USA to Nederland - customs limits and shots
Jun 2nd, 2013, 07:27 AM
#1
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USA to Nederland - customs limits and shots
Greetings,
We will be traveling to Amsterdam this fall, do we need any special shots like when you go to other foreign places?
Also, besides our drivers license and passport, should we bring any other vital documents?
Are there restrictions on what we can bring back to the US?
We will be flying through Atlanta then to Amsterdam. Any problems getting through customs in Amsterdam?
We want to take 2 day trips by train to Belgium and Germany. Any thoughts?
Our first trip abroad and have many questions. Any suggestion, advice, would be welcome.
Thanks!
We will be traveling to Amsterdam this fall, do we need any special shots like when you go to other foreign places?
Also, besides our drivers license and passport, should we bring any other vital documents?
Are there restrictions on what we can bring back to the US?
We will be flying through Atlanta then to Amsterdam. Any problems getting through customs in Amsterdam?
We want to take 2 day trips by train to Belgium and Germany. Any thoughts?
Our first trip abroad and have many questions. Any suggestion, advice, would be welcome.
Thanks!
Jun 2nd, 2013, 07:46 AM
#2
no need for shots.
Stuff you should not bring http://www.food.gov.uk/business-indu...s#.Uatn1NjI-00 (the link is British but the European element will be the same as a Dutch website. Do not try to bring this stuff the Dutch have very good sniffer dogs and will take it off you plus a fine.
Travel Insurance documents and return flight info (just in case you don't want to go back
).
Trains work very well in Europe. Probably best to start with seat61.com and bahn.de to get an overview and the key timetables.
I'd surf this site for more ideas after all Germany is a big country with 81 million people in it, where do you want to go?
Stuff you should not bring http://www.food.gov.uk/business-indu...s#.Uatn1NjI-00 (the link is British but the European element will be the same as a Dutch website. Do not try to bring this stuff the Dutch have very good sniffer dogs and will take it off you plus a fine.
Travel Insurance documents and return flight info (just in case you don't want to go back
). Trains work very well in Europe. Probably best to start with seat61.com and bahn.de to get an overview and the key timetables.
I'd surf this site for more ideas after all Germany is a big country with 81 million people in it, where do you want to go?
Jun 2nd, 2013, 07:46 AM
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You do not need special shots. If you are not driving you do not need your drivers license, your passport is good enough. There are no Amsterdam-specific issues with customs, it is pretty much like any other European city.
The limits of what you can bring back are pretty standard, just do a google search to check them out yourself. If you bring back a couple of extra bottles of beer and wine nobody seems to care much, but if you are going to buy cases of beer and wine you should have them shipped back. Meat and cheese need to be vacuum packed or they will be confiscated.
The day trips you speak of: they are really day trips and not overnights? The closest German city to Amsterdam by train is Dusseldorf, it would take you about 2 1/2 hours one way by ICE (inter-city express) and 3 1/2 hours by regional express. Unless you have a burning desire to visit Dusseldorf, I would recommend saving yourself the hassle and finding somewhere closer to Amsterdam. Belgium is closer, but it still takes a good chunk of your day just getting there and back by train.
I personally wouldn't do it, I would find somewhere outside of the city where I could get a taste of rural Netherlands (maybe with a good restaurant and wine/beer, make a real day out of it). Check out your guide book and see if there are any places close to Amsterdam that grab your eye, and go from there. And all of this depends on how long your trip is, of course.
Good luck!
The limits of what you can bring back are pretty standard, just do a google search to check them out yourself. If you bring back a couple of extra bottles of beer and wine nobody seems to care much, but if you are going to buy cases of beer and wine you should have them shipped back. Meat and cheese need to be vacuum packed or they will be confiscated.
The day trips you speak of: they are really day trips and not overnights? The closest German city to Amsterdam by train is Dusseldorf, it would take you about 2 1/2 hours one way by ICE (inter-city express) and 3 1/2 hours by regional express. Unless you have a burning desire to visit Dusseldorf, I would recommend saving yourself the hassle and finding somewhere closer to Amsterdam. Belgium is closer, but it still takes a good chunk of your day just getting there and back by train.
I personally wouldn't do it, I would find somewhere outside of the city where I could get a taste of rural Netherlands (maybe with a good restaurant and wine/beer, make a real day out of it). Check out your guide book and see if there are any places close to Amsterdam that grab your eye, and go from there. And all of this depends on how long your trip is, of course.
Good luck!
Jun 2nd, 2013, 07:49 AM
#4
If you have any reportable illnesses you need to report them when you arrive.
http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/Infecti...iableDiseases/
http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/Infecti...iableDiseases/
Jun 2nd, 2013, 08:01 AM
#5
>>>Meat and cheese need to be vacuum packed or they will be confiscated.<<<
Meat is not allowed so don't try it. Cheese is fine. If you buy liquids to bring back, they must go in your checked luggage.
Meat is not allowed so don't try it. Cheese is fine. If you buy liquids to bring back, they must go in your checked luggage.
Jun 2nd, 2013, 08:26 AM
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you might want to start another thread labelled "day trips from Amsterdam" because the current one doesn't seem to ask about them.
I found this old thread about visiting Dusseldorf or Cologne for a day. As noted above, they are pretty far from Amsterdam
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...to-germany.cfm
I would suggest Antwerp for a city to visit in Belgium. There are some notes in my 2011 Trip Report on things we enjoyed when we took a day trip there from Brussels
I found this old thread about visiting Dusseldorf or Cologne for a day. As noted above, they are pretty far from Amsterdam
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...to-germany.cfm
I would suggest Antwerp for a city to visit in Belgium. There are some notes in my 2011 Trip Report on things we enjoyed when we took a day trip there from Brussels
Jun 2nd, 2013, 09:57 AM
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Um, this is europe - not some obscure jungle filled with tsetse flies.
For US citizens no shots and no visas.
But I would recommend that you start doing a lot of research about travel in this century. Read a bunch of guide books, look at train schedules (bahn.de has them for all of europe) and check with the gov't web sites as to what and how much you can bring back to the US.
Entry into Amsterdam will be first Immigration (people, have your hotel info handy) and then pick up luggage and go through customs (just walk through the green line unless you are carrying illegal contraband - in which case you shouldn't be there at all.
For US citizens no shots and no visas.
But I would recommend that you start doing a lot of research about travel in this century. Read a bunch of guide books, look at train schedules (bahn.de has them for all of europe) and check with the gov't web sites as to what and how much you can bring back to the US.
Entry into Amsterdam will be first Immigration (people, have your hotel info handy) and then pick up luggage and go through customs (just walk through the green line unless you are carrying illegal contraband - in which case you shouldn't be there at all.
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