If all goes according to schedule, we're doing the antithesis of SlowTrav on January 6. We arrive at Amsterdam's airport at 9:45am on a flight from Tel Aviv, and depart at 5:45pm for a flight to JFK.

So, is this enough time to head into town to maybe see Ann Frank's house, and have some lunch? Or walk around and have some lunch? Or basically, do anything and have some lunch? If so, any recs for restaurants, something to do and transportation to/from the city?

Thanks!

Most definitely - you will be able to go into Amsterdam. I had about a 4 1/2 hour layover and was able to spend the morning in Amsterdam. You have even more time. I'd say you would have at least 5 hours in Amsterdam giving yourself 1 hour each way to get to and from the plane.

Getting in to Amsterdam: It will take about 1 hour from touchdown to Centraal Station. Getting through Passport control is usually very fast. You'll probably want to get some Euros. There are many ATMs both before going through Passport control, in baggage or the main arrival hall/Plaza.

After exiting baggage, the arrival Plaza at Schiphol is huge. Part of it are stores and the other part is the train station. You can purchase a round trip ticket to Amsterdam Centraal Station (cost ~7 euros). The train tracks are below the arrival hall. They will tell you what 'spoor' or track. I think it is #1-2. Once at the train track, there are signs above that tell you where the train is headed. You will want the one that goes to Amsterdam Centraal Station. That is the end of the line so it is easy to know where to get off. Also many of the train cars have electronic signs to announce the station so you will know which one is Schiphol on the return. It is about 15-20 minutes on the train.

Out of the station, you can easily walk to the Anne Frank House. I can not remember exactly how long - I'm guessing maybe about 20 minutes or so. You can get tickets ahead or see if you can walk in. In January mid-week - you may be able to walk up and get in pretty soon. I walked up and had to wait only a short time in November. The tour does take about 1 hour. I got the audio tour and it was very good.

I don't have any recommendations right off on where to eat. I'll look over my notes to see what is in the area. Would you be interested in any beer places? There are several very interesting beer bars in the area also. Most don't have food. I'd also need to check and see if there are any age limits if you're traveling with your kids.

I'd also recommend walking around the canal area. Very easy to do. There are not a lot of trams in the area but there are around the parameter so you could walk to a certain area and then tram back to the Centraal Station.

There are also lockers where you can store your carry ons. Here's a map of arrival and departures. The escalators down to the trains are in the middle around (43) and the train ticket office is towards the center opposite (18).

Kim - I think Amsterdam is one place where it is fairly easy to get into town, and you should be able to include a trip to the Anne Frank museum, which is a very special place to visit.

The Netherlands Rail site shows very frequent trains into Amsterdam, with journey times of about 20 minutes. And the Anne Frank Museum site shows buses that go there from the station - if you don't fancy the 20 minute walk. You can order tickets online to the museum, though you probably won't need to do that in January.

The Schipol airport website links to the rail site, and also includes other useful information, including the location of luggage lockers. Or, if you decide not to go into Amsterdam, there's a link to the more than 100 shops you can visit at the airport itself. I'm sure the girls would enjoy that if they are with you, though as a mother and grandmother, I think the Anne Frank house would be a more meaningful destination

Judy

whoops - edited to add Marta and I must have been posting at the same time!

Cool - you found out which buses to take. I see we were of like minds.

Happening upon this thread: there are more details about the train trip and carry-on storage in my Italy 2008 trip report which you edited, Kim. Note in particular about getting train tickets: buying them from a ticket window had a surcharge, and there were clusters of machines for buying them. Some of them took only credit cards and apparently only with a chip (not most U.S. cards), and others took euro coins only.

Last July, we tried to buy train tickets at the airport using the ticket machine with our credit cards. After trying 3 different credit cards several times without success, we went up to the window. I think the surcharge was around 50c per ticket, but it was worth it.

A few more tips of the penny-pinching type: In the locker (bag check) area, there are change machines that give euro coins including for dollars (I forget which denominations), so you can get coins both for the lockers and for the train, getting the tickets with coins. I'm not sure if it was clear from the back of the lines at the ticket machines which of them took coins.

If your only city transportation is between Centraal Station and the Anne Frank House, you can look into the Stop/Go minibus, paying the €1 fare onboard. It stops across the canal from the AFH when going that direction; you can ask the driver to say it.

I like having a Dutch pancake; I haven't been there, but the place at www.pancake.nl is near the AFH. There's also the option of an Indonesian rijsttafel; one place for that is named in my trip report.

Andrew - I checked your trip report on stopover in Amsterdam. Good tips on public transportation both for 9292ov site and using strippenkaart. I like the idea of the Stop/Go minibus.

One other item regarding Strippenkaart - multiple people can use it. The driver will just stamp the zone multiple times to represent each rider. Also, always keep your tickets - there are random inspections and heavy penalties if you don't have a valid ticket on trams/bus etc.

There are also guided tours of Amsterdam that are available from Schiphol. We looked into them when we were returning from Greece but the timing didn't work for us. Essentially a bus meets you at the wirport and takes you on a two hour tour of the city with commentary and then drops you back off at the airport. Given how I generally feel after a latenight Trans Atlantic flight this would be the way to go for me!

In the end if you're just feeling exhausted from your flight from NY there is a neat 'hotel' inside the airport where you can sleep for a few hours, have a shower, and unwind.

We enjoyed the free branch of the Rijksmuseum art gallery that wa sin the museum. The museum will be featuring an exhibit highlighting the work of the Brueghel brothers while you're there. Mind you - the girls won't much care given your experience with the Louvre.

The airport also has the best shopping and restaurants/food of any airport I have ever been in. I suspect the entire family would be inpressed with the aptly named Chocolate Bar!

We often plan our trips so as to include a layover in Amsterdam (as a 6 foot tall woman, it's my very favorite place to shop!)
It's so easy and quick to get right to the center of town, and then walk to wherever we want to go. It's beautiful to just walk along the canals and check out the many boutiques, watch the boats going by (with an 8 hour layover you'll have plenty of time for a canal cruise too!), get something good to eat (highly recommend the pancake idea suggested earlier), look at the gorgeous architecture - we love the over-door features on the elegant canal homes.
I'm sure you'll love it!
Anne