Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, but compared to other European capitals it is quite small. The small size of the city makes it easy to get around and fast to travel either by bike, car or public transport from one side to the other side of the city. In this section we will tell you more about the most common ways to travel through Amsterdam and give you some tips on how you can do this easily.
Second hand bikes
As you might know Dutch people love to bike. Everyone in the Netherlands has one bike or even two and we are using it to go around the city, travel to work or even do groceries.
When you are arriving in Amsterdam you might think that you do not need a bike, but as soon as you live here for a few weeks you will change your mind. Having a bike in Amsterdam is a must and you should buy a bike as soon as you get here, so that you can travel around the city in the same way as everyone else does. The reason why people are using bikes is because it is a very easy and safe way to travel through Amsterdam. There are a lot of bike lanes throughout the city and you can park your bike anywhere. You can even take your bike on the metro. Using your bike is often the fastest way to go from one point to another. Furthermore it is a very healthy way of getting around.
There are many places in Amsterdam where you can buy bikes. However a new bike is quite expensive. Therefore we always advise our students to buy a second hand bike. A good place to buy second hand bikes in Amsterdam is Waterlooplein which is close to the city centre, but there are also other places where you can go. These websites might be able to give you some more information about that:
http://travellingtwo.com/netherlandsresources/buyingadutchbike
http://www.talesfromafork.com/all-about-buying-used-bicycle-amsterdam/
Public Transport
Amsterdam also has a very convenient public transport network. You can get a bus, a tram or a metro to travel around the city. To travel to Amsterdam North you can even take a ferry, or you can take a train to travel to other cities in the Netherlands.
The organization responsible for the public transport in Amsterdam is called the GVB. Other than their regular tickets, they also offer some contracts with discounts which might be interesting for you as a student. If you would like to know more about their services, please click here .
To travel to other cities near Amsterdam or other parts of the Netherlands it is easiest to take the train. The organization responsible for the train services in the Netherlands is called NS. The NS does not only run its services in the Netherlands, but also internationally for example to Paris.
If you want to plan your train journey or would like to get more information on the NS services you can go to their website.
Another great website that you can use if you want to plan your journey by public transport is http://9292.nl/en.
Flights
Amsterdam is located in the centre of Europe. From here you can travel easily to other places in Europe. Close to Amsterdam you will find Schiphol Airport. From here more than a 1000 flights are departing every day. This makes it easy for you to travel to other countries and explore Europe during your breaks, but it also makes it easy for your family to come and visit you.
There are a lot of different airlines operating at Schiphol. If you are looking for a cheap flight which will bring you to other European cities and countries, Easyjet, Transavia, KLM or Ryanair might be the airlines to travel with.
ONCAMPUS Amsterdam 