Dutch_Travelgirl

Personally I don’t believe in “must sees”. Different people like different things. Some people will say that the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum are must sees in Amsterdam, but why go there if you’re not into art at all? The only thing that I will consider as somewhat of a must see in Amsterdam is a canal cruise. But only if the weather is nice. There is no point in doing a canal cruise if the rain comes pouring down the windows of the boat. If you want specific advice about things to do in Amsterdam, you should tell us a bit more about yourself and your interests. Otherwise just check out the “See an do “ section on the website of the Amsterdam tourist information: https://www.iamsterdam.com/en/see-and-do

I agree that at first sight it may seem that a 4pm arrival is too late. The Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum close at 6pm. By the time you disembarked it’s probably too late. The Anne Frank house closes at 10pm, but unfortunately tickets for August 25 are already sold out. Luckily, Amsterdam itself doesn’t close at 6pm. You can still walk around in the beautiful zone, or even better; take a canal cruise.

You’re welcome! I’m glad I could be of help. Even though I’m still not a 100% sure what “blokmaat” and “stripmaat” really mean…. 🙂 Good luck with your quilting and enjoy your weekend!

The handwriting isn’t very clear, but I believe the first word to be “blokmaat”. The letters o and k seem to have merged together. It still doesn’t make any sense to me, because I’m not a quilter, but with your additional info containing the term “block size”, I’m now fairly certain it says blokmaat. Literally translated “blokmaat” means “block size”.

“bldimaat” isn’t a Dutch word, did you perhaps spell it wrong? “stripmaat” is a Dutch word but I have no idea what it means, because I don’t know anything about quilting. The word “maat” means size or measurement. And strip can refer to a piece of something. So perhaps “stripmaat” means the size of the piece of cloth??? Also in the Netherlands we use the metric system, so unless it specifically states inches, the size is measured in centimeters.

Im sorry you had such a horrible time in Amsterdam. I hope you at least enjoyed your cruise.

The name of the Paris train station where the Eurostar arrives at and departs from is called Gare du Nord. The word “gare” doesn’t contain a “d”, not when you spell it and not when you pronounce it. To avoid any confusion when taking a taxi, you can always write down the name of your destination in the local language.

For those having SkyPriority there is a seperate check in area and also a separate dedicated SkyPriority security. The SkyPriority check in area is clearly marked and there is staff checking to see if you’re eligible to enter this area. They will also be able to direct you to the dedicated SkyPriority security line, should you not be able to find it. The lines for those having SkyPriority are considerably shorter. You should be more than fine arriving 4 hours before your flight and will very likely also have time to visit the lounge once airside.

The longest lines are those for security. So yes, with hand luggage only you skip the lines for check in/bag drop, but you will still stand in the long lines for security.

The tickets are usually released sometime in the morning, Amsterdam local time. Some people have reported that they could buy tickets the day before the first Tuesday of the month but that could have been a one time glitch.

The most recent question in this thread is about a test BEFORE a cruise, not after. The test requirement to return to the USA may have been dropped, but many cruise companies continue to require a negative test before passengers are being allowed to board the ship. The company recommended by Ine performs tests on various locations throughout the Netherlands and Amsterdam including close to the cruise terminal.

The floating flower market is very easy to find, it’s where all the tourists head to to buy overpriced flowers and mouldy tulip bulbs. Do yourself a favor and buy your flowers in a real flower shop or at one of the many flower stands or flower kiosks in the city. It’s where the locals buy their flowers.

Just be aware that there are 2 types of trains between Amsterdam and Brussels; 1) Thalys; the high speed train. Tickets for this train need to be booked in advance and are tied to a specific train on a specific day and time with reserved seats. In Brussels, this train only stops at Brussels South, (Bruxelles Midi in French, Brussel Zuid in Dutch/Flemish) 2) Intercity Brussels; a regular train. Tickets for this train are only tied to a specific day. On that day, you can take any Intercity train from Amsterdam to Brussels. In Brussels this train stops at Brussels Airport, Brussels North, Brussels Central and Brussels South. Tickets for both types of trains can be bought at the website of the Dutch railway company https://www.nsinternational.com/en/out-and-about/brussels-for-a-day

Wow, that is some really tight planning! I’m sorry to say, but you really don’t have time to dwindle or to go looking for a test. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is an absolute mess these days, due to staff shortages. People who arrived 4 hours in advance have reported they missed their flights due to long lines at check in, security and passport control. You should definitely try to do the test before you arrive in Amsterdam. Or even better, but probably not possible, fly out a day later.

The Mövenpick hotel literally is right next door to the cruise terminal. If that isn’t walkable, even with luggage, then I don’t know what is. Once you get here, you’ll see what I mean. Or you can take a look at Google Maps to see how close they are located to each other.

I would recommend to do a normal canal cruise instead of a dinner cruise. The canals in Amsterdam are relatively small, hence the boats used for the canal cruises are small also. They can’t be compared to the huge boats that are used for cruises on the Seine in Paris. What I’m trying to say is that small boats mean small kitchens. The food on these tours therefore isn’t very special (think microwaved pizza). It’s much better to enjoy a nice meal in a restaurant and a regular canal cruise. These canal cruises all follow pretty much the same route. Some have live commentary, some have recorded commentary. There are plenty of cruises available, you can just walk up to one and be on your way a short time later.

For up to date entry requirements into a certain country, you should always rely only on official information provided by the authorities of the country in question. In The case of the Netherlands, the current entry requirements can be found on the website of the Dutch government: https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/visiting-the-netherlands-from-abroad/checklist-entry

This should read “€4,70 for an eticket OR with an OV-chipcard” An OV-chipcard is a plastic card you can load money on. By tapping in and out on public transport, the appropriate fare is deducted from the balance on the card. You can’t load an eticket on an OV-chipcard. An eticket should be loaded on your phone or can be printed out. The QR code on the eticket opens the gates at the train station. If you don’t have an OVchipcard or don’t want to buy an eticket, you can buy a ticket at the station. This ticket will be loaded on a disposable (1 time use only) chipcard for which you have to pay €1 extra.