Random Amsterdam observations

Yes, the ferries from the station to the northern bits of Amsterdam are free. Definitely keep out of the way of cyclists on the ferry - I saw one get very frustrated with a family of tourists who were filming from the very back of the ferry and didn’t move in time…

Some of the bigger Albert Heijn stores across the Netherlands do not take Visa or Mastercard so this is the only place I’ve needed cash. I only found this in Utrecht and The Hague - the branch at Waterlooplein in Amsterdam did accept my cards, but it does seem to vary and I’ve found there’s usually a sign somewhere. All the Albert Heijn To Go stores (really useful for takeout food at train stations) appear to take cards, though.

One thing that disliked about the city was most of the time walking down the street someone up ahead was smoking pot.
I hate the odor of pot.

"There are no maps or workers to be found when entering the Metro."

How then do tourists ask about what trains to take or how to get places?

How did you know where to go? Did you use an app on your phone?

Perhaps they are also having a worker shortage just like in The United States.

How then do tourists ask about what trains to take or how to get places?

The NS app is what you'd need https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/ns-app. It was very easy to figure out which train to take.

Or you could use Google Maps to plug in where you want to go and it'll show you which trains to take, but I'd just go with the NS app.

“ Oh and I nearly forgot, the weather has been cool but not nearly as rainy as all the weather apps have predicted. There was a misty rain for like two minutes Monday when the apps had a better than 50% chance of rain for hours and Sunday it rained lightly for maybe 30-60 minutes when apps also predicted lots more rain.”

In your earlier post about there being 5 days of rain, I tried to give you a locals perspective on the weather predictions you were seeing, how they were not accurate and how the Dutch-based weather forecasts were saying something else. Unfortunately my post got burried in between the posts of people telling you to bring full rain gear, to waterproof your shoes etc etc.
I’m glad for you though that the local forecasts proved to be correct. Yes, it’s not as warm as it usually is this time of year, but nothing a sweater or light jacket can’t solve. But you definitely don’t need rain pants, rain jackets and waterproof shoes!

The issue with the lack of maps in the Metro is about having normal signage to allow people to get where they are going. I have a phone and figured it out. Poor people don’t have phones and signs seem like a minimum basic requirement.

Some of the bigger Albert Heijn stores across the Netherlands do not take Visa or Mastercard so this is the only place I’ve needed cash. I only found this in Utrecht and The Hague - the branch at Waterlooplein in Amsterdam did accept my cards, but it does seem to vary and I’ve found there’s usually a sign somewhere.

I encountered this at the Albert Heijn store in de Pijp. There was a sign but it was somewhat inconspicuous; however, once I knew, it was easy to get money and pay.

The issue with the lack of maps in the Metro is about having normal
signage to allow people to get where they are going. I have a phone
and figured it out. Poor people don’t have phones and signs seem like
a minimum basic requirement.

The issue is likely only for tourists. Locals know how the system works. Poor people don't have phones? A basic phone can be purchased in the NL for less than €200. 6G of data might be as low as €20. So, unless a local is truly destitute, they probably have a phone.

Ok maybe not poor people but signs are needed in general. I doubt passengers from Amsterdam could recite all 39 stations, lines and exactly where/how to switch lines.

They get millions of tourists who spend hundreds of millions of € (billions of €?) and should want them to have an easy time getting around.

Short sighted to say “only tourists need maps” (paraphrasing).

I look at the map all the time in New York where I have live for most of my life and have taken the subway for decades. I realize the city and the subway is 10-times the size of Amsterdam but still.

I haven't really noticed the lack of signs on the Amsterdam Metro, possibly because I have been so many times that I know it as well as any metro system in the UK.
However, before going somewhere new (anywhere in the world), I visit the Urban Rail website- this is the Amsterdam page -https://urbanrail.net/eu/nl/ams/amsterdam.htm
I have a whole collection of these UR maps printed off on my travel shelves, including for Africa, Asia and Australasia, ready for use.
Also the GVB kiosk outside Centraal station is very good at providing information, tickets and maps.
I have very high quality paper street maps of Amsterdam, so know where at surface level the stations are. So anytime I am in AMS I use my urban rail print out, and the GVB maps, and if I have to my street map. The same applies in Rotterdam.

Urban Rail will also direct me to the local transit website (in this case GVB, not NS as stated above) and I will have done my homework. Quite often I will have scribbled down directions on a post it note, or similar, so it's a quick look on the platform while still aware of my surroundings.

I am very old school, and use paper and street sense. Far too many people now have no idea how to use paper maps, and just have eyes glued and face down on their devices, and trust them explicitly.

Just out of interest here is the Urban Rail page for New York- https://www.urbanrail.net/am/nyrk/new-york.htm with the link to the MTA website.

Beam me down tomorrow in New York (where I have never been) and I would cope very well with this and a street map picked up at the Airport. But that is just me.

I was just in Amsterdam myself. I found the transit much easier to understand than in Brussels, which was diabolically bad (how hard is it to say which side is northbound vs. southbound, etc.). It is a pretty complicated system, though, so had a harder than usual time moving around when it wasn't just to and from Centraal. I am still not sure if I was supposed to tap off of trams or just at final destination, but I did so, and nothing bad seemed to happen.

I had a similar experience re: pharmacies. I wanted to get a decongestant like Sudafed, and went to a store on Dambreck that had a bunch of over the counter meds, but the service person said they don't have decongestants in a tablet in Netherlands, just nasal spray.

Someone at an Albert Heijin told me that they only take cards from the Netherlands, which is really strange in such a tourist-oriented city. The other grocery stores I visited all took North American cards.

It rained more on Sunday. I got pretty soaked on that same walk up Dambreck. I was following the RS audio app walking tour, which I recommend.

The bikes are really in charge, which I found a bit disconcerting on some occasions, as you had to use the bike lane to get around blockages on the often very narrow sidewalks.

I really enjoyed Amsterdam, and wish I had more time. The only real overcrowding I experienced was in and around the red light district on Saturday night, but that was not exactly a surprise.

Recently in Amsterdam and needing to make my way from central station to a hotel and use metro frequently in Paris and public transport in Chicago so sort of know how things work, but also found ZERO human who can provide information. It is obvious once you have done it once or twice -- but if you are new to the system it can be confusing and if it is, there is no one to provide assistance. I found it really odd that at the main train station there was no human local transit information point. We figured it out once we realized we needed to take the subway and not one of the tram like options, but it was still confusing.

Thanks to all for the information in these posts. We’ll be there the first week of September.

Goanywhere, we will be there the same week. This thread sort of freaked me out because we'll be sleep deprived and trying to get from Schiphol to Centraal to our hotel via tram or metro and I'm worried we won't be able to figure it out. LOL. I watched about 4 Youtube videos today trying to educate myself. Bottom line, I'm going to research that specific route and print it out so we hopefully won't get lost or need to find anyone to help us. Good luck to you!

Thanks, and good luck to you also. My husband LOVES to ask questions of ANYONE so I'm sure we will manage somehow!