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TRANSPORT

Public Transport in Amsterdam:

The centre of Amsterdam is not accessible by car, parking is really expensive and the space is scarse. We strongly suggest you to move about the city by public transport, Amsterdam is a compact city and nowhere is very far apart so you can also walk or be one of the 550.000 bikers you will find on the streets.

Tram
It is the most convenient means of transport, The tram network consists of 17 tramlines that connect the Central Station to the neighbourhoods in the south, east,west and between the neighbourhoods.

Circle tram line 20
This hop-on-hop-off tram line is specifically designed for tourists, it runs through Amsterdam city centre in both directions past most of the attractions and hotels. It runs daily every ten minutes from 9.00 to 19.00, the last tram leaves at 18.00 from the Central Station.

Bus
The thirty bus lines connect the Central Station to neighbourhoods which are further from the city centre and to Amsterdam North. If you do not yet have a valid ticket, you can buy one from the driver. Tickets for city and regional travel are always cheaper when bought in advance!

Night lines
Buses also run at night on nine different routes in the city, hourly during the week and half-hourly at the weekend. The night buses to and from the Zuidoost neighbourhood run half-hourly throughout the week. In addition to an ordinary strip ticket, you must also buy a supplement ticket before travelling on the night bus. All local night buses run from or via the Central Station. This is the central changing point. These take account of connections with other night lines of the GVB, night trains run by the NS (Dutch railways) and (night) regional transport. If possible the buses wait for buses on another night line arriving slightly later. Line 71 crosses a number of other night lines and is therefore a good one to use for changing from one line to another.

Canal Bus
Canal Bus is the perfect way of getting around Amsterdam with its wealth of waterways. The comfortable boats offer a regular service over the water along 3 routes, the Green, the Red and the Blue Line.The 11 stops are located near the main museums, attractions and shopping areas. With your day ticket, which is valid till 12 noon the next day, you can hop on and hop off all day long. You can find the stops at Rijkmuseum, Leidseplein, Westerkerk, Anne Frank House, Central Station, City hall, Rembrandthouse, NEMO, Maritime museum, Artis Zoo and Tropenmuseum. The boats travel a regular schedule between 10 in the morning till 7 at night.Your Canal Bus ticket entitles you to more than EUR 133,00 worth of discounts at museums, attractions and restaurants. With your day ticket you can buy an entrance ticket for Artis, Rijksmuseum, and other attractions. It saves queuing and you will get a discount as well!

Metro
There are also four metro and fast tram lines in Amsterdam. The metro lines connect the Central Station quickly to the Zuidoost neighbourhood. The fast tram runs from the Central Station, via Buitenveldert to Amstelveen. The ring line runs from Amsterdam Sloterdijk station to Gein via the Zuid/WTC station.

Tickets
New is the All Amsterdam Transport Pass, which offers you unlimited travel for a day by tram, (night)bus, metro and boats of Canal Bus. This pass costs only EUR 17,00.
The tickets used in public transport are called 'strippenkaart', the tram or bus driver or the conductor sells 2, 3 and 8-strip tickets. The number of zones your ticket has been made valid for determines the area you can travel in. For example, the number of strips you have to stamp on your strippenkaart is always one more than the number of zones you travel in. Another example is the sterabonnement where you will have to pick a centre zone and star value to indicate what zones you can travel in. You can buy cheaper (15) strip tickets at GVB sales points, supermarkets, tabacco or newspaper shops, and the Amsterdam tourist office. You can also use your hour network ticket or strip ticket in the metro or fast tram. If you do not have a ticket, you can buy one from the machine in the ticket hall of the metro stations. At the GVB office opposite the Central Station and at the Amsterdam tourist office (VVV) You can also buy tickets there which are valid for several days, up to a maximum of nine days. A ticket for two days costs 15 guilders, for three days 19 guilders, and each extra day costs four guilders more. The ticket is valid once you have had it stamped by the conductor. Public transport from Park & Ride facilities On the Park & Ride page you will find the public transport options from the place where you have parked your car to the centre of Amsterdam.

Zones
Since 1 October 1980 one tariff system applies to bus, tram and metro in all of the Netherlands. The public transport service network has been divided into zones. A zone is an area usually 4 to 4.5 kilometres in diameter with a distinctive zone-name and zone-number. The fare for a trip is determined by means of the zone-system. To determine how many zones a trip costs you should count the amount of zones from the point of boarding up to and including the most distant zone from that point. Once you have found out how many zones your trip costs, you can work out how many strips to stamp on your strippenkaart. The basic fare for every trip is one strip. For each zone one strip is added. So, a one-zone trip costs two strips, a two-zone trip costs three strips etc. The zone system is also used for other tickets like the 12-reizenkaart or the sterabonnement.

Useful information:

Children under 4 years old travel free.
4 to 11-year-olds travel at a reduced rate. The ticket (strippenkaart) for kids is red.

The number of strips you have to stamp is always one more than the number of zones you travel in.

There are three possible ways to get your ticket stamped: by the driver/conductor, in a stamping machine on a tram, or, in metro stations, in a machine before you enter the platform.

More than one person can use the same ticket, as long as each person has stamped the required number of zones.

If you use public transport regularly, consider buying a weekly, monthly or even an annual ticket. These tickets are called sterabonnement and can be purchased anywhere you can but a strippenkaart - you'll need a passport photograph and some id.

Day tickets are available from GVB offices. Circle-tram (number 20) tickets are valid for all day travel on all tram, bus and metro lines, and you can also use an 8-strippenkart as a day ticket.

All the above-mentioned tickets are good for bus and metro travel within the Amsterdam area.

Day-tickets, strippenkaarts and the sterabonnement, are also valid on rail travel in the Amsterdam area.


For further information you can contact:
GVB
Phone: 0900 92 92
The number is open on weekdays from 6.00 am to midnight and weekends from 7.00 am until midnight.

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