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.
