Getting around Amsterdam

The simplest way from Schiphol to the centre is the train, which stops beneath the terminal and runs into Centraal in sixteen to seventeen minutes, with a night service after the day trains stop. From the station Amsterdam is covered on foot, by tram and by metro, all on a single contactless bank card or phone. If this is your first visit and you stay a few days, you need no city ticket, only the card you tap in and out with.

From the airport to Centraal

Schiphol station lies beneath the terminal, off the Schiphol Plaza hall, and you go down to the long platforms by escalator or lift. The local Sprinter to Centraal takes sixteen to seventeen minutes. By day it runs up to eight times an hour, between half past five in the morning and one after midnight, while at night one train an hour runs to the city. You pay with the same card you will later use on the tram, so there is no long counter queue on arrival.

Where to stayThe same Centraal also serves Haarlem and Zaandam, only from another platform:Where to stay in Amsterdam →

A card instead of a ticket

OVpay means you tap a bank card or phone as you board and tap out as you leave, with no app and no registration. It works on trams, buses, the metro and trains. On GVB's city lines there is a daily maximum, so a day of many rides stops adding up past the cap. If you prefer a ticket, the one-hour single (€3.40) is valid on every kind of city transport. Day and multi-day tickets come in the Google or Apple wallet. The OV-chipkaart, a plastic card bought separately, is for long stays, and for a short city break it is unnecessary.

The I amsterdam City Card includes city transport for 24, 48, 72 or 96 hours along with museum entries. It pays only when its list holds the main attractions you would have visited anyway, so work that out before buying.

Lines 50, 51, 52, 53 and 54 all start at Centraal and head for the outer districts. Inside the old core they stop seldom, at Nieuwmarkt, Waterlooplein, Rokin and Vijzelgracht. The newest is the North/South line, number 52, opened on 21 July 2018, and it alone crosses the wide IJ to Noord, while to the south it calls at De Pijp and Zuid. The metro runs from six in the morning until half past midnight, so it is not the way home from a late dinner.

Inside the canal ring the tram is the first choice, since the metro works on the outskirts. The two big museums, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, stand five minutes apart on foot. The free 9292 app gives the exact line for every direction, tram, bus, metro and train alike. Trams do not go to Noord or NDSM, so you cross there by the free ferry.

Hidden gemsThe ferry behind Centraal crosses to places the tram never touches:Amsterdam behind the gates: courtyards and an attic church →

A plain city bike costs €13.95 for three hours or €17.95 for a whole day at MacBike, with a deposit in the form of a copy of a credit card or a passport. It makes sense only if you have already ridden in dense traffic. The red asphalt has its own lights and right of way. If you are unsure, the tram reaches the same address and asks for no experience.

After midnight

The metro stops around half past midnight, and what remains are the night buses, the night train from the airport and the Buiksloterweg ferry, which runs all night. The last regular train to Haarlem leaves around midnight. You want to know that before a long dinner.

Day tripsIf you go beyond the city from Centraal, here is where and how long it takes:Day trips from Amsterdam →

FoodWhat to eat when you stop at a market between two rides:What to eat in Amsterdam →

When to goMonths, tulips, King's Day and canal lights, for the date you are still choosing.The best time to visit Amsterdam →

BudgetThe one-hour ticket and the bike, with the other lines of the bill, are on the costs page.What Amsterdam costs →