I have booked our flights and we will arrive AMS at 6:00 a.m. We will be taking the train from the airport direct to Brussels. I don't know how much time I need to allow for customs and for two groggy people to get to the train from the plane.
Thanks in advance!
Will you have luggage? Waiting for bags can take just as long as immigration/passport control (customs is not a lengthy process unless you are an importer). I'd check the recent timeliness of your flight to see if you're on a chronically untimely flight (though past pattern doesn't predict the future). If you're traveling during holiday season everything could take longer.
The train station is directly under the airport - follow signs to Schiphol Plaza and look for the train icon on the signs, you go down an escalator to get to the tracks. There are plenty of YouTube videos - I found this one with a simple Google search. If you are wanting to pre-purchase train tickets, I myself would allow 3 hours - you can stop and get breakfast and freshen up if everything goes quickly.
BTW you can check the level of expected airport busy-ness about three weeks ahead of your flight -
https://www.schiphol.nl/en/my-travel-day/today/arrivals
Personally I would allow three, four, maybe even five hours. You have no idea if your plane is on time, lines for immigration can be long.
According to the Man in Seat 61, the "regular" Inter-City trains that run frequently do not require advance purchase, so you can just head to the train station when you're ready to depart, buy and ticket and board. Might cost a few euros more than an advance-purchase ticket, but you can't miss a train you haven't booked. Also, the journey appears to be max 3 hours, which gives you plenty of time for a late arrival, long lines, etc. Here's the link:
https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/amsterdam-to-brussels-by-train.htm
I have booked our flights and we will arrive AMS at 6:00 a.m.
What time of year? Certain months could have weather related delays at AMS, your departure airport or both.
has accounts of folks having two very different experiences. ( They were leaving from AMS, but the same randomness can happen for arrivals)
I recently transited through Amsterdam. At passport control ( and I had only a carry on) the lines didn't look that long, after my early morning arrival from the US.
Suddenly, though, agents started asking which people waiting had flights departing at___ ? A whole lot did. So they put them in another "line" but that line actually fed into the agents for whom I was waiting! And as that group started to finish processing it happened again! I think it was about 45 minutes in that line?
But the airport is also huge.
It sounds like waiting to purchase your train ticket is a sensible plan.
Have a wonderful trip!
I also recommend the intercity trains instead of Eurostar. They will also be more frequent and faster next year.
From mid December onwards the Intercity service will be rebranded as "Eurocity Direct", and will be sped up significantly. It will make the same stops as the Eurostar, and only be a bit slower.
