Amsterdam Airport is called Schiphol and it is the main international airport for the whole of the Netherlands. Schiphol Airport is about five and a half miles southwest of Amsterdam in an area called Haarlemmermeer. Officially, and on all the signs, the airport is called Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as opposed to Schiphol Airport or Amsterdam Airport. GETTING TO AMSTERDAM CENTER BY TRAIN Travel into the centre of Amsterdam from the airport is very easy as the airport is so close to the city. The Nederlandse Spoorwegen is the national train operator in the Netherlands and it serves the train station which is directly underneath the main passenger terminals. Travelling by train is the swiftest and cheapest method of getting into Amsterdam and other cities within the region such as Utrecht and The Hague. Apart from serving Amsterdam Centraal, Utrecht and The Hague Centraal, the high speed train also goes to Rotterdam and Eindhoven; and there are high speed links from Schiphol Airport to Antwerp, Brussels and Paris. The train journey from Schiphol to Centraal Station in Amsterdam is usually 20 minutes. GETTING TO AMSTERDAM CENTER BY BUS Bus services to Amsterdam from Schiphol Airport are as good as the trains and in some cases may ...

Not far from Centraal Station, on the Eastern Dock and in the area of Nieuwe Zijde is Amsterdam's NEMO museum - no, not a museum dedicated to a little clown fish (!) but a very interesting place to learn about science and technology. Most of the displays deal with scientific topics like energy, medicine and communication, and there is even an educational display on money. We can guarantee your kids will love it. Fun games include playing Sherlock Holmes and finding the murderer through DNA comparisons, the workings of a giant robot, a water exhibit showing how water in Amsterdam is purified... and more! All the displays are explained both in English and in Dutch. As for us big people make the effort to climb the stairs or ramp to the top. There are some marvelous views of the buildings and canals of Amsterdam from the deck of NEMO. There is usually no charge to visit the rooftop, but in the summertime the deck becomes a "beach" so there is a cost then. Because the walk from the station to the museum is not well sign posted we include here the Google map of the location. View Larger Map

What is Queen’s Day? I guess if you are not from Holland it must be one of the strangest festivals you have ever seen. People are going wild and there are parties everywhere throughout the whole country and in Amsterdam above all. Cities, villages, and even the people are all covered in orange. Why? Why is it such a big deal? It’s the Queen’s birthday! Well actually... it’s the birthday of the mother of the Queen. Originally the celebration started out as a free market, the only day in the year when the Dutch go out on the street, and basically gather all the junk they can find in their house, and try to sell it on the market. Along with the market during the years, more and more parties were organised. Queen Juliana passed away, and along with that the original reason to celebrate as well. However, it had become a tradition for the Dutch, a national holiday. Places like Amsterdam evolved the most. There you will really find the whole city orange during Queen’s Day. Amsterdam that on a regular base attracts many tourists already, really turns into a major party on this Day. Many street concerts are organised, all ...