I will be staying on the Sassanheimstraat in June with three 18 yr old girls. Taking the tram seems to be the best option around town. Any good ideas on places to eat near this area?

The tram is 6E per person, per ride. That is 24E per trip, one way. If I were you, I would plan to walk where I wanted to go. Take your time, enjoy the scenery, stop and get a cafe' at a brasserie, window shop the stores, etc. When deciding where to eat, one thing you can see is the menu posted on a sign in the window or on a chalk board. If it sounds good and price is right, go eat. We ate at a large, multi-storied clothing store, close to down town, edge of a main square and the Royal Palace (I think), I cannot remember the name at the moment. On the first floor is a type of cold foods and deserts area. On second floor, there are tables and chairs and a cafeteria type ordering system. We had a wonderful salad and sandwich and a glass of wine was included. About 10 or 12E. Another time, we tried one of the Indonesian multi dish experiences and it tasted great. Lastly, we ate at a Argentina Steak house close to the down town floating flower market. From the market go towards the NH Hotel, at the next corner, turn left and the steak house is on the right. There is one on the left also, but did not eat there. You can also continue down the street to Rembrant Square and the Indonesian restaurant is on your right as you enter the square.

With the new Oyster (London) type card a tram ride is not nearly 6 euros =- never was in my decades of going to Amsterdam - perhaps now but hard to believe. Trams are affordable and a great way to get around Amsterdam - and they will not nearly cost 6 euro a ride so ignore that.

Should have said round trip.

Other than riding a bicycle, taking the tram is probably the best way to get around Amsterdam. It's especially nice on those cold, wet Amsterdam days when the idea of getting onto a bike in the open air is less than appealing. And you still get to look out the window into the beauty of Amsterdam.
The tram, however, can get expensive and perhaps a little confusing.
The public transportation system in Amsterdam breaks the city down into zones. A trip on the tram (or on the bus) will be priced based on the number of zones travelled. When you buy your ticket from the conductor, one zone will cost you 1.60, and each additional zone will be 0.80 more. A trip within central Amsterdam will generally be only one zone.
The easiest way to take the tram worry-free is to buy a Strippenkart (Line Card) or a 2, 3, or 5 day transport pass. A 15-strip Strippenkart will cost you about 6.80, and will be enough to take you seven and a half zones (each zone costs two strips). The fare is valid for an hour after stamping your ticket, and traveling without a ticket will result in a 60 fine. You'll notice when you get on the tram that the system for stamping tickets is amusingly (and sometimes confusingly) old-fashioned. You have to fold your strippenkart in the right place and stick it in the yellow machine at the back of the tram to get it stamped.
If you don't feel like counting zones or buying strippenkart after strippenkart, you may decide to buy a 2, 3, or 5 day transport pass. These make riding the tram easy and convenient. Simply show your pass to the conductor (if there is one) when you get on, or when you're asked to present it. You'll need to stamp it at first use.
Strippenkarts and tram passes can be purchased at grocery store and convenience stores, or at the tram office.

The above is from Ask.com -How do I ride the tram in Amsterdam?

From there, it looks as though you would need a bus along Aalsmeerweg and then change to the trams at Zeilstraat to get into the city centre.

You can get day and multi-day passes, at €7 per day pp (a bit less for more days). There is a combined travel plus attractions/discount card for €59 for three days.

http://www.gvb.nl/english/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.gvb.nl/english/travellers...r-tickets.aspx

Strippenkaarten have been, or are being, phased out. Best to visit the GVB website.

Looks like the info on Ask.com is out of date.

When we went to Amsterdam in summer of 2009, the strippenkaarten were already being phased out. We used the new cards that have a value loaded onto them that automatically gets debited when you ride. You can also get a similar card that is valid for a certain number of days. I both cases, you just tap the card on the reader when entering and exiting trams. Really easy. I don't remember how much we paid for our tram fare, but I don't remember it being particularly expensive to ride the trams.

No with th new auto scanner similar to London's Oyster Card a tram ride one way should be a euro or so. You can or could buy a day pass for about 6 euros - at least I did two years ago - in any case tram fare is low.

and it may well be that if you buy a ticket on the tram from the driver or the conductor who sits in a booth in the middle or rear then you may well pay a whole lot more than using the new scanners that you load money on - if it is like in London on The Tube an individual ticket costs I think 4 pounds but it is 1.5 pounds or so if you use the Oyster Card scannr debit device. So yes do as Patrick says and visit the www.gvb.nl - Amsterdam municipal transports web site for the current info as things have drastically changed since just a year or two ago.

I think anyone visiting the three biggie museums - Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh and Modern Art - all next to each other on Museum Plain should by the National Museum Card - for about 39 euros and that approximates the price total for the big three and you can use it all over Holland and in Amsterdam at the Rembrandthuis, Hermitage Amsterdam branch and a zillion other neat museums in Amsterdam - plus you can come and go at will in any museum. A great bargain, valid for one year.

Diane--How long are you guys staying there? That's going to impact any advice you get here.

Our experiences from Summer 2008 (three days) and Spring 2009 (four 1/2 days in Amsterdam, more in the Netherlands)--We did a lot by tram; cheap and fun. Bought multi-day tram passes for both trips.

At the times we visited, one could not buy a pass that included transport from the airport. Now you can--the All-In-One OV card would have been something we would have purchased had it been available.

FYI: Never bought iAmsterdam card (which STILL does not include transport from the airport!)because we did the math and thought we would be paying for things we did not plan to use. For second trip, bought the National Museum Card because we knew we were going to hit a lot of museums throughout the Netherlands. We were happy with both decisions.