We'll be in Amsterdam on Friday and will be leaving early Sunday morning from Central station. Our hotel doesn't serve breakfast until 7am which is too late for us. Does anyone know how early the cafe/ restaurants open in Central Station on a Sunday morning? Might they be open by 5:30am or 6am? Or, maybe a restaurant near the station opens early?
Thanks,
Tom
I don't know of any cafes anywhere in Amsterdam that would be open by 5:30 or 6. Your best bet might be 6:30 but more likely 7:00 at the earliest. Many will not open until 8 or 9.
I would probably pick up something to eat the day before. Hopefully your hotel room will have something to make coffee with in the room.
Under Food & Drinks at https://www.ns.nl/en/station-information/asd/amsterdam-centraal you can find what is available and their opening times (click on the shop and then on the opening hours to get an overview). Most seem to open at 7:00 am although Starbucks seems to claim to open at 6:30am.
Some hotels will pack a breakfast for you to go if you need to leave early.
Another option is to pick up some pastries or other food the day before to have in your room the next morning.
Starbucks in the West tunnel at Central Station opens at 6am daily, the one in the Ij hall at 6.30am daily, and the one on Track 2 at 9am on Sunday (earlier in the week).
Maybe not a great option, but probably the only one.
Interestingly, the opening hours on the NS site appear to be different than those mentioned on the Starbucks website as flagged by isn31c (good callout). According to Starbucks, the Westtunnel branch even opens at 5:00am: https://www.starbucks.nl/nl/store-locator/58532-309826/amsterdam-midden-tunnel.
What train are you leaving on? Eurostar has an on board restaurant.
Assuming you show up early like they tell you to, Eurostar also offers long wait times, in line then in the waiting area, before boarding, which give you loads of time to eat and drink whatever you're able to find.
“ Assuming you show up early like they tell you to, Eurostar also offers long wait times, in line then in the waiting area, before boarding, which give you loads of time to eat and drink whatever you're able to find.”
Please note that this is only applicable for the Eurostar trains to London, as you’ll need to go thru passport control.
There are no lines or long wait times for the Eurostars to Brussels and Paris. You simply show up on the platform about 10 minutes or so before the train departs and that’s it.
Dutch Traveler, thanks for clarifying.
Did you find food?
For the curious, where were you going that you were leaving so early?
at the moment the London bound Eurostar Blues get their security check and border control when the change is made in Brussels. The Eurostars from London go TO Amsterdam, but because of the construction in and around Amsterdam Centraal they do not go FROM Amsterdam. It is a Eurostar Red from Amsterdam to Brussels where a change with the usual formalities is made onto a Eurostar Blue to London.
When the construction in Amsterdam is complete the comments about the long lines and waits at Amsterdam Centraal will again be valid. Still shorter than the airport though.
I was able to get food this morning about 7 AM at the train station. I found a coffee shop open with coffee and a couple of pieces of bakery. It seemed early for them as she was still heating up some of the bakery and her shelves were pretty empty.
We were on our way to Munich so it was “good enough”. Perhaps the main issue was that it was Sunday morning.
My thanks to all for your comments.
Tom
