Train
Default, and almost the only mode you need. Centraal is the stop. Other Amsterdam stations exist and are the wrong ones unless your hotel is actually next to them.
AMS · Out and back · checked 29 October 2026
AMS to the city and back
This is the simple page. The train is the answer almost every time. The complications are the border on the way in, and the temptation to make the day more complicated than the city requires.
Clear the border if you are entering
Airside connections are not this guide. If you exit, you enter the Netherlands and the Schengen area.
Non-EU visa-exempt travellers are registered in the Entry/Exit System. Allow for that before you start timing the train. EU citizens use the EU lane.
Take the train to Centraal
The station is under Schiphol. Trains to Amsterdam Centraal take about 15–20 minutes and run several times an hour through most of the day and evening.
Buy a ticket before you board. Keep it until you are out of the station.
Stay near the station or know the walk
A hotel by Centraal makes the whole layover a straight line. A hotel in the Jordaan is worth it when you have the energy to walk back.
Trams are for one hop if the rain starts. They are not a project.
Back upstairs at Schiphol
The return is the same train. Be in the airport three hours before a long-haul departure. Schiphol is efficient and it is still a large building with a security checkpoint.
If the flight is very early, check the first train and consider sleeping at the airport instead of betting on it.
Taxi
A taxi to the centre costs more and, in traffic, may not beat the train. Use it only for a group with luggage at a strange hour, from the official rank.
What not to do
Do not rent a bike on the way out of the station. Do not rent a car. Do not start a day trip before you have seen the clock and the weather.
Live detail lives on the operator's site: Schiphol (opens in a new tab).
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