Amsterdam Questions

bigangus

Hi everybody
got the chance to go to Amsterdam on Sunday11March for 4 days, does anybody know if the tourist office in front of the Central station is still open in the late afternoon for booking accommodation, or am i as well trying to book somthing in advance?(single bloke)
Also when you land at Schiophol airport and you go to the ticket office for your train ticket to Amsterdam, instead of getting a return ticket can i get 1 of those 24/48 hour tickets.and if so would i be able to use it to get to Haarlem or Zaamdam?
Cheers

boufje

The tourist info office (VVV) is open 9 - 5pm but I think it would be sensible to book accommodation in advances although they can book you rooms, it is just as easy to do this online yourself and may still be cheaper.

The cheapest way to get around is to buy a ticket called a "strippenkart", this is like a carnet of tickets, which you stamp on the train, a certain number need to be stamped depending on the length of the journey, but they stay valid for an hour, it will take you to Zaandam I think, but as I recall, you need to buy a separate ticket for Haarlem, but this only costs a few euros ( it is only 20 minutes from central station). The staff at the schipol/ central station train station are very helpful, speak excellent english and will be able to advise you on which ticket to buy, which platform etc

Lemmy_Caution

The tourist office is open until 1700. There is also one inside the station that is open until 2000 (Sunday 1700) You can buy Day Travel cards that are valid for the whole of the country 40.30 euro. If by the 24/48 hour card, you mean the 'I am Amsterdam' card I don't think that would not cover the areas you mention. There is also a tourist office at the airport.

cardiffgirl_2

I've often used the tourist office at the airport to get accomodation and have always got something reasonable, even on a Friday for the weekend. Having said that the Hotels nl website is very good too. It really depends on whether you want a particular area or just want to take a chance when you get there.