GETTING HERE
Flying to/from Amsterdam - Schiphol airport
Schiphol Airport (AMS) is located 14km outside Amsterdam. It is one of the major European airport transit hubs efficiently handling over 40 million business and tourist passengers per year. The Dutch national airline, KLM, is based there. Over 100 other airlines fly into Schiphol too, among them over twenty budget airlines offering cheap flights from many European countries.
Low-cost airlines: Click here for a complete list of low-cost airlines flying from/to Schiphol airport.
There are several ways to get quickly from the Airport into Amsterdam. On leaving the baggage reclaim area, you enter Schiphol Plaza, and you can follow the sign posts to find the trains, taxis, shuttle buses and car rental.
Train is the cheapest and perhaps the most convenient. They run 24 hours a day and take about 15 minutes. Train tickets can be bought at ticket counters or the yellow ticket vending machines in Schiphol Plaza. The trains depart from platforms located underneath the Schiphol Plaza and can be reached by either escalators or lifts. A one-way train ticked between Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam Central Station (Amsterdam Centraal) costs € 3,70.
Taxis are located in the rank just outside Schiphol Plaza. Expect a one-way journey between Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam city centre to cost between € 35 and € 45. You can get the price down to about € 25 if you decide to share your journey with other passengers (check out http://www.schiphol.nl/Travellers/ToFromSchiphol/SchipholTravelTaxi.htm).
Flying to/from Eindhoven airport
Whilst many passengers arrive at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, some visitors take advantage of cheap flight offers to Eindhoven Airport (EIN) from Ryanair and other airlines. The city of Eindhoven lies around 100km south of Amsterdam in the province of North Brabant. Eindhoven is a small, modern airport located 7km to the west of Eindhoven city centre. It has a single terminal on 2 levels - the lower level has airline desks, departures / arrivals and a few shops.
Low-cost airlines: Click here for a complete list of low-cost airlines flying to/from Eindhoven airport
From Eindhoven you can get to Amsterdam by a combination of local bus and train or a direct coach service.
Local Bus + Train: From Eindhoven airport you can take local Hermes bus 401 - the bus stop is literally a very short walk to the right of the terminal - which will take you to the bus terminus at Eindhoven railway 'NS' station. This journey takes just over 20 minutes. You can validate a strippenkaart (4 strips = € 2.03) on board, check-in and out with an OV chipkaart, or purchase tickets at the machine on board with coins or a Dutch PIN card. Normally the bus runs every half-hour - it can get busy at peak flight times with passengers and their luggage. The bus does have some limited racks to place cases/bags etc. Alternatively you could also to take a taxi to Eindhoven station from the airport - this will cost around € 20-25.
At Eindhoven station you then take the Intercity train to Amsterdam CS (direction Alkmaar) which runs every 30 minutes. The one-way trip takes 1 hour and 20 minutes and will set you back € 17.30 or € 10.40 with a NS Dutch railway discount card. The train stops at Den Bosch, Utrecht and Amsterdam Amstel before arriving at Amsterdam Central station.
Airport Coach Service: There is a 3 x daily coach service which runs from Eindhoven Airport to Amsterdam via Utrecht. This is operated by AirExpressBus and costs € 26 one-way or € 42 for an open return (with € 1.50 discount when booking online). Travel takes around 2 hours and 15 minutes depending on traffic. The bus stops near the Holland International canal cruises on Prins Hendrikkade in Amsterdam - quite close to Central Station. The first bus from Amsterdam back to Eindhoven airport is scheduled to leave at 5am. Please be aware that this company "reserves the right to cancel any scheduled bus up to 3 days before departure".
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