Visit Amsterdam, some useful info

Downtown Amsterdam

To walk around: start from Waterlooplein (Metro), along Amstelstraat to Rembrandtplein. Continue on Reguliersbreestraat to the flower market. Down Kalverstraat to the Royal Palace (only open to public during the summer months. My blog entry has more detailed info.) and Dam Square. Walk down Damraak to Centraal Station. From behind St. Nicolaaskerk through red light district to Niuwemarkt Station (Metro). This path takes about 2-3 hours.You get to see the canals along the route. Watch out for bikes!

Zaanse Schans: There are several working windmills, a wooden clog museum and a store with a little cheese making workshop/demo. http://www.dezaanseschans.nl/en/ It can take a good half day. There's a bus that takes you there from Amsterdam Centraal http://www.amsterdam.info/excursions/zaanse-schans/).

Flower auction: http://www.floraholland.com/en/about-floraholland/visit-the-flower-auction/  The auction only goes from 7 to 11 (only to 9 on Thursday), so you need to be up early if you want to go. They sell combo tickets that include transport from either Schiphol or downtown Amsterdam to Aalsmeer. Check the website before your visit. Sometimes they have discounts on the ticket price over holidays. (from €6 to €3). For more info, read my blog post on it.

Museums: Most people visit the Van Gogh museum (€15), Rijks museum (NL national museum, €15) and the Anne Franks house/bunker (if you read the book). I personally would recommend Rijks. There's a Rembrandt's house (€15) as well. I thought that was quite neat as well. This is what I wrote on tripadvisor: "If you thought you'd see a lot of paintings here then you're wrong. This is where Rembrandt lived. The free audio guide tells you the story of Rembrandt's life. There are several workshops inside the house. You can see how the etchings and prints were done, how the paints were made, and even got a first hand experience on printing." IMO the Van Gogh museum is more just the name. Something like "hey it's THE Van Gogh museum!". There are Van Gogh pieces of course, but the most famous ones are not here. Starry night is in NYC and cafe terrace is in Kroller-Muller (For more info, read my blog entry). The famous sun flower is in London. But if you got the time, it's worth the visit.

Keukenhof: Keukenhof is the famous flower garden about 30 min drive from Amsterdam. It only opens from late March to late May each year. Check the website for actual opening times. My blog entry also has more detailed info.

Public transport and visitors' card: There is a public transport card (OV Chipkaart) in Amsterdam. If you pay cash, any bus/tram/metro ride is €2.80. To ride around downtown with an OV chipkaart is about €1.50 (depends on distance). To purchase a kaart there's a one time €7.50. Information on public transportation can be found here: www.gvb.nl  There's also another option, the IAMsterdam Card. http://www.iamsterdam.com/en-GB/experience/deals/i-amsterdam-city-card  It grants you unlimited transportation and free admission to most museums (you can find the list on the site). I think also a free canal boat tour is included. You can check to see if that works better for you, depending on what you want to see. There's also a Museumkaart (http://www.museumkaart.nl/). For about €60 (€55 for kaart, €5 registration) you can visit more than 400 museums for free within one year. It can be purchased at major museums (Rijks I believe sell it) or online. Unfortunately the website is only in Dutch. If you are visiting more than 4 museums, it's worth it.

 

Transport from Schiphol: The trein (train) goes to Schiphol. A ride from Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal is €4.00. Check the train schedule and route planning on www.ns.nl. There is a train ticket machine at the luggage pickup  at Schiphol and also at the Schiphol Plaza. It's of blue and yellow color with a sign of double sided arrows with a bent in the middle. Some machines take cash (coin only). The machines take Visa/MasterCard with a preset pin. If your card doesn't work, there's a 50 cent extra human fee. The machines have an English menu. There's a new ticket now that costs €1.00 extra for each ticket. You may save money to buy round trip ticket from Schiphol. Just don't lose the ticket during your stay. You need to beep on and off at your starting station and end station. You can ride the train with an OV chipkaart (save the €1.00 paper ticket fee). However, you need to have a minimum €20.00 balance on the card to enter the train station. Doesn't really make sense to leave the country with an card with at least €18 that you can't use.

Schiphol: At the airport. They offer free 30 min wifi (for browsing only, they block instant messaging).