THE NETHERLANDS - Best of Europe 2014 - page 1359

railpass by buying an inexpensive ticket from the airport into Amsterdam and using your
first “flexi” day for a longer trip.
From Amsterdam Central Station by Train to: Schiphol Airport (4-6/hour, 15
minutes, €4.30, have coins handy to buy from a machine to avoid lines), Haarlem (6/hour,
20 minutes, €3.80 one-way, €7.60 same-day round-trip), Delft (3/hour direct, 1 hour, more
with transfer in Leiden or The Hague), Bruges (hourly, 3 hours, transfer at Antwerp Cen-
tral or Brussels Midi; transfer can be tight—be alert and check with conductor), Brussels
(hourly, 2 hours), Ostend (for ferries to UK; hourly, 4 hours, 3 changes), London (6/day,
4.75-5.5hours,withtransfer toEurostar Chunnel train inBrussels; Eurostar discounted with
railpass, www.eurostar.com ) , Copenhagen (3/day,11.25hours,multipletransfers;onedirect
night train), Bacharach/St. Goar (roughly every 2 hours, 4.5-6 hours), Frankfurt (every
2 hours, 4 hours direct), Berlin (5/day, 6.5 hours; 1 direct night train, 9.5 hours), Munich
(roughly hourly, 7.5-8.75 hours, 1-2 transfers; one direct night train, 10.5 hours), Bern (5/
day, 8-9 hours, fastest trains change once in Frankfurt), Paris (nearly hourly, 3.25 hours dir-
ectonfastThalystrainor4hourswithchangetoThalystraininBrussels, www.thalys.com ) .
When booking Thalys trains, even railpass-holders need to buy a seat reservation (generally
€26-33in second class or€41-54in first class—the first-class reservation generally gets you
ameal).IfyourrailpasscoversFrancebutnotBenelux,thereservationwillcostmore.(Rail-
passes that don't include France are not accepted on Thalys trains.) Save money by taking a
bus to Paris—described next.
By Bus
To Paris by Bus: If you don't have a railpass, the cheapest way to get to Paris is by
Eurolines bus (about 6/day, 8 hours, €46 one-way, €70-86 round-trip; price depends on de-
mand—nonrefundable, advance-purchase one-way tickets as cheap as €17 and round-trip as
cheapas€28,checkonlinefordeals,Julianaplein5,AmstelStation,fivestopsbymetrofrom
Central Station, tel. [phone], www.eurolines.com ) .
By Plane
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport
Schiphol(SKIP-pol)Airportislocatedabout10milessouthwestofAmsterdam'scitycenter.
Information: Schiphol flight information can give you flight times and your airline's
contact info (airport code: AMS, toll tel. [phone], from other countries dial
[phone], www.schiphol.nl ).
Orientation: Schiphol has four terminals. Terminal 1 is for flights to the Schengen
European countries (not including the UK); Terminals 2 and 3 are for flights to the UK, US,
and other non-European countries; and the new, smaller Terminal 4 (attached to Terminal 3)