What Can I do on an 8 hour layover at Amsterdam airport?

1) will we have a headache leaving and coming back in to the Amsterdam airport?

Nope, pretty easy airport. Assuming you land on time, I recommend getting a train and head to Central Station.

2) is it even ok to leave the airport, since it’s just a pass through and not an official destination?

Yes, if you have your bags, you can throw them in a locker at the airport or Central Station.

3) am I missing something that as a new international flyer I may not know or understand?

Nope, although I would plan on being back at AMS airport 3 hours before departure. Schiphol had some major delays last year. It sounds like things are (hopefully) returning to normal but give yourselves a good 3 hours.

4) if we are allowed to leave and it’s feasible to do something, do you have any suggestions for what we could likely do with the very limited time we have?

Figure you have about 4 hours. Take a walk in the Joordan neighborhood, maybe a canal ride. I suppose you will have time for a museum but I would just take the train to the city, grab a bite, and take it all in.

Thank you. Any suggestions on a place to eat that might be convenient to the canal. Although it will be a quick visit, it will be really nice to see a little of the canals.

And I guess it’s about 7 hours layover 😃

Although it will be a quick visit, it will be really nice to see a little of the canals.

There are one hour canal boat trips that leave from very close to the main railway station - Amsterdam Centraal. We went with Floating Amsterdam in 2019 and had a really nice cruise.

If you are running short of time there are lots of places in the shopping area at Amsterdam Centraal where you can buy something to eat.

8 hours.

time to deplane
Figure out the airport and get through crowds.
go through passport control
navigate transportation to Amsterdam.
Navigate back to the airport.
Check bags (unless you are doing carry on and then you have to carry it around)
Go through Security.
Go through passport control again.

My experience with international flights is they start boarding an hour ahead of time. If you are not in the area in a timely manner (check your airline) you will not be able to board.

To assiess the day of arrival:
Consider the gate assignments and proximity.
Crowds? It may not be crowded, but it may be packed.
Are your flights on time?

I don't think an 8 hour layover will afford you enough time-my opinion. How active is your group? Physical limitations? I guess if you are very targeted with what you can do in 2 hours --That's probably all the time you will have. Do you really want this kind of stress at the end of a trip?

I don’t believe you will need to go through passport control after you land in AMS from Luxembourg. Luxembourg is in the Schengen Zone. You will need to go through passport control returning to the airport. For me, 6 hours is the cut off zone in AMS. Any layover shorter than 6 hours, I stay airside (AMS is one of the better airports to be “stuck” in). Greater than 6 hours, I head to Amsterdam (or Haarlem).

You inquired as to dining recommendations. I will leave you with 2 of my favorites. You seem to want to be around the canals and water.

1. (Hannekes Boom), Dijksgracht 4, 1019 BS Amsterdam, Netherlands. Hip and artsy restaurant over the water, mostly locals and with a top notch beer list, if you care about that.
2. De Sluyswacht. (Jodenbreestraat 1, 1011 NG Amsterdam, Netherlands). Cafe alongside a canal. This restaurant was featured in the Seth Meyers Amsterdam Getaway episode (I recommend you watch that episode, highly entertaining).

Again, if you arrive on time and feel refreshed, go for it.

Since you are not traveling until September you will have time to assess whether this is a good plan or not. Last summer things were such a mess at Schiphol that people were having to get to the airport 4 hours ahead of their flights to stand in line to get INTO the airport. The airport officials were not allowing people to get in line more than 4 hours ahead of their departure time.

SO...I'd see how things go this summer. If they've got things straightened out thru the summer holiday rush, then I'd say OK. I'd still want to leave Amsterdam 4 hours ahead of your flight so you are at the airport at least 3 hours ahead. You'll go thru security (which was a choke point) and exit border control and straight in to the International area. And yes, the flights to the US generally start boarding 50-60 minutes ahead of departure time.

BTW...since you live in Spokane you are invited to the Rick Steves Meet up for the Spokane/CdA area! We usually meet the 1st Saturday of the month at Woops! Bakery in downtown CdA (4th and Lakeside) at 10A Hope you can come!

Since it's all on one ticket, your bags will be checked through to your US port of entry. There's no new bag check in Amsterdam. But be sure you have your boarding passes.

I would leave the airport myself. But I'm an experienced international traveler. You might give yourselves extra time if you aren't. I think you have enough time to do it, assuming Schiphol is working well at that time and there are no unusual delays. The train into town is easy as mentioned. Just take the train to Centraal Station, get off and walk around. And give yourself plenty of extra time. Maybe plan to be back at Schiphol by 12:00 at the latest, unless you are aware of unusual delays (in 2022, Schiphol was known to have long lines and delays, and most passengers would have been aware of that, but that was atypical, hopefully something that has passed by now, but who knows?). So leave Centraal Station by about 11:30. Assuming you get to Centraal Station by about 8:30, that doesn't give you an enormous amount of time, but it's still enough time to walk around and get a quick feel for Amsterdam. Maybe stop for an early lunch near the station.

If your plane arrives timely, you are still looking at, with deplaning time, walking through the airport, and getting to the train, arriving at Amsterdam Central at 8:15 at the earliest. You then need to walk or tram to somewhere. As pointed out, you can't risk being back later that 3 hours earlier, or 11:35, which means that with the 20 minutes for your train ride plus getting back to Centraal starting your return by 11:00 AM. So realistically you have at most 2 3/4 hours. And regarding a canal cruise, it is unlikely that one could be found early enough to work with your timings. What is your stress level to push the time frames or risk delays?

Do you feel lucky?

Thank you all for responding. I truly appreciate each of you for responding and providing perspective. I am going to make plans to go. All of my bags are carry on a la Rick Steves, so perhaps I can find a locker. I think you are all right that I must pay it by ear to see if it’s feasible to even leave depending on how busy it is, arrival time and other variables. I am just happy it’s an option. I didn’t think it was.

Pam, thanks so much for the invitation. My husband and I would enjoy attending if we have some time. Is there a place I can follow this group so I can stay up to date on times? I would absolutely enjoy meeting with other travel enthusiasts ❤️‍🩹

I stood in a hellacious security line at AMS last fall, but still it was just a little over 2 hours. I've also read that Schipol airport has staffed up considerably and is continuing to do so. It looks somewhat unlikely that they will repeat last year's terrible problems.

So yeah, I would leave the airport.

Canal boat tour seems pretty good, although you will have been sitting in an enclosed space for a long time for that. You might be better off upright than moving around to shake off the jet lag.

And if it was me, which of course it isn't, I'd go to Utrecht. Basically same amount of time and frequency of trains from the airport as Amsterdam, and in my opinion a much easier city to deal with in a 2 to 3 hour time frame.

We went through Amsterdam Schipol Airport twice on our way to our Safari in Africa and return last May.

On the way back we spent a week in the city.

First of all we found that you can check in THREE HOURS prior to your international flight.

Second, getting through customs, immigration and security will take from 45 minutes to two hours.

Third, if you have 8 hours between flights, you will need to do something with your luggage, unless it is checked through to your North American destination. In any event, you will have carryon, which you don't want to take with you if you go downtown. Not sure, but there may be lockers available at the airport (it is a large airport) or the train station.

Fourth, If you arrive at 7:15, by the time you deplane and go though immigration and customs, it will probably be around 8am. Will you skip breakfast or head into the city? You should return for your next flight by 11:35am (three hours before your flight).
If you take the train around 8am you will probably arrive at the downtown train station about 8:30am and then need to depart about 11am to return to the airport. This will give you 2 1/2 hours in the city.

Suggest walking to The Royal Palace and Dam Square. You may have time for a canal cruise, they usually take an hour.

"Pam, thanks so much for the invitation. My husband and I would enjoy attending if we have some time. Is there a place I can follow this group so I can stay up to date on times? I would absolutely enjoy meeting with other travel enthusiasts"

Awesome! Either Jean or I post a notice a week or so out from the meet up. It goes in to the Travel Groups forum but will show up on the list if you are looking at the "All Topics" view of the forum. Today I had to dredge back about 4 pages to bump tomorrow's to the top.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/travel-meetings

Here's the current thread.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/travel-meetings/coeur-d-alene-spokane-travel-group-feb-4-10a

Put us on your calendar for the 1st Saturday at 10A. There are a couple of times a year when we have to juggle it - there is a big Art event in downtown CdA and parking is atrocious so we move away from that date if it's on a 1st Sat. We've pretty much settled on Woops! which is a French Bakery in downtown CdA. It's fairly easy to get to from I90 - just take the Northwest Boulevard exit and head to the downtown area.

Hope you can make it tomorrow! Weather looks OK if perhaps gloomy...but hello winter in the Inland Northwest!

Pam, thanks so much 😍