kms313

Hello! We are flying through Amsterdam on our way to vacation in Turkey and we have an 8 hour layover (our flight lands at 12 noon and we depart at 8:30 pm). I have been to Amsterdam before, but my partner hasn't so we'd love to at least get out of the airport for a couple hours to see the city. Any tips for where to go and how to get there??

boyreporter

The train to Centraal Station leaves every 20 minutes, I believe.

dfourh

It sounds like you are flying non-Schengen to non-Schengen. Therefore you might want to check your carry-on bags into lockers in the non-Schengen area (on the map here you can click a box which will show you locker locations: http://www.schiphol.nl/Travellers/At...AndLounges.htm ). Then you get your passports stamped, stroll through customs, get a train ticket to Centraal, and enjoy the day - - you will have plenty of time to see a lot. You can decide if you think you will take the tram around enough to get a tram day pass: http://www.amsterdam.info/public-tra...tion-chipcard/ Get back to Schiphol between 1.5 to 2 hours from your return flight. You will return to the non-Schengen flight area through security, and get your passports stamped again.

Mathieu

Perhaps you were asking about going into Amsterdam on your own. I opted for a guided tour when I had a 12 hour layover in 2007. If you choose to go this route, there is a desk located near the 'crossroads' leading to all the departure lounges (you'll see and understand what this is when you get there, or on a map of the airport that you can find online) which organises just such tours for transit passengers who have a few hours to kill, to go into Amsterdam for a bit of a looksee. There are many tour choices depending on the time you have available. As I recall, it wasn't very expensive either, and includes a guide who fast-tracks you through immigration, shows you where to store your luggage safely in lockers downstairs, puts you on a tour van with a multilingual guide (very entertaining) and off you go.

My tour included a visit to a hand made clog factory where I bought a pair of the wooden shoes, a visit to a cheese factory, a drive through the nearby countryside, a stop for refreshments at a windmill (and many to see along the way) and finally a 40 min tour of Amsterdam itself, part of which was on a boat on the canals. After that, it left those with more time to spend in Amsterdam, while returning the rest back to the airport. I stayed on in the city to do some shopping, sight-see on foot, have lunch in a cafe and then walked to Centraal station and hopped on the train directly to the airport (about a 25 min ride), retrieved my hand luggage from the lockers and proceeded to check-in.