. Underneath the airport are the stages from where trains leave almost every ten minutes towards Amsterdam Central Station. The fare is cheap and the connection is swift.
2. from other places outside The Netherlands
There are intercity-trains from Paris and Brussels (Thalys) as well as from Germany (Frankfurt - Köln - Düsseldorf and Berlin - Hannover) that offer a comfortable ride and have as endstop Amsterdam.
,b>3 from other places within The Netherlands
Our country has more or less a combination between a train and a metro-network. The density is high and the frequency on busy lines as well (every 15 minutes). For further details look at the Dutch Railways (called "NS").

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Website: www.ns.nl

'Mode': TO
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: Going by car into the centre of Amsterdam and try to find a parkingspot is the idea of a lunatic. If your not knowing about some secret spot, don;t even bother. The transferium is in this case a lot more easy and also cheaper (unless you want to keep on running to the car refilling the parkingmeter). The transferium is situated in the Arena (the Ajax football stadium). So check out if there are any games at the moment of arrival. If not then follow the P+R-signs that say "Transferium" and from here a minibus will bring you to the nearest metro-station. Tickets for public transport are all included in the parkingfee and you can park as long as you want.

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Phone: +31-20-4001721
Website: http://www.naaramsterdam.nl/engels/penr/are

'Mode': TO
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: For those who anyway want to penetrate Amsterdam with there own car, there's a lot of effort to be done to avoid being ticketed or - worse - get a wheelclamb. First take a parkingmeter-card, they widen the possibilities with some places where it is allowed to park for an X amount of hours. Furthermore have enough small change with you. Most parkingmeters operate with coins. Then finally realise that the further to get to the centre, the shorter the maximum-parkingtime is. Within the centre it is easily so that only one or two hours can be paid after which one either has to refill the machine or go away. Last tip from my side for those who want to be stuborn: try Amsterdam North and use the free IJ-ferry.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: Connecting Amsterdam North with Amsterdam Centre there is a free ferry that runs almost all day with a high frequenty. This offers people to park on the Northern enighbourhoods of Amsterdam, something that is not frequently done by foreigners or non-Amsterdam-folk. Parking here however involves the use of a parking-meter-card (blue), so don't forget to take one if you're into this way of going to A'dam.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: No, the Amsterdam metro is definately not clean or pretty. The wagons are quite old and damged by vandals. The smell on many station is awful and the travellers not always that friendly. Anyway, the metro is efficient and can bring you on many places where you would like to be. Besides that the Amsterdam metro is an amazing achievement, when one things about the fact that the town was already built on poles to prevent the houses sinking in the swamp that the land just actually is. The metro is therefor a technological miracle.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: Amsterdam and it's trams are almost inseparable. I don't think any Dutchmen can imagine the capitol without trams terrorising traffic and streets. The tram has preference ... even when a tram doesn;t have preference, a tram has preference! The system is good and one can reach any neighbourhood by tram. Added is the public busservice, making the surface public transport here almost perfect.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: Visiting Amsterdam is not complete without a canal boat tour. One can choose between the standard tours, where a guide is telling the group about everything he knows about the town, or choose for the canal "bus". In this category there are two firms operating a hop-on/hop-off service: the Canalbus (in the canal in front of the Saint Nicolas church) and the Museum boat (next to the VVV-office (tourist info). On both there are too guides telling several things about the passed highlights.

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Website: http://www.channels.nl/amsterdam/lovers.html

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: The canalboats get you around the canals, but to have a complete view of the centre of Amsterdam, one has to get out and start walking. Therefor the canalbus / museumboat are excellent means of transport for a visitor to Amsterdam. One chooses the most popular things to do and see and simple connects them by boat and short walks. The walk from the Central Station-area over the Damrak to the Dam (square) is a must. Added are walks through the red light district (Walletjes), the shoppingstreets (Kalverstraat etc.) and the Vondelpark.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: Taxi's are available everywhere, but please do use legal taxi's and not some guy that runs to you offering you a ride. At Schiphol we had - until recently - the blessing not to have this annoying guys, but now-a-days the appear from nowhere, ruining the market. Taxi's in Amsterdam are relatively expensive, but very trustworthy. A legal driver will never try to trick you or drive extra distance to get some extra money.
Another thing to tell about is the canals and there initial value. Now-a-days however barely seen: transport. Boats are not running up and down the canals anymore to fill the warehouses. There is still traffic on the Amstel though as well as in the busy "IJ", harbours and Amsterdam-Noordzee-canal. This last connects the capitol now-a-days directly with the Northsea and keeps it being an important harbour of the world.

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