Travel to Amsterdam

Flying to Amsterdam

Airlines offering direct flights to Amsterdam from the UK include British Airways, KLM, Air France, Ryanair, Flybe and easyJet. No-frills airlines provide cheap flights to Amsterdam year round.

Flight times:

From London - 1 hour 20 minutes; New York - 7 hours 10 minutes; Los Angeles - 11 hours; Toronto - 7 hours; Sydney - 21 hours 20 minutes.

Travel by road

Summary:

The Netherlands is connected to the rest of Europe by an excellent network of motorways. Driving is on the right. Speed limits are 120kph (75mph) on motorways, 80kph (50mph) on major roads and 50kph (30mph) in towns. Children under 12 years should not travel in the front seat. The minimum driving age in The Netherlands is 18 years. An International Driving Permit is not required, as long as the driver holds a valid foreign driving licence. Green Card is advisable but not compulsory.

The Royal Dutch Touring Club, ANWB (tel: (088) 269 2222; www.anwb.nl), patrols major roads 24 hours a day, with qualified mechanics equipped to handle routine repairs.

Emergency breakdown service:

ANWB Wegenwacht (tel: (088) 269 2888).

Routes:

Schiphol lies on the E19, from where it is an easy 18km (11-mile) drive into Amsterdam. The A10 is the Amsterdam ring road. The main route out of Amsterdam, toward Brussels, is the A2, heading south to join the A27 and finally the A16/E19 at Breda, which continues across the border to Antwerp. The A2 also connects with Utrecht, from where the A12/E35 travels directly through the Duisburg-Essen conurbation, passing Düsseldorf, Cologne and continuing southeast until Frankfurt. Hanover is best reached by taking the E231 out of the city to connect with the A1/E30, becoming the A30/E30, which continues east to Hanover.

Driving times:

From Brussels - 2 hours 30 minutes; Hanover - 4 hours; Frankfurt - 6 hours 30 minutes.

Coaches:

Eurolines (tel: (020) 560 8788; www.eurolines.nl) operates coach services, sometimes in conjunction with other national companies, to major cities throughout Europe, including London, Paris, Brussels and Frankfurt. Offices are located at Rokin 10 and the coach station, Amstelstation, Julianaplein 5.

Travel by rail

Services:

Centraal Station, Stationsplein, is one of the largest railway terminals in Europe. The station has an impressive array of facilities, from showers and restaurants to hotel and travel-booking services. The national rail provider is NS (tel: 0900 202 1163; www.ns.nl), which runs an efficient network with frequent services covering destinations all over the Netherlands and further afield into the rest of Europe.

Operators:

There are regular Eurostar trains (www.eurostar.com) from London to Brussels, where a direct connection to Amsterdam can be caught after a short wait (journey time - 3 hours). THALYS (tel: 0900 9296; www.thalys.com) runs high-speed services connecting Amsterdam with Brussels (journey time - about 2 hours 30 minutes). There are frequent daytime services from many large western European cities as well as night services. More express train links to other European cities are currently under consideration.

Travel over water

Summary:

Amsterdam is a busy port city and one of the top 10 most important cruise ship harbours in Europe. Amsterdam's business ports are run by Haven Amsterdam (tel: (020) 523 4500; www.amsterdamports.nl). Information on cruise ship services is available from Amsterdamcruise (tel: (020) 551 2557; www.amsterdamcruise.com).

The main cruise hubs are based at the elegant Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (PTA), at Oostelijke Handelskade on the edge of the city centre (tel: (020) 509 1000; www.ptamsterdam.com), and the Felison Terminal, on the IJmeer (tel: (0255) 545 440; www.felisonterminal.nl). The main ferry terminal for services around Europe is situated further south, at Hook of Holland (tel: (0174) 519 570; www.hoekvanholland.nl).

Ferry services:

Cross-channel ferries are run by StenaLine (tel: 0844 770 7070; www.stenaline.co.uk), which operates a rail/fast-ferry service from London (Liverpool Street) to Amsterdam (Centraal Station), via Harwich and the Hook of Holland. There are two services daily, one in the morning and one in the evening (journey time - 8 hours 40 minutes).

Nearest port:

Amsterdam.

Transport to the city:

Although within walking distance, trains and buses connect the new cruise terminals with Amsterdam city centre. The Hook of Holland is connected by an express rail link with Centraal Station.

Transfer distance:

1.5km (0.9 miles).

Transfer time:

10 minutes.

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