Best method for multiple trips between Schipol - Center City

metal4mullets · Post by **metal4mullets** » Sat 13th Jun 2009 03:51 pm

So I've been trying to figure this out and it's quite confusing.

I'm going to be staying at the Dorint and was planning on taking their free shuttle to Schipol every day and then taking some form of transportation to Centre City. So my question is; what is the best method of doing so? Should I take the train to Central Station from Schipol back and forth twice a day? Should I buy a GVB 96-hour pass and take the bus to Centre City (which seems like it might take awhile)? If you know where the Dorint is, I believe there may actually be a couple of bus stops within walking distance...but I can't find out for sure *sigh*.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Boner · Post by **Boner** » Sat 13th Jun 2009 04:05 pm

I doubt the pass will get you to & from as I think it's for in & around the city centre only, my guess would be you'll have to get the train (it's a lot quicker and easier than catching buses imo).

Kermit · Post by **Kermit** » Sat 13th Jun 2009 04:51 pm

This ticket gets you transport on all GVB and the train to and from Amsterdam/Schipol.

Best bet IMO

http://www.gvb.nl/english/travellers/ti ... icket.aspx

All though the dates look a bit strange as it says 2008? so i would check its available.

Boner · Post by **Boner** » Sat 13th Jun 2009 04:58 pm

Fair play, didn't even know that ticket existed.

colinzeal · Post by **colinzeal** » Sat 13th Jun 2009 05:32 pm

reading about that travel ticket i'm fairly sure it is only One Return Trip to Schipol that is included, i.e. your train from the airport when you arrive and your train back to airport when you are leaving, although you are not limited when you take these trips I imagine you cannot (or at least are not supposed to) travel to schipol more than these two trips (one return journey).

It is designed for tourists who arrive in schipol, get train to Centraal, want to use GVB public transport within amsterdam and then get their train back to schipol when they leave.

Interestingly the only difference between this pass and the standard 24/48/72/96 hour pass is the return journey to schipol. You do make a slight saving

so worth knowing about if you usually buy the standard pass

(not that you strictly have to pay for your schipol ticket, if you fancy risking a fine you can save the price of the fare and hope there are no inspectors)

metal4mullets · Post by **metal4mullets** » Sat 13th Jun 2009 07:00 pm

Right...it's only good for one trip in to the city and one return trip back to the airport

colinzeal · Post by **colinzeal** » Sat 13th Jun 2009 07:44 pm

soz buddy

Kermit · Post by **Kermit** » Sat 13th Jun 2009 09:34 pm

Still be woth getting though coz it gives the trams,metro,busses and at least one of your trips to and back from the Dam.

You could get the bus to the Metro station then get the metro in otherwise your only option would be train rides in.

Not much help so sorry about that

metal4mullets · Post by **metal4mullets** » Mon 15th Jun 2009 01:42 am

No worries...thanks for all the answers, guys. We're pretty much just going to take the free shuttle to the aiport and pay for a roundtrip train ticket every day...which I believe is only about 4 Euro per person. Won't be too bad *sigh*.

Actually, I just thought of this. Will we be talking the trams a lot in the city? I know it would take a while to walk all the way from the North to the South...but we assumed we'd just be walking miles a day. I looked at all the passes we can buy and was trying to justify the purchase. I'm just not all that sure we can't walk everywhere. Am I being naive?

Boner · Post by **Boner** » Mon 15th Jun 2009 10:41 am

A same day rtn to Schiphol will cost you €6.70 per person, as far as trams around the city are concerned that all depends on how much you want to see and how quickly, the city is very walkable and is quite compact so walking from Central Station to say Vondelpark (you wont need to go any further south than that imo) will take approx 40 mins but be warned doing a lot of walking around Amsterdam on those hard cobbles can really take its toll on you and your feet (make sure you have good broken in walking shoes) if you only want to stay in the centrum area then you wont really need any tram pass, theres always the bike option.

StonedSince67 · Post by **StonedSince67** » Mon 15th Jun 2009 10:53 am

metal4mullets wrote:I'm just not all that sure we can't walk everywhere. Am I being naive?

no

Boner wrote:the city is very walkable and is quite compact

yes

provided everyone in your party is fit, the city is very walkable

the plus side of walking is that you will see so many fascinating things big and little

each window seems to have a little display of interesting objects that invite you to stop and have a good look

as far as i know the dutch do not seem to mind people stopping and looking at their display of objects so long as you keep your gaze to the objects on view and not just stand there peering into their house

so yes to the 40 minute estimate by boner of the walk from centraal station to vondelpark provided you put the blinkers on and get interested in nothing along the way

and btw vondelpark is an excellent destination on a nice summers day

hippy_man99 · Post by **hippy_man99** » Mon 15th Jun 2009 02:38 pm

metal4mullets wrote:No worries...thanks for all the answers, guys. We're pretty much just going to take the free shuttle to the aiport and pay for a roundtrip train ticket every day...which I believe is only about 4 Euro per person. Won't be too bad *sigh*.

Actually, I just thought of this. Will we be talking the trams a lot in the city? I know it would take a while to walk all the way from the North to the South...but we assumed we'd just be walking miles a day. I looked at all the passes we can buy and was trying to justify the purchase. I'm just not all that sure we can't walk everywhere. Am I being naive?

depends on how much you want to walk. The city is very managable on foot, literally getting from one side to the other in perhaps an hour... You really will be amazed at how close things are to one another... they don't have the big gaps in roads and streets... so you end up walking a lot farther than you realize. The only real times I would use a tram would be If i ended up on some crazy side of the city and was FAR too baked to walk it back....
I'd also say get a bike and ride around during the week when the normal Amsterdammers are at work
(not on saturday or sunday and not in the Centrum...scary shit...)
that would be the best way to get around town...plus you could get out to your hotel on bike relatively easy.

peace,
hippy

edit: you know I really should read the other posts after me answering all the questions I did before me.... weeee

metal4mullets · Post by **metal4mullets** » Mon 15th Jun 2009 07:54 pm

Awesome...thanks for the additional info, guys. We'll probably skip buying passes for the trams/buses and walk everywhere. We're both quite fit so walking miles a day isn't a daunting task for us...thankfully. We're definitely going to pack supportive walking shoes...most likely with new insoles installed

@ Boner: I actually checked the fares and you're right, it's €6.70. I was looking at the discounted price of €4 because I thought all you had to do was ride during off-peak hours (after 9am and on the weekends), but I discovered you have to actually buy a special pass to get the discount. So we're going to end up spending €67 in train passes for 5 days

@ Stoned: You hit the nail right on the head regarding walking. We actually thought it would be fun to walk everywhere just for the fact we could happen upon a lot of interesting sights. It'd be boring to zip back and forth everywhere on a tram and miss all the cool little shops and cafés

BTW, whereabouts is the Vondelpark? Is it a big park or something?

StonedSince67 · Post by **StonedSince67** » Mon 15th Jun 2009 08:04 pm

metal4mullets wrote:BTW, whereabouts is the Vondelpark? Is it a big park or something?

yes, big and wonderful, on a nice summers day it is the closest thing you will get now imo to the peaceful 60s gatherings of lots of stoned people

Vondelpark in wikipedia

satellite view of vondelpark in google maps

Boner · Post by **Boner** » Mon 15th Jun 2009 08:06 pm

According to wikipedia Vondelpark is 120 acres.

Google maps.

If after a long days walking you fancy just jumping on a tram back to central station you can just buy a single fare, not sure on the cost but it's about €1.60 per person.