Amsterdam Day One: Two Trains, One Tram, The Raddison Blu Amsterdam and Lots of Canals

Dulles Lounges and United Washington Dulles - London Heathrow
London Day One
London Day Two
London Day Three
London Day Four
Overnight Ferry London - Amsterdam
Amsterdam Day One
Amsterdam Day Two
Lufthansa Amsterdam-Frankfurt/Senator's Lounge Frankfurt/Lufthansa Frankfurt - Dulles


After disembarking from the ferry and clearing Netherlands immigration and customs we walked outside and found the train station which is right across from the entrance to the ferry terminal. Just a reminder, if you buy a "rail and sail" ticket for the ferry your ticket is good to any destination in the Netherlands, so you do not have to go to Amsterdam if you would rather go somewhere else.

But, our destination was indeed Amsterdam. That meant that we needed to go from the Hook of Holland where the ferry lands to Rotterdam, change trains and go to Amsterdam Centraal Station.

We found the train to Rotterdam was leaving from Track (Spoor in Dutch) 3 after asking a few people who had taken the train before. The train pulled up and we boarded in the door with a "2" on it for second class. You can buy first class tickets, but the only benefit is a little larger seat which you don't really need for this short of a ride. The train to Rotterdam is a commuter train with about 4 stops before you reach the central station in Rotterdam, so it gets quite busy with commuters if you are on board during the week day. The announcements are in Dutch, but there are displays all around the train that show the next stop and what time you will reach that stop.

Once we pulled into Rotterdam Station we found a train official and found out that the train to Amsterdam was boarding in 10 min. from the track next to ours. This train was much larger than the previous train and had two levels that you could sit on. This train ride was much longer, about an hour in total, and it was full rush hour so the train was packed full of people and our suitcases in the aisle was getting the stink eye. But, a nice passenger showed us that you can store your luggage between the seats where there is just enough room to fit a rollerboard suitcase and allows others to sit down in the previously occupied space. This will make you happy with no suitcase in front of you, and will make the locals happy because you aren't a tourist taking up 4 seats haha.                                      

NS Rail Map

About an hour after leaving Rotterdam we arrived at Amsterdam Centraal Station, which is a beautifully built station that was opened in 1889 and serves around 250,000 customers every day.

Amsterdam Centraal Railway Station

The Centraal station is also the hub for most of the tram lines that go through Amsterdam. The tram lines are easy to use and get you to most of the tourist areas so I would highly suggest using them. Our plan was to buy a 48-hour tram pass which cost us €12.00. To get the ticket you have to go to the GVB (company that operates trams and busses in the city) office. Luckily there is an office right outside of the Centraal station. You exit the station and head to the far left side where there is a set of buildings across the tram tracks. Inside you can pick up your ticket or any other ticket combinations you would like. For those without a real "chip and pin" credit card you have to use these ticket offices because the automated machines in the transit system ONLY take "chip and pin" cards, not chip and signature cards.

With our transit card in hand we headed to the track for the number 4 tram line. You can find the tram line you are looking for by locating the shelter that is located at every stop. The tram shelter will have all of the tram lines that run through there and what directions they are heading. The end of the tram line will be listed at the front of every tram. To board the tram you have to look for the set of doors with a green button. They are located at the very front and very middle of the tram, usually. This is to ease the flow of people on and off the tram, but it also allows individuals to buy tickets from agents at the "on" doors. If you have your tram pass you will need to "tap in" to the tram by touching your pass to the round ticket machine that is by each entrance door. We took the short tram ride three stops to the "Spui" street stop. When you exit the train you have to "tap out" of the train the same way you had to tap in to complete your ride. It is important to remember that you will have to touch the green button on the door both when getting on and off to open the doors, otherwise they will not open.

After getting off the tram we started a 10 min walk to our hotel, the Raddison Blu Amsterdam. We got a little lost, but a nice man was able to direct us toward our hotel. If you get a little turned around the street names are on buildings at every corner and everyone we met on the street was very willing to help us find our way.

We arrived at the Raddison Blu Amsterdam and walked into their very open and modern lobby. There were three check-in stations that were all busy with individuals checking out so we waited a few minutes before we were helped. The woman at the desk was very nice, but this is where my little gripe starts. I have Gold Status with Club Carlson and that allows for complementary room upgrades if they are available. But the nice woman checking us in spent a full 10 minutes trying to convince us to purchase a room upgrade with breakfast for €100, the breakfast is €25 each by itself. After refusing the upgrade/breakfast combo I indicated that I had status and asked if any free upgrades were available and she indicated that she would be able to put us in the same room she had been offering us, but it wouldn't have breakfast as an option, again saying we could add it on for €25 each. I know this is a little #firstworldproblems but it was a bit annoying that we had to ask for an upgrade that should have been offered and we were bombarded to pay with it first.

In the end she put us on the 9th floor, the top floor, in an Executive Double Room. The room was on the corner so it was quite large. It featured a king bed, a sitting area with tv, a marble bathroom (with heated floors!) and a Nespresso machine which was awesome!

Bedroom

King Bed

TV and Bureau 

The best part of the room was the view from the window. You could see a few of the old church steeples and a few of the canals.

Beautiful View

Beautiful View Again

We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and went to explore Amsterdam for the day. Sadly most of the museums that we wanted to visit (the Van Gogh and Netherlands Museum) were closed for renovations so we made the best of it and walked from canal to canal. When the museums open back up, and if you are in town for long enough to take advantage of the offerings a great option for tourists is the "I Amsterdam" card which gets you free admission to many of the museums in the city. We walked up by the Heineken Brewery and through the Vondelpark which is a large park on the edges of the center part of Amsterdam. The park is beautiful and has lots of dogs roaming freely with their owners enjoying a nice walk through the woods. It is a beautiful stop if it's a nice day. Though many people told us not to go there at night.

After the Vondelpark we found a small sandwich shop and picked up lunch. By that point I had tired out from not sleeping much on the ferry and went to take a nap. Kelsey went out and walked to the "Dam" area by the Royal Palace of Amsterdam which has great shopping.

We met up later and went for another walk to enjoy the canals by twilight and to try and find a place for dinner.

Looking toward the River Amstel 

Canal Right By The Hotel 

After wandering for a bit we stumbled upon a pizza restaurant that was a few blocks from the hotel. My main complaint with Amsterdam is that it is so tourist centric with the "weed" and "red light district" features that the restaurants you find are all cookie cutter places that look for tourists and deliver horrible food for high prices. This pizza restaurant, the Cafe Katoen, had none of those qualities. We noticed that most people who were dining appeared to be locals, most were college students from the nearby university, and the menu was in Dutch. But, as we found in most of Amsterdam, the waitstaff was happy to help us translate the menu and let us order in english.

Kelsey got a basic margarita style pizza and I got a pizza with prosciutto and arugula salad on top. We topped those off with a couple of Hoegaarden brews and it was a delicious meal for about €12 each.

Cafe Katoen Menu

My Pizza

Kelsey's Pizza

 We took the short walk back to the hotel and enjoyed the slightly lit canals and noticed how quiet the city had become. Despite its seedy elements Amsterdam is really a beautiful city. We saw more beauty on our last day before heading back to the states.

Good Night Amsterdam