Sue81

Does anyone know of the least expensive Iamsterdam card for two days or are all the prices fixed? I see that several sites sell these and it looks like 72,$ apiece, which is pretty high. Also can someone recommend a Reistaffel restaurant near Appolloaire or Vogel Park in 'Amsterdam? Also can someone explain to me how a Sim card works on a cell phone, is it put inside the phone? I am not tech savy. Sue

Sue81

I need the two day card. Sue

hetismij2

Why do you want an Iamsterdam card? Have you looked into prices for individual tickets for places you want to visit? I would do that first. Also look at https://en.gvb.nl/ for public transport options if you feel you need to use trams/ buses rather than walking.

It is Rijsttafel (rice table, not reistafel (travel table) btw. An I assume you mean Vondel Park.

michelhuebeli

The Rijsttafel - in its Indonesian origin - is a multi-course festive meal that goes on for hours. Way more elaborate that what a tourist can eat or can afford.

But the term has undergone some kind of inflation, or is it deflation? The equivalent of what in France is a set menu with maybe a soup, a main dish, and a small dessert is, in Amsterdam, now often listed as Rijsttafel, even if it's just two or three dishes, and even that may be more than you can eat at the time.

Never mind the Rijsttafel. Since you seem to be budget-oriented, just order a dish, eat it, and if you're still hungry, order another. Because of its colonial history, Holland is full of Indonesian restaurants, no need to go out of your way.

Andrew

A SIM card gives a cell phone its "identity." If you have a US cell phone now with a SIM card from T-Mobile or AT&T, then it has a US number on those networks. Put in a different SIM card in say the Netherlands from a local phone company there and the phone will have a Danish phone number on the network you bought it from.

You put the SIM card inside the phone, yes - by opening up the back by the battery or by finding a slot on the side of the phone and pulling the old SIM out. Depends on the design of that particular phone.

Not all phones even HAVE SIM cards. US carriers Verizon and Sprint use a technology called CDMA for their phones, and their old phones (before smart phones) did not have SIM cards at all. AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM instead of CDMA - and GSM is also what is used in Europe, too. All the old AT&T and T-Mobile phones (flip-phones) had SIM cards.

If you have a smart phone from any carrier - Verizon, T-Mobile, whatever - it most likely has a SIM card though, and can "roam" on the GSM networks in Europe, so if you don't have an old flip phone, it probably has a SIM card. If you are talking about an old flip phone, note that it may not work in Europe at all, no matter what carrier, even if it has a SIM. My old T-Mobile flip phone was unlocked but did not have the frequencies used in Europe, so it was completely useless there. If you have a smart phone, it most likely will work in Europe, though - if unlocked...

Any phone you take to Europe has to be "unlocked" by the carrier you bought it from to work in Europe, whether you put a new SIM card in or not. If you bought a phone from T-Mobile or AT&T on a contract, they have probably locked it so you can't use the phone with any other carrier. But they will provide you with an "unlock code" you use once when you insert a new SIM, say in the Netherlands. (You must contact your carrier to ask for an unlock code.) Put the new SIM card in, turn on the phone, type in this unlock code once time, and then it should be permanently unlocked to use anywhere.

Note that SIM cards have various physical sizes, too. Newer smart phones tend to use smaller sizes. My current Android phone uses a "micro" SIM card. iPhones use a "nano" SIM card (even smaller). But most prepaid SIM cards you buy come as a one-size-fits-all where you can peel off the outside to make it smaller, to fit the size you need for that particular phone.

If you have a smart phone, you can make free calls home to the US (if you are from the US) on WiFi using the Google Hangouts Dialer app. You wouldn't need a SIM at all for this, but of course you could only use the phone for these calls while you are on WiFi - at the hotel or something.

Does that help?

Sue81

OK, I figured out that I need just one Iamsterdam card, for 2 day for my older son, as he will use it primarily, and I will just pay at the museums, card is quite costly and I can get a two day trolley ticket. Also I am from the US, cell phone is smart phone 5 S apple, with Verizon provider so I think I need to go out to Verizon probably and get some deal. Will be in Holland and Germany, France, Switzerland for 3 weeks. I am not hugely cost conscious ,but don't like spending foolishly either, I appreciate the suggestions. Sue

Sue81

Ok also I have had knee replacement so am not as agile and ambulatory as my adult son, thus the trolley use to make life easier for me. Sue

Sue81

Ok Andrew, this google hangout dialer app that one uses on wi fi, sounds interesting. Can you tell me more about it? How do you get that and any idea of the cost? Can that be used in all the countries that I will be in, see above? Sounds easier that hunting for Sim cards, but I will be on a river cruise for two weeks of the trip, so I assume it would work on the ship too, a US company. Third week will be in Switzerland. Sue thanks

Andrew

The Google Hangouts Dialer app itself is free. Works on Android and iOS (iPhone). It will work anywhere, but it needs an internet connection - WiFI or mobile data on a phone. If you don't have a SIM in Europe and don't setup some sort of international roaming - that is, your phone won't have mobile data in Europe - then then Google Hangouts will only work on WiFi.

Will the cruise provide internet service - WiFi? If so, Hangouts Dialer should work. It requires a decent internet connection though. If the WiFi connection you connect to is slow, calls may not be very good or possible. Best I can say is: try it and see.

Google Hangouts Dialer's calls are only free to US phone numbers. (Maybe to Canadian numbers too? Not sure.) You can use it to make local calls within Europe too, but not for free - but cheap, anyway. You would have to load some credit into your Google Account.

You can install the app now in the US and try it out. If all you need is to make the occasional phone call home to the US, it might work just fine. If you need to make frequent calls or need people to call YOU reliably, it may not be the best approach. Buying a SIM in one country might be a slight inconvenience, but you can use it (roaming) in other countries too (roaming charges within the EU have been reduced for voice calls and will soon be eliminated I believe). And it would give you data too in places where you have no WiFi.

Another option would be T-Mobile in the US which offers free unlimited data internationally and 20 cents/minute phone calls. Sprint offers something similar now, I think. Unlimited data that works in every country is pretty sweet actually - and you can use it to make those Google free calls, too.

menachem

Nearest Vondelpark and with a pretty high ranking in Iens is:

https://www.iens.nl/restaurant/blue-pepper/222863

hetismij2

Try to buy your museum tickets online in advance to save queueing. They are sometimes a bit cheaper online too.

Sue81

Andrew, OK we will have wi fi on the river cruise, and hotels the week after, so I think google hangout sounds good. I did put gmail into my computer, and don't even know if I need this, as I use AOL, now have both I think. So how does one put an app into ones cell phone? It is an Apple I phone 5 S. I would like to make cell phone calls back to the US while on the ship and when down in Switzerland at the end.

Hettis, I will get tickets ahead. Thanks.

PalenQ

http://www.amsterdam.info/museums/museumkaart/

and get the chip card for trams

cheaper than iamamsterdamcard by a lot -overkill.

Andrew

Sue, to add apps to an iPhone, you use the App Store or the iTunes Store. I don't have an iPhone, so I can't tell you exactly how to add/install an app, but it should be pretty easy:

http://www.wikihow.com/Install-an-iPhone-Application

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hang...643496868?mt=8

Note that Google Hangouts / Google Hangouts Dialer is FREE even though you're getting it from a "store."

You can install and use the app NOW before you ever get to Europe. Just start up the app at home while you are on WiFi and make a call and try it. Should work exactly the same way while you are in Europe.

Sue81

OK Andrew, thanks alot. and Palen I plan to get the tram chip card only for me, and Iamsterdam for son who will try to hit many many of the museums, still might be overkill tho. (Van Gogh for sure, many tram rides, discount on Rijks, Resistance, etc). Sue

Andrew

FYI, Sue, since you will have your phone and have wondered about the local SIM card anyway...I found my phone with Google Maps EXTREMELY helpful in navigating public transit in many cities including Amsterdam last spring. Like, I can search on my phone for say a museum or my hotel Google Maps, and then Google will tell me which tram to take to get there and how to walk there, etc. Saved me TONS of time!

But you need an internet connection to make this work. You could do this on WiFi if you happen to be at the hotel and want the best direction by tram or walking to a museum...or at a restaurant on their WiFi and need directions to get home. Otherwise, a local SIM would make this a lot easier, because you'd have mobile data all the time.

Walking directions in Google Maps will work without mobile data, though, if you download the maps ahead of time! GPS on a phone still works without internet.

Sue81

Andrew, I am not real sophisticated in using my cell phone and have several maps of Amsterdam/tram routes etc, so want to try the hangout route if I can do it. Do I need to get my phone unlocked to to do the Hangout?....will open and read the references above that you sent more carefully on Hangout when I get a bit more time. Will work on downloading the app and trying it out at local coffee shop. Thanks. I have been to Amsterdam about 3 X before in the past, so am a little bit familiar with the city, and get on river cruise there to Switzerland, so not much time...3 days. Sue

Sue81

also I will have the use of a computer at the hotels and on the river cruise ship to send out emails if needed, and receive them, just in case it does not work......hangout that is.....Sue

Andrew

Sue, I suggest you find a friend who knows a bit more about smart phones and have the friend install the Google Hangouts Dialer app for you, then show you how to use it. It's very easy to use once you have used it a few times, but I suppose if you are not very phone-savvy it could be intimidating unless you have someone do it for you then try it out and show you. A phone-savvy person would find it very simple to use. Just find the numeric keypad in the app to dial phone numbers to make calls, just like any other phone.

PalenQ

son who will try to hit many many of the museums, still might be overkill tho>

why not just a National Museum Card for son? If under 26 I think there is a cheaper youth card?

May cover more museums than the more pricey one.