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17 hour layover in Schiphol

Posted by (Minnesota) on

We have an upcoming Air France flight from Norway that has a 17-hour layover (roughly 7:30 p.m.-11:40 a.m.) in Schiphol. Can anyone help with these questions:

  1. Will we need to pick up our luggage and then check it in again for the second flight (to the U.S.)?
  2. Are we required to stay in a hotel? My reading of our flight info is that we can't hang around in our terminal for 18 hours.
  3. If we are required to stay in a hotel, should we stay right at the airport? We're not sure how complicated it would be to take a shuttle to a hotel away from the airport and then back again the next morning for check-in in plenty of time for our flight.

Thank you for any suggestions!

Posted by
8876 posts

You are not “required” to stay in a hotel, but why wouldn’t you want to do so? I will suggest the Citizen M hotel which is a short walk along the sidewalk from the terminal entrance. Don’t stay at the airport Hilton unless budget is no object.

Whether you need to reclaim your bags is up to the airline, and I don’t know Air France’s policy. You should check with them.

Posted by
3101 posts

Yes, we did this in 2019. We stayed in a hotel. My wife picked it because it was in the "city center".

Amsterdam's "city center" is huge. So be very specific about where you stay. We were about 6 K from the train station (Schipol to train station is very simple). We should have taken a cab to the hotel, but my wife is really cheap and doesn't like cabs.

Posted by
8239 posts

Choices are
The CitizenM Hotel that will cost out about $160 per night
The Airport Sheraton, cost about $260
The Airport Hilton, cost about $275

All are convenient to the airport.
We stayed at the Hilton and it was excellent. It was an easy walk from the terminal. In fact, the walk is indoors and has a moving walkway that helps.

Posted by
399 posts

As you are coming from Norway, I assume you will not be dealing with jet lag. Are you a night owl? If so, head to Central Station in Amsterdam, check into your hotel and go hit the town. If you are not a night owl, I recommend you consider Haarlem. A quick bus (or train) from AMS airport gets you to a much smaller and manageable town. Grab a nice dinner, walk around and take the historic core in. Then head to AMS in the AM. Give yourself 3 hours to get through security/passport control.

Posted by
319 posts

There is a nice Hilton connected to the airport too. We had a similar situation a few years ago and we were able to see the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House. It just requires a little advance planning and some luck.
I hope it works out the way you want it to.

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