Amsterdam, being one of the top five European destinations as well as being a hub for many of the world's airlines you would expect it to have a good public transport system and it does, one of the best.

Schipol airport is one of the biggest and best of Europe’s airports and is located just 15 minutes from the city centre and with trains every ten minutes it's easy to get to the centre of Amsterdam

Getting from the airport

The airport shuttle operated by Connexxion runs at ten minute intervals and visits over 100 hotels around the city. Tickets are around €11 one way, € 17.50 return, and can be purchased in the main arrivals hall or on board.

Taxis / Limousines. we can arrange your collection at the airport or ferryport and driven to your accommodation. The cost is a fixed €40.  Just send us an e-mail with your details and we we arrange the rest.

Getting Around The City

Amsterdam is a city for the biker or the walker  as most of the things the tourist wants to visit are located in or around  the city center. Public transportation with trams going everywhere. Renting a bike is the best way to get about and driving is not advised within the canal ring, getting parking alone is a nightmare and it not cheap, it currently cost Euro 3.60 an hour on street parking or around Euro 24-30 for a 24 hour period in a parked parage.

Public Transportation - The GVB (www.gvb.nl) is in charge of all public transport for Amsterdam including the metro, the trams and the various bus services throughout Amsterdam and the surrounding areas.

Best option for tourists is to get a strippenkaart, works on a zone system, you pay  depending on the number of zones you wish to travel. Minimum 2 strips per journey. 

Strippenkaarts are sold in strips, (hense the name Strip Card) of 15 and 45. They can be bought in most place including all GVB Offices, most tabacco and newspaper shops, post offices and most supermarkets.

if your thinking of doing a lot of travelling around the city you may want to get a 24, 48 or 72-hour pass which allows unlimited travel on all trams, buses, metros as well as the night buses and provide the best value. Passes can be purchased at any ot the GVB offices and major train stations as well as from the driver or  conductor on board.

Worst value are single journey tickets at Euro 1.60 for 2 zones, bought on baord from the driver or conductor. This is the most expensive way to travel around.
A real tourist trap and a great money maker for the GVB.

Trams are the next best thing to a bike and a good way of getting around and avoiding car traffic. All routes run very every few minutes until just after midnight.

City Buses are mostly used for getting to areas in the outer suburbs and to areas not served by the trams and after they finish. Night buses take over from midnight until 7am and have routes connecting to the major locations like Dam Square, Rembrandtplein, Leidseplein and Central Station.

The Metro (tube) is also a good way of getting to certain areas not served by the tram. It servesd the RAi and the Amsterdam Arena which the tram does not . The metro is currently being extended to new areas (North South Line) which is currently three years late and way over budget. (whats's new, I hear you say). Now they say 2015 will be the completion date.

Stop n Go. This is a small bus (12 seats) which travels from Central station to the top of the Princengracht and then turns around and comes back down the other side all day long from 9am to 6pm - 7 days. This is the only transport available along this main canal. There is four of them running so your never waiting very long. Just stick out your hand and it will stop. Euro 1 per journey.

Canal Boats

The Canal Bus (www.canal.nl) operates 10am to 7pm and  runs every 30-40 minutes and has 14 ports of call (stops) around three different routes around the city, you can hop off and hop back on the next one. They visit all the top attractions so you can get off visit the attraction and just grt back on the next canal bus. Day passes cost €16 and are valid for 24 hours.

The Museumboat (Museum Boat) is a coopy  of the canal bus and costs €14.50 per day. Your ticket price includes half price entry to several of the cities museums.

Bicycles

Amsterdam has as many bikes as people if not more. Bicycling is a Dutch way of life and is simply the best way to get from A to B in Amsterdam.

Bikes have it great in Amsterdam, their own lanes, own traffic lights and no hills. A biker's wet dream.  Renting a bike is easy in Amsterdam as there are several companies, the most famous is MacBike who has has a number of offices around the city. arge is around €10 per day but you can get discounts for longer rentals. Passport is required to rent.

Taxi

To get a taxi you have to go to a taxi rank which are located at most tourist areas including Leidseplein, Dam Square, Nieuwmarkt, Central Station. Hailing a taxi is not really allowed but more and more taxis will stop if you hail them,
but they will get beebed by other taxis if they see you. You can phone a cab on 6777777).  but they are very expensive now Euro 7.50 when you get inside.

There are also Tuk Tuks and bicycle taxis around the city at Euro 1 per minute for bike taxis and Euro 3.75 for Tuk Tuks (Zone basis).