Mlgostyla

We will be flying through Netherlands airport in September. Appear to have about a 5 hour layover. How far might the city be from the airport; and does a 5 hour layover provide anytime to see anything of value?

richardsonsnm

no.

Girlspytravel

Nonsense.

Amsterdam is exactly 6 miles from Schiphol Airport, you can take a commuter train from Schiphol into Amsterdam's Centraal (trains leave every 15 minutes) and be right in the heart of the most ancient part of Amsterdam--with the beautiful canal houses from the early 1700's, the hip Jordaan area, and even have a great little meal in my secret very Amsterdammer restaurant/cafe on two canals-not 5 minutes from Centraal Station called DE HAVEN VAN TEXEL-lovely to sit outside on a warm day on its terrace alongside the canals. It's located on Sint Olofsteeg 11. It is just behind the Zeedijk, in between the ancient and lovely Oude Kirk (old church) and Sint Nicolaas Church. The view from this restaurant is of the two OLDEST canals in Amsterdam. The menu changes daily, and has a lot of local varieties-really, this is a not-to be missed restaurant/cafe. And the area surrounding it is my favorite in all of Amsterdam. Yes, that's right-there is the red light district in this area, but the ancientness of Amsterdam is here, right by Centraal Station, and it is photo-perfect.

Bill_H

Trains run every few minutes and it's a short ride into town ... assuming you have seat assignments and boarding passes and giving yourself an hour to get back into the boarding area upon your retun then it's doable, but pretty frentic.

There are plenty of things to see close to the Central Station but you'd be wise to have a route plotted out in advance as you have little spare time.

Bill

Ida101

After leaving Centraal Station you can make one of the canalcruises of 1 hr leaving right across the station.
Nice and easy way to see much about the city!
But remember to be back at the airport in time!

Wesse

You'll only get a vague impression of the city. Personaly, I wouldn't "do" any interesting city in three hours, certainly not Amsterdam. Amsterdam needs some time to grow on you. When you get back to the airport on time, you'll probably still won't know if this was a good idea. It's way too short, but maybe it's better than killing time on the airport. Five hours is a long wait, but Schiphol is one of the biggest airports of Europe with plenty of shops, bars and little restaurants.

hetismij

Is the 5 hours from when one plane lands to when the next takes off? In which case you won't have time to get into the city and back out again.
If you have a clear 5 hours then you could do something like a canal boat trip to get a taste of the city, but you can't do much more than that really.

Felschurch

I vote no. We found Schipol a little tricky to navigate--pretty good walk between gates

PatrickLondon

There is an exhibition of works from the Rijksmuseum in the Schiphol terminal building:

http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/tentoonste...ex_191?lang=en

That and a bit of (window) shopping in the duty frees might be less stressful than fretting abour whether you'll get back in time to check in for the next flight.

But so much depends on whether you're baggage is checked through, whether you land on time, how long it takes to get out through immigration and back through security and what time you need to be back for your next flight. Allow an hour on top of that for transits to and from the airport.

More on things to do at Schiphol:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yv5x5o

(but I must say, it sounds a bit desperate for them to list under "Fun at Schiphol"... "Suprising toilets&quot

bilboburgler

So once the arrival time, the luggage question the check for next flight etc is sorted out. And you finally have some time left.

For me catch the bus to Haarlam (or is it Harlaam) other threads cover the detail well but the bus will take you straight there (10 mins every 15), walking about when jet lagged is good and a stroll from the bus/train station into town will let you see canals and some great apple pie shops.

twoflower

I've been in exactly the same position. Arrived Amsterdam from Bali 8:30am, flying from Amsterdam to Frankfurt 1:30pm. I'd been there before so knew my way around, which helped. Put luggage in a locker, got train to Amsterdam CS, and walked around soaking in the feel of the city around the Dam area. I wouldn't recommend taking a tour or canal cruise though - just leave yourself free to retreat back to Central Atation and return to Schiphol for your flight.

richardsonsnm

I just cannot believe that the same question is asked over and over, LAZY!!!!!!

W9London

I think you should really play by ear... If your plane lands on time, and the passport is not too crowded, then you should have a time to get a quick train ride to Centraal, walk around/hop on a tram/have a coffee with apple tart before heading back.

On the other hand, if your flight is late, takes longer than 1hr from the point of plane landing on time till you go through passport control, or you get disoriented, it may not be a good idea.

hetismij

bilboburgler it is Haarlem, and it is not a good idea to go there with only 5 hours to spare.

Mlgostyla

Thanks to everyone for your quick replies. We have 5 hrs and 45 minutes from scheduled landing to departure. It's good to know that there are options to consider. We'll do some more research and have a plan in place in case we find ourselves with enough time. NWA is starting a non-stop flight from Connecticut to Amsterdam next month, so I'm sure we'll have many more opportunities to spend time in Amsterdam. Thanks again!

richardsonsnm

I vote no because it's not enough time, plus I am irritated that Migostyla has done ZERO research, bull____. By the way, it's AMSTERDAM.

Mlgostyla

RE:Richardsonsnm ---- if you can't say anything nice, why do you bother to say anything at all. You sound like a nasty old wretch, and I for one, don't need your negative comments! Life is way to short!

To everyone ELSE, we do appreciate your comments and will keep you posted on our plans!

geoflag

Take the train in the basement of Schiphol Airport to Centraal Station, 25 minutes, there are 2 or 3 trams out front that go to the Van Gogh Museum, 20 minutes, 100's of Van Gogh's!!!

Girlspytravel

No No, you don't have time to go out to do the Museumsplein-if you stick around the area of Centraal, the most ancient and interesting part of the city, check out the places I recommended, you'll have time to spare and get a real feel for the authentic heart of the city.

blightyboy

"there are 2 or 3 trams out front that go to the Van Gogh Museum, 20 minutes, 100's of Van Gogh's!!! "

AND NO TIME TO SEE THEM come on get real. If your bags are checkecd through then i think in reality and knowing the airport well - i go throught 2 or 3 times a month - that you have an absolute max of 3 hours to do something.By the time you allow 1 hour each way to get to the van Gough you will have 1 hour to dash past each painting, providing there isnt a line of people waiting to get in.
IF you really do want to get away from the airport for 3 hours and money is not too much of an issue - loook into hiring a car and driver who can take you on a trip to show you a bit of Amsterdam without the hassle or worry about getting back - i know it is more expensive than getting trams and trains, but you will see far more and with a guy who speaks English and knows the place. I did this a few years ago and I think it worked out at about £60 for the 3 hours and we did see a lot of typical Dutch scenes - fantastic