short time in Amsterdam
 

i have 5 hours in Amsterdam connecting from Canada before taking a flight to Capetown.I arrive at 10am 23 February.Any suggestions for me to see/do in that short time period.?Can I see the Rijksmusuem in that time?Thanks

I wouldn't even leave the airport for just a 5 hour layover. But if you still want to do it, check this out.

https://www.going.com/guides/the-layover-guide-to-amsterdam

Ditto - AMS can sometimes be a zoo so I personally wouldn't plan on leaving the airport.

The most you could hope to have free in the city is about 2 hours -- but that is pretty much best case. it takes 22 minutes by tram to the Rijksmusuem - and you need to pre-book a timed ticket for the museum.

I do think you can go to the Rijiksmuseum—as the Going guide says, there’s a bus 397 that goes directly there from the airport. You could also go to the Centraal station and walk around there, or from there to the Rijiksmuseum. Another good guide: https://thepilotwhoexplores.com/amst...de-by-a-pilot/

I think you’ll be okay as long as you’re careful with timing. Schiphol now lets you book time slots for security: https://www.schiphol.nl/en/timeslots/ which might prove really helpful.

One can't just 'go to the Rijiksmuseum' - timed tickets are required.

Nearly all timeslots are still available at Rijksmuseum today, a Saturday, and all are available for tomorrow. Just check online when you land and see if you have time for this. It gets busy if there is a popular exhibition and during holidays, but February is pretty quiet.

Yes, in theory you can go to the Rijksmuseum but what can you see when you get there? Arrival time is touchdown, so you have to get to the terminal, which can take a long time depending on the runway you land on, disembark, go through immigration, find the bus/train, get to Amsterdam, get into the museum, have a quick look at what? the Nightwatch? then it is time to turn round and get back to Schiphol, go through immigration and security again, find your gate etc etc. Not sure my nerves would be up to that. It wouldn't take much for the whole thing to become a major problem.
Note also that there is a school holiday then for some parts of the Netherlands and people will be flying for that break so Schiphol could be busier.

Don' t. You really don' t have the time.

the taxing around the airport will consume most of your spare time

"Arrival time is touchdown"

I never knew that. I always thought that published arrival times were for gate arrival....

By my rough math you could have somewhere between 60-90min on the ground in downtown Amsterdam to stroll. Maybe up to 2 hrs if your flight is early and timing goes well. I'm pretty risk tolerant, so if this were my trip I'd probably go for it....If it was cold and rainy I'd curl up in the terminal with a good book...

Here's some rough timing - you can trim or pad these #s whichever way you want...

let's say 10:00 arrival at the gate, for the sake of this thought experiment -

10:00 arrival at gate this one you can't control. In my experience however eastbound transatlantic flights may be early when there is a good tailwind..
10:30 deplane, bathroom, walk to exit
10:45 get walk to airport train station, but round trip ticket, wait for next train (20min ride to Amsterdam Centraal), trains every 10-15min all day...
11:15 arrive Amsterdam Centraal
11:30 find locker/store carry on if you need to

FREE TIME - somewhere between 60-90min...

12:45 retrieve stored luggage, find train. No luggage stored, then you have a little more time.
13:00 board train back to the airport
13:30 emmigration and security - this is a variable you can't control. It could be longer, or it could be shorter. Are you feeling lucky? You might want to see if there is a paid fast pass option... or monitor wait times on an airport app if they have one...
14:00 walk to gate
14:15 boarding starts -
14:45 gate / doors close. This is your absolute drop dead time. If you miss this, you're SOL.... Your flight/airline might have different cutoff time..
15:00 flight departs

AFAIK you are 'almost' correct -- arrival time isn't just when it arrives at the gate, but when the aircraft door opens

You will have to go through Immigration to enter the country as you are coming from Canada. Have no idea as to how long this can take as it been years since I have flown into or out of AMS.
I am risk adverse so would ask the question, what happens if I miss my flight? If you just get put on the next flight with little or no financial penalty and you are ok with being a day late I say its reasonable to go for it if you get through immigration in reasonable time.

It has been a few years for me flying in and out of Amsterdam but it is a very busy and large airport. When we were there about 10-12 years ago, we took a bus from the airport that was a short walk from Leidesplain to our hotel. After a few days in Amsterdam we picked up rental car and went to Bruge, returning rental car at Amsterdam for a Saturday night flight to Israel. Check-in for that flight was very lengthy and airport was very busy, not including the extra security check.

We've been through passport control at AMS a few times in the past couple of years -- both entering and exiting. Longest wait was over 45 minutes. I'm afraid this is a risk that I wouldn't want to take.

Buy entry to a lounge if you don't otherwise qualify. Relax, it really isn't worth the stress involved and it doesn't count towards your 90day Schengen, should you want to visit Europe as you don't need to go through passport control.

https://www.schiphol.nl/en/privium/lounge-voucher/

If you want some fresh air there is a panorama terrace, though you will need to go through immigration for that I believe.
https://www.schiphol.nl/en/at-schiph...orama-terrace/

and as soon as there is a major hick up transportation wise, the flight may be out of window. Waiting times at Schiphol security are considerable because there is a staff shortage they can' t solve. Again: don't risk it and spare yourself hair-raising moments.

This won't help, since I had 7 hours, but for next time:

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...t-time-995171/