Hello,
Our family of 5 will be traveling for the first time into Amsterdam soon and I would love any trips you have for public transit usage since we will not be renting a car. We will be staying in Haarlem as our home base and plan to adventure out from there (Amsterdam, Friesland for an ancestry tour, maybe Utrecht or Leiden?). Thank you for sharing any info that could help some newbie travelers!
The train station in Haarlem is right at the beginning of town (less than 10 min walk to city center). The train will take you directly to Amsterdam Centraal, and from there you take a tram to your destinations around the city of Amsterdam. It's so easy. We just tapped in/out with our credit card.
Haarlem is so charming; you'll love it!
We stayed in Haarlem and enjoyed it very much. Public transportation was very easy. If you have interest in the Corrie Ten Boom house, try to get tickets as soon as possible. There is a lovely windmill within walking distance of the main square. Also, if you want to do a canal boat tour in Haarlem, you should book that in advance, too
Thank you so much for your responses! A quick follow up question I hope you don't mind . . .
I will look into tours for the Corrie Ten Boom house - thank you!
We enjoyed the canal tour in Amsterdam. I'm sure we would have enjoyed the canal tour in Haarlem if they weren't completely sold out. It might seem redundant to do both, but we find we learn so much about the individual cities and the architecture on the canal tours (We also did them in Delft and Bruges)
To help you with public transport, you need to share a bit more information. What are the ages of your children? This is relevant to check if they qualify for some sort of discount.
Also, will each family member have either a credit card or Apple/Google Pay on a phone or watch? You need 5 cards and/or devices to make this work for you. This is needed to determine if you can use OV Pay for your public transport.
You may find useful information in these threads: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/netherlands/visiting-amsterdam-and-nearby-city-transport and https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/netherlands/paying-for-amsterdam-public-transit.
Hello, the kids are 16, 14 and 12. My older two have debit cards, but not my youngest.
Ah that’s a shame, your kids are all too old for the special kids ticket. If you’re willing to travel outside peak hours to Friesland, you can save a lots of money with the Off-peak Group ticket; https://www.ns.nl/en/tickets/off-peak-group-ticket?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADPhMsd6UlK2NvBzzVhT72k6S4By3&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-Kf21-rihgMVq5poCR1r5AWmEAAYASAAEgKCifD_BwE
If you want to use the tap in/out way of paying for public transport, each member will need their own card or own device. So if you have Apple/Google Pay on your phone and you have an actual physical credit card, one person can use the Phone to tap in and another person can use the card. Even in the case the Google Pay is set up with the same credit card number. For all details about using your credit card or device to pay for public transport throughout the entire country, see here; https://www.ovpay.nl/en
We spent a week in Haarlem and loved it. It’s very easy to go other places by train or bus. We did canal boats in both Amsterdam and Haarlem and preferred Amsterdam.
The Corrie ten Boom house books up 6-8 months out. The info in the RS Guide is out of date.
When is your trip? We were just there in April 2024, and I also loved Haarlem.
I enjoyed canal cruises in each Dutch city I visited. Each captain has a different knowledge set and unique stories. And- it's a rest for the feet.
Have a great trip.
