What to do in Amsterdam in 10 hours? in low budget?

Question

I will be flying with KLM from Miami to Amsterdam and takking a connecting flight from there, but i have to stay at the airport for 10 hours, any planning for short visit in a low to medium budget? mainly sightseeing take some photos till my connection. hope anyone did it before. so they will give me an idea. i don't want to go through travel agent.

details is much appreiciated.

Thanks

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Answer 1

I recently had a 6 layover in Amsterdam. It took about an hour and a half to get out of the airport. There are lockers- you may want to keep your carry-on in one instead of lugging it around. I took the train from the airport (it's located directly underneath Schipol airport) to Amsterdam Centraal Station, which is about 10-15 minutes away (and if I remember correctly, the 4th stop). From Central Station, you can walk to the Red Light District and the city center. De Ould Kerk is in this area (old church) as well. Remember to be back at the airport 2 hours before your departure! Don't get distracted in a "coffeeshop"!! Oh, and get a map beforehand, because I had trouble finding one once I got there and spent a lot of time wandering around aimlessly. Have a good trip!

Answer 2

The first answer is great.

Amsterdam is the topic of many travel guides (including online guides) and you can easily do the research to find out what is interesting to you.

It will take an hour or more to get from AMS to the city center and another hour to get back (counting walking to/from the train station).  You NEED to be back at the airport 2 full hours before your continuing flight.  That gives you 5 to 6 hours in the city center for sightseeing.  Don't forget to take a light jacket and folding umbrella.

If you are traveling abroad for business and you need to be alive when you reach your final destination then reconsider going to the city center. Instead, get a day room at an airport hotel, sleep for 6 hours, take a real shower/bath, change into fresh cothes, have a real meal, and then go back to the airport. It won't be as fun as sightseeing, but may be important if you are traveling for business and not pleasure.

Also check with the airline (especially if you have not yet purchased your tickets) to find out if you can have an overnight stopover in Amsterdam at no extra cost.  KLM often offers layover specials that include hotel discounts.

Hope you have a good trip!

Answer 3

Two good answers so far.

Two more tips from me.

1- Amsterdam is made to walk.

If you take a map you can walk all over and just drink in the sights.

2- http://www.amsterdam.info/

A site with a lot of info, including a printable map.

Answer 4

A nice idea is to simply take the train from Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal Station.  The train station is located in the arrivals terminal.  You can buy a ticket in the yellow machines or at the nearby booths.  Then go down the escalator to the platforms.  Trains leave every 15mins and it takes about 15-20mins to get to the centre

Then when you are there, if you are interested in sightseeing and taking some pictures then I would definately say consider taking a canal boat tour (there are multiple different tours on the left & right as you leave the main enterance of the train station at Amsterdam).  Get one that shows you the main sites and also check how long it takes.  This way you can sit, relax, take pictures, and not be worried about how to get back on time.  

Don't go through a travel agent just for this.  There are many tours on offer and it is just a case of seeing which one is available at the time and suits you.  You can do this in person when you are there, and no need for a travel agent.

The reason I say this is because it is peak tourist season in Amsterdam and Schiphol airport (being a main hub) is exceptionally busy.  I have seen queues for passport control stretching around the terminal before now.  So you need to plan about 2 hours for this to be safe.  Then depending on which gate your flight is, it can take 25-30 mins to walk to this after passport control.  So make sure you factor this in, as you really don't want to risk missing your flight!

One final point - this is all of course assuming that you are eligible to leave Schiphol (via passport control) - e.g. you hold an EU/EEA passport, or a (Schengen) visa, or that you have a passport that falls under the Visa Waiver Program.  This is of course also important, as otherwise you are going no-where without this :0)