Amsterdam On the go
Flying to Amsterdam
Most visitors, whether from America or other parts of Europe, fly into Schiphol Airport, 14km southwest of Amsterdam. The airport has connections to 248 cities in 97 countries. Very regular flights link Schiphol with all major European airports, and there are several flights a week from North America, Canada and Australia.
Getting to Amsterdam by train
There are good rail connections to all parts of the Netherlands from Brussels, Paris, Antwerp, Cologne, Hanover and London, and the North Sea ports. From London (Waterloo) you can take the Eurostar to Brussels and then change onto the fast Thalys service to Amsterdam. Total journey time is about 6 hours. Day and night services operate from London (Liverpool Street) to the Netherlands via Harwich and the Hook of Holland - journey time is around 8 hours (including the sea crossing).
Ferries to Holland
From the UK, P&O Stena operates two sailings a day from Harwich to the Hook of Holland; the high Speed Service takes 3 hours 40 minutes. North Sea Ferries has a daily sailing from Hull to Rotterdam, taking 14 hours. The fastest sea route from the UK is from Dover to Ostend via Hoverspeed's seacat, which takes about 2 hours. From the UK, the Channel Tunnel's Le Shuttle provides a 35-minute drive-on service between Folkestone and Calais, France, from where there is a straightforward motorway connection through Belgium. All the companies mentioned offer a car ferry service. Advance bookings are advisable in summer. From the Hook of Holland to Amsterdam, travel time is roughly 2 hours 30 minutes. If you don't mind a longer drive on the Continent you can, of course, take the shorter cross-Channel ferry route from Dover to Calais.