Arrival and Orientation

The old center of Amsterdam that most people know is a semi circle with Central Station at the center. The Singelgracht, the outermost of the ring canals, marks the boundary of the city as it was around 1850. The Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht, and Singelgracht, form the Canal Belt (gracht is dutch for Canal, and the canal belt is known as the Grachtengordel).  Other neighborhoods inside the city center are the Jordaan, a quiet and trendy undiscovered place, and the Plantage, full of trees, parks, and home to Amsterdam’s zoo and botanical gardens. To the north of Central Station is the IJ river, and beyond that is Amsterdam North, a largely residential neighborhood of little interest to tourists.  To the East of the station are the Eastern Docklands, a modern urban renewal project built on the former piers and docks used during the heyday of the Dutch trading empire.  The most popular district outside of the city centre is South for it’s quality museums and street markets and shopping.  The Amstel River flows through the city from the south.  The dam which gave the city its name was located under what is now the De Bijenkorf department store.

By Train

Sign for Platform 2b at Amsterdam Railway Station Train stations in Amsterdam (in orange; centre in bright orange). Black lines: railways. Red lines: metro lines. Most trains arrive and depart from Amsterdam Centraal Station (with one extra ‘a’ in Dutch), located between the old centre and the IJ waterfront. Other train stations are Duivendrecht, Bijlmer-ArenA, Amstel, Muiderpoort (all southeast), RAI, Zuid-WTC (both south), Lelylaan and Sloterdijk (both west). Schiphol airport also has its own train station, which functions as a major hub within the Netherlands. It has at least seven trains an hour to Amsterdam Central, with additional trains going to other Amsterdam stations. Direct international trains run to Brussels (which is two and a half to three hours away and connects with Eurostar trains to London St Pancras and Ebbsfleet (Kent) in England), Paris, Cologne, Frankfurt, Berlin, Copenhagen, Milan, Zurich, Vienna, Prague and Moscow. See NS Hispeed for an international journey planner for trains into/out of the Netherlands.

By Bus

Most international bus services are affiliated to Eurolines, which has a terminal at Amstel Station (train station, metro station 51, 53, 54, tram 12). One bus per day is usually the maximum frequency on these routes. There are other international bus services, but they are often aimed at very specific markets, e.g. Polish migrant workers. There are almost no long-distance internal bus services in the Netherlands, and none to Amsterdam.

By Car

The western part of the Netherlands has a dense (and congested) road network. Coming from the east (Germany), the A1 motorway leads directly to Amsterdam. On the A12 from Arnhem, change at Utrecht to the A2 northbound. From the south (Belgium), the A2 goes directly to Amsterdam: the A16 /A27 from Antwerp via Breda connects to the A2 south of Utrecht. From The Hague, the A4 leads to Amsterdam. All motorways to Amsterdam connect to the ring motorway, the A10. From this motorway, main roads lead radially into Amsterdam (the roads S101 through S118). In most cases, you should want to avoid going to the city centre by car: traffic is dense and parking spaces are expensive and nearly impossible to find. Instead, when on the A10, follow the signs to one of the P+R-spots (P+R Zeeburg to the east, P+R ArenA and P+R Olympisch Stadion to the south, P+R Sloterdijk to the west). Here, you can park your car, and take public transport to the city centre, for a single fare. There are also a few places a short walk from outer tram stops to park for free. The speed limit on Dutch motorways is 120 km/h, except where indicated. On the A10 ring motorway around Amsterdam, the maximum speed is 100 km/h, and 80 km/h on the Western section. These limits are strictly enforced and there are many speed cameras.

By Sea

The maritime Passenger Terminal Amsterdam is close to the city centre, but is only for cruise ships. The nearest ferry port is IJmuiden (ferry from Newcastle upon Tyne) with DFDS Seaways, who offer a daily overnight ferry services from Newcastle-upon-Tyne (North Shields) in the United Kingdom see (official site). 125km away by car there is a ferry terminal at Rotterdam Europoort (ferry from Kingston Upon Hull), and Hook of Holland (ferry from Harwich). it’s about 80 km by the road to Amsterdam by the most direct route. Hook of Holland has an train station. Take the train to Schiedam or Rotterdam CS and from there a train to Amsterdam.

With so much to see and do, Amsterdam can be tough to get away from. Unless you are an Amsterdammer, that time always comes sooner or later. Here are some transportation links to other cities:

Direct trains connect Amsterdam to Paris, to major Belgian cities like Brussels and Antwerp, and to German cities like Cologne, Frankfurt and Berlin. The ticket machines directly sell tickets to nearby destinations in Belgium and Germany, for longer journeys you will need to consult the international ticket office at platform 2 of the Central Station. CityNightLine trains run directly from Amsterdam Central Station to Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen, Prague, Warsaw, Moscow, Munich, Innsbruck, and Zurich (a reservation is mandatory).