OV chipkartt/ ARTT / or none required?

Thank you for your reply. So as i understand it I will need to buy OV chipkart for everyone excluding the infant.

Based on my above itinerary - would i need the OV card fo 2 days or 3 days ? I will be staying in the Noord area - Clinknoord hostel

The term »OV Chipkaart« is confusing. The OV Chipkaart is a nation-wide public transport card, and a waste of money for your needs. You need the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket, although I can't find information on their price for children. The railways have a special Railrunner ticket at EUR 2,50 for children younger than 12 years, valid all day. The EBS bus company, serving the area north of Amsterdam which you need for Marken (and other places, such as Volendam, Edam and Monnickendam), has the same price of EUR 2,50 for children including 12-year olds. The youngest one is free on train and bus.

• There is no ARTT for children.
• A ticket on EBS buses for children (4-11 yo) costs 3 euros : http://www.ebs-ov.nl/service-en-verkoop/producten-tarieven/kinderkaartje/#c101

I haven't been to Amsterdam yet, but I am doing research for a spring trip, and it seems to me Tripkey is the best transportation option.

Sign up ahead of time with a credit card. You can get cards for each person (on one credit card) and I think I read the price is better than buying individual tickets. Also fares are less for trains during off-peak hours which are 6:30 to 9 am and 4 to 6:30 pm. Sign up includes birthdate, so I would assume children's rates would be automatic.

Read all the details on the website.

http://www.tripkey.nl/

Edit: Corrections. Per email from Tripkey, the lesser fares for off peak hours are for trains only. Does not apply to trams or buses. And the registering birthdate is for identification only. Does not affect fare rates.

"I think I read the price is better than buying individual tickets"
For trains using Tripkey you dont need to pay for the additional fee of 1 euro for paper tickets. For longer journeys it can be cheaper to use day cards as with Tripkey you pay for every km you travel without a cap. for buses/trams/metros Tripkey will often be cheaper, as singles for those are often very expensive compared to the chipcard fare.

"Also fares are less during off-peak hours which are 6:30 to 9 am and 4 to 6:30 pm."
No, not with Tripkey. Tripkey always charges you the standard fare.

"Sign up includes birthdate, so I would assume children's rates would be automatic."
I'm sorry, but that assumption is wrong. Tripkey is a non-personalised chipcard, so age discounts are not possible. If you are travelling with children (4-11 yrs) buying children's tickets via ticket machines or from drivers is often cheaper.

We just got back from 12 days in Amsterdam and other NL cities. I used an anonymous chipcard since I wanted to keep it for my trip in June; husband had a Tripkey linked to a credit card. The Tripkey was definitely more convenient because we didn’t have to worry about adding value to it - just tap and go! Both cards were easy to pick up at Schiphol but if you are not going through the airport may not be so easy for you. I understand you can get an envelope to mail the Tripkey back; my sister may do that in June since we leave by train not airplane.

We used the two cards for all trams in Amsterdam and Utrecht, plus our trains from Schiphol to Amsterdam and back, and trains to Utrecht, Leiden and Den Haag. Sorry I can’t help with the kid fares but others have responded on that topic.

Thank you Floris for the information. I appreciate the corrections.

Per an email answer I received from Tripkey.com, the lesser fare for non peak hours applies to trains only. Not trams or buses.

Thank you for the wonderful help. This makes it a lot simpler for me

"You will need a OV chipcad to get to the Keukenhoff. "
You can also buy combi tickets (transport and entrance) from the Keukenhof website. https://keukenhof.nl/en/footer/buy-tickets/
Buses to Keukenhof are run by Arriva. So GVB cards are indeed not valid, but the ARTT is.