Is it a nightmare getting in and out of the city? We will be staying at the Hilton on points, and would love to rent a car for three days. Some of the places we want to see have more train/bus connections than we are comfortable with.

Driving in Holland is plenty pleasant. And in Amsterdam too. Parking is a challenge, but presumably the Hilton will help you with that. I assume that you are not proposing to use your car to sightsee IN Amsterdam. That would not be such a good idea.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

No, we definitely won't be driving around Amsterdam--just wondered about getting in and out of the city.

I would never want the hassle of a car while staying inside the canal rings. You can take a taxi into the city or public transit very easily from the airport. (Taxis have access to lanes that ordinary car traffic does not, so even without the navigation factor, it can be considerably faster to go by cab in Amsterdam than it would be to drive yourself).

<BR>Mare,<BR>I think it better to be uncomfortable waiting at a bus stop or train station than driving in Amsterdam. I just can't imagine anyone taking on this task and calling it a vacation. If you do decide to drive, park it during rush hour. My experience: for one year that I lived in Haarlem I worked in Amsterdam and drove over every day. <BR>www.enjoy-europe.com

As a frequent visitor to this great city, and the last two visits I drove, I would say DO NOT DRIVE IN THE CITY AND IF YOU DO WATCH OUT FOR THE TRAMS!!!but then again it wouldn't be a roadtrip without a near death experience. Have fun and parking in this city is about 25 euro per 24 hours...

When, we were in Amsm. about 2 years ago we trained in from the airport, used public transportation while there and then rented at Hertz, near the Marriott Resn. hotel. We took the car 1 way to gremany but I did find out that you could return the car to the airport. I do not think there was a fee or it was a small fee. You save on all the mess of parking, at the hotel and driving around and the dialy cost of the car. I think the tram in the town area was fairly cheap $4-5 for day pass or a group of 10 segemnt tickets. Getting out was not too much of an issue, I did get lost 1-2 times but all the Dutch speak English and I got on the main road finally. Good luck and have a great time

for Mare<BR>

Hi Mare,<BR><BR>Good advice from experienced folks. I concur with there thoughts.<BR><BR>However, if you are going to drive directly to the hotel, and leave the car there for inner city activities; and only use it for your point-to-point outside of the city - getting in and out is not as difficult as some would suggest. Parking is expensive though.<BR><BR>Have fun.