We are arriving at 7am on a Tuesday from the US. We are getting tickets to the Anne Frank House and plan to walk around the Red Light District. We have a flight the next day at 10am to Stuttgart...so we are in Amsterdam for no more than 24 hours. We had planned on staying at the Ibis at Central Station but I'm now debating if we should just stay at an airport hotel and just take the train in and out of Amsterdam to do our touring.
Thoughts?
Posted by
MPLS, MN
354 posts
Nah, I would stay near Central Station. It is so easy to get to AMS from central station and having a full day/evening in Amsterdam is much better than some airport hotel.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Thanks for your thoughts. I took a closer look and it seems our hotel is only a 15 minute train ride back to the airport. I think we will stick with the Ibis.
Posted by
7667 posts
You need to try to get tickets to the Anne Frank House for no earlier than 11am, preferably in the PM, since you will have to check into your hotel, then get to the house.
A taxi from the airport to central Amsterdam or the Anne Frank House will cost $50. We stayed at a small hotel two blocks from the Anne Frank House.
Not familiar with hotels near the Central Station, but I'll bet they are very expensive, perhaps as much as the Sheraton or Hilton right next to the airport. You can walk from the Sheraton or Hilton to the airport, there is a covered area with a people mover.
You will likely need to be at the airport at 7am for your 10am flight to Stuttgart. When we went through Schipol twice on our way to our African safari, we were at the airport four hours ahead of our flight and it took us almost three hours to checkin and get through immigration and security.
The IBIS will cost about the same at the Sheraton or Hilton and probably won't be as nice.
Posted by
Sweden
6384 posts
I would stay in central Amsterdam, cancel the connecting flight and take the train to Stuttgart the next day. Staying at airports are not that fun in my opinion, and it might be nice to be able to get back the hotel before dinner.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Thanks all! We are staying at the Ibis Amsterdam Centre- pretty cheap. ---we land at like 7am and are not getting AF tickets until 4pm so I think this will work out ok time wise. Yes, we will be at the airport early the next morning for our 10am flight. We are not checking any luggage so that should save some time.
Posted by
257 posts
I landed at Schiphol on Thursday April 13 at 7:15am and was at my hotel in Amsterdam (Leidsensplein area) at 8:30. Yup, through immigration, collected checked bag and taxi to hotel. I dropped my bags at hotel, used their lobby restroom to freshen up a bit and headed out to begin sightseeing. If you’re staying near Central Station you could save a lot of Euros and just take the train from airport to CS. And you could take a nice canal cruise to start your day. Plenty of boats by the station.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
sboh- that's exactly what we are doing--taking the train which given the location of the hotel is practically door to door service. With no checked luggage we should have it pretty simple. Thanks for your insight!