mini break 2010 - ground transportation: Amsterdam

So thus far, I've written posts about places I've already visited. I haven't been to Amsterdam yet so I will be doing a LOT of googling, and I'll have to do an update post to rate the successfulness of my research.

The Eindhoven Airport website directed me to a journey planning website, but it's easier to get quick tips from fellow bloggers with experience or google. The most helpful site I found is AmsterdamTips. This site tells me that from Eindhoven Airport, I should take a bus (Hermes bus 401) to Eindhoven Railway 'NS' Station, which will cost €2.03 and take 20 minutes. The bus runs every 30 minutes (normally).

Aside: The Netherlands is zoning out the tariff system called strippenkaart, which are basically strip cards that you use as payment for the public transportation system (minus the 'NS' Railway). The farther you go, the more strip cards you give up (depending on zoning). In Amsterdam and Rotterdam regions, they are instituting the OV-chipkaart (official site here), which works similarly but there isn't a need to stamp to validate your travel.
From the Eindhoven Railway 'NS' Station, we'll head to Amsterdam Central Station on the train, which should cost €17.30 per person, each way (€16.45 reduced if you are travelling with an OV-chipkaart). There are same-day roundtrip tickets available but we won't be able to use those. Check out the fares here by plugging in 'Eindhoven' Station and 'Amsterdam Centraal' Station.

Once we're in Amsterdam, the most recommended travel card seems to be the GVB (multiple) day tickets. We're arriving on Wednesday morning (10Nov) and leaving on Friday evening (12Nov) so we'll probably need a 3-day pass, which costs €15.50 per person. Another popular way to travel around the city is by bike. Most places charge €10 or so for the day but they also require a hefty deposit (like your ID or credit card). I'm not sure I'd be willing to put my passport down as a deposit...

Breakdown of travel:
  • Fly into Eindhoven Airport and travel into Amsterdam by bus and train on Wednesday (10Nov).
  • Travel around Amsterdam for three days.
  • Head back to Eindhoven Airport to catch our flight back to Dublin on Friday (12Nov).
Ground transportation in Holland will set us back €69.66 for both of us, which translates to $89.70, or $44.85 each.

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