Amsterdam Transportation Tips for City Visitors
Transportation Tips: Any visit to the Netherlands is hardly complete without a visit to Amsterdam- the city that has been rightly, though unofficially, titled as the entertainment capital of the country. There are simply too many things to see and do within the city and visitors can be sure that they will never have to endure a single boring day during their stay there. But having all these attractions presents a different but important question to the visitors-; how can you conveniently get around the city and taken in all these sights at your own pace? Should you use public transport? Should you lease your own car?
Public transportation is probably the best form of transportation for any visitor who really wants a first hand experience of Amsterdam and to interact directly with the people. Fortunately, the city’s administrators have put in place a very elaborate public transportation network that makes it convenient, affordable and easy for anyone to get around the city.
The entire public transportation network in the city is run and managed by GVB and covers transportation by train, trams, ferry, buses and metro. However, in order to use any of the transport options within the network you will need to have a public transport chip card which is also referred to as the OV card. Visitors using the network can choose to opt for one of two types of chip cards and they are explained below;
– Disposable one-hour cards; these cards are usually available for visitors who wish to either ride on the trams or the buses within the network. They can be bought directly from the drivers or conductors on the trams and buses and are usually valid for 1 to 7 days.
– Day cards; these ones allow visitors to take longer rides, but cannot be bought directly from the drivers and conductors.
Most visitors from other countries often find the public transportation system in Amsterdam rather confusing and prefer to opt for taxis instead. If you choose to go this way, then you would be better off with a professional taxi service such as Amsterdam 24 as they pay more attention to their customers. For easier movement you might also want to stay at an accessible hostel like Amsterdam Hostel Annemarie which is located right in the centre of the city.