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Amsterdam airport for layover. Time to see something?

Hello all. My friend and I are travelling to Rome for 10 days in February with a layover in Schiphol Airport. We will only have carry-on luggage and I'd love to show her Amsterdam for a couple of hours but have only been there once and am not sure if there's time? We arrive at 11:10 and leave for Rome at 16:55. It's too long to just sit there but is there time to get into Amsterdam and back? What do you think? Thanks!

Posted by
8091 posts

You can take a train downtown in about 15 minutes from Schiphol. You still won't have that much time on the ground. Look for luggage storage at the airport, however.

Posted by
7 posts

Do you mean we won't have much time on the ground to accomplish this, therefore we should not attempt it? Naturally I'm concerned about doing something dumb and getting on the wrong train to come back and missing a flight, but if possible...

Posted by
24 posts

You may be very surprised at all that airport has to do in it. I think you could get into town and back but be very clear about what you want to see and how to get there.

Posted by
2487 posts

Assuming your plane is on time, you could have two hours or so in the city. As mentioned it is an easy 15-minute train ride to Amsterdam Centraal, and trains run every 10 mins.
Don't plan any activities, but just have a look and a lunch. You'll love the area around the Brouwersgracht, which is 5-min walk from the railway station.
You can buy your tickets in advance at the website of NS, the Dutch railways, saving you standing in the queue or figuring out the ticket machine.

Posted by
8375 posts

You do realize that you will spend time standing in line for immigration and customs to exit the airport, then immigration and security on the return to the airport, hours before flight time? Unpredictable how much time. I'd stay at the very nice airport, myself, but then I'm older and less adventurous these days.

Posted by
2487 posts

Getting out of the airport with only hand luggage won't take ages. It being an internal European flight within the Schengen zone, and in low-season February, two hours is sufficient for getting the flight to Rome.