layover in Amsterdam

Hey Neighbor!
We had a similar layover time in March. I'd say stay in the airport. Nap if you didn't sleep well. There are a couple of places you can shower if you wish. Walk and have a meal.

It's not as much time as you think it is!

Disembarking, security, and finding your new gate take time. Check out the airport site. You'll find plenty to do!

Have fun!

You have plenty of time. It is only a 20 minute train ride from the airport to the center of town. We had a four hour layover in 2004 and went into Amsterdam. We ate lunch, walked around and rode a huge ferris wheel that was set up in conjunction with some sort of carnival. We got some great pictures from it.

If you decide to venture out of the airport, stow your carryons in the coin-op lockers.

Don't use the coin-op lockers. When you arrive at the airport from a transatlantic flight,you enter the non-schengen half of the terminal. Problem is when you reenter the terminal after your excursion in Amsterdam you will enter the schengen half of the terminal where the flight to Venice departs from. So the only way to get to the lockers again is to pass through the immigration check between the two halves of the terminal; that means two lines. Thus it's easier to use the luggage hold in the Schipol Mall portion of the airport.

ooops, my bad. My transatlantic layovers have never been to Schengen countries.

the "4 hours", if based on arrival and departure times, means when the wheels touch the ground on arrival and when the plane pushes back for departure. Your actual time is at least an hour less since the plane has to taxi to the gate and deplane, and you need to be seated well before the plane pushes back. Add in even more time if you have checked luggage and have to go get it. Next add in time to buy a ticket, put your luggage somewhere, find the time of return trains, ride into Amsterdam, ride back, get thru the screening to go to the gate -- all of that is at least 1.5 hours and probably more because the trains aren't waiting at the time you want to ride, so more delay for that.

Work all this out and perhaps you get an hour or so, maybe more, that you can spend in Amsterdam. Much of which (if you're like me at least!) would involve anxious glances at my watch to make sure I'm not running late. At which point I would suggest applying a little cost-benefit analysis. Even with around an hour, you can see some sights. That's the benefit. But is it worth risking a delay somewhere that means you miss the flight to Venice?

Tracy: I will add that we were meeting friends in Italy on that trip. They flew over the day after we did. They had the same flight and layover as we did. They went into Amsterdam, ate lunch, rode the same ferris wheel and walked around some. Pretty much the same things we had done the day before. and, it was really nice to get out and walk around some after the trans-Atlantic flight. I am not trying to talk you into going into Amsterdam on your layover, but you should have time to do it if you decide it is worth it to you.

While going into Amsterdam is doable with the timely options availabe (train, shuttle bus), you had better have a good plan of action if you want to see anything once you get there. Not much time, really.