By Plane

In 2004, the Netherlands flag carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines merged with Air France, in what was widely interpreted as being in effect a takeover of the Dutch airline by the French one. It remains to be seen what effect control by the lumbering, state-controlled French giant would have on the services of a formerly lean and efficient, but small for a would-be global player, KLM.

From the U.S. and Canada -- Carriers with frequent flights to Amsterdam from cities that include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Montréal, Newark, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C., are: Air Canada (tel. 888/247-2262; www.aircanada.ca), Delta Airlines (tel. 800/221-1212; www.delta.com), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (tel. 800/374-7747; www.klm.com), Northwest Airlines (tel. 800/447-4747; www.nwa.com), and United Airlines (tel. 800/538-2929; www.united.com).

From the U.K. -- British Airways (tel. 0870/850-9850; www.britishairways.com), bmi (tel. 0870/607-0555; www.flybmi.com), Easy Jet (tel. 0870/600-0000; www.easyjet.com), and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (tel. 08705/074074; www.klm.nl) and its subsidiaries (same phone number and Web address) KLM Cityhopper and KLM uk (www.klmuk.com), fly to Amsterdam from cities that include Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, and Teesside.

From Ireland -- Aer Lingus (tel. 01/886-8888; www.aerlingus.com) flies daily from Dublin to Amsterdam.

From Australia -- KLM (tel. 1300/030-3747; www.klm.com) flies from Sydney to Amsterdam 3 days a week. Qantas (tel. 800/227-4500; www.qantas.com.au) flies the same route twice a week.

From New Zealand -- Air New Zealand (tel. 0800/737-000; www.airnewzealand.com) flies from Auckland to London, where you can transfer for Amsterdam.

Arriving at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

An airliner descending into Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (tel. 0900/0141 for general and flight information; www.schiphol.nl), 13km (8 miles) southwest of the city center, has to descend a little further than would be the case for most any other airport on earth, because the runway is 4.5m (15 ft.) below sea level on the floor of what was once a lake. Schiphol (pronounced skhip-ol) is the main airport in the Netherlands, handling just about all of the country's international arrivals and departures. It's easy to figure out why frequent travelers regularly vote Schiphol one of the world's favorite airports, for its ease of use and its massive duty-free shopping center.

After you deplane at one of the three close-together terminals (numbered 1, 2, and 3), moving walkways take you to the Arrivals Hall, where you pass through Passport Control, Customs, and Baggage Reclaim. Facilities like free luggage carts, currency exchange, ATMs, restaurants, bars, shops, baby-rooms, restrooms, and showers are available. Beyond these is Schiphol Plaza, which combines rail station access, the Airport Hotel, a mall (sporting that most essential Dutch service -- a flower store), bars and restaurants, restrooms, baggage lockers, airport and tourist information desks, car-rental and hotel reservation desks, and more, all in a single location. Bus, shuttle, and taxi stops are just outside.

For tourist information and to make hotel reservations, go to the Holland Tourist Information (HTI) desk in Schiphol Plaza (tel. 0900/400-4040), open daily from 7am to 10pm.

Getting Into Town From Schiphol

Netherlands Railways trains for Amsterdam Centraal Station depart from Schiphol Station, downstairs from Schiphol Plaza, and stop at De Lelylaan and De Vlugtlaan stations in west Amsterdam on the way. Frequency ranges from six trains an hour at peak times to one an hour at night. The fare is 2.95€ one-way; the trip takes 20 minutes.

An alternative rail route serves both Amsterdam Zuid/WTC (World Trade Center) station and RAI station (beside the big RAI Convention Center). Be sure to check which route is best for your hotel (including any tram or bus interchange). If you're staying at a hotel near Leidseplein, Rembrandtplein, in the Museum Quarter, or in Amsterdam South, this route may be a better bet for you than Centraal Station. The fare is 2.95€ one-way; the trip takes around 15 minutes. From Amsterdam Zuid/WTC, take tram no. 5 for Leidseplein and the Museum Quarter; from RAI, take tram no. 4 for Rembrandtplein.

The Connexxion Hotel Bus (tel] 0900/9292) shuttles between the airport and Amsterdam, serving 16 top hotels directly and many more that are close to these stops. The fare is 8.50€ one way and 13€ return to the contracted hotels, and 11€ one way and 19€ return to non-contracted hotels. No reservations are needed and buses depart from in front of Schiphol Plaza every 20 minutes from 7am to 5pm, every 30 minutes from 5 to 7pm, and every hour from 7 to 9pm. If you're not staying at one of the contracted hotels, the clerks from the Connexxion Desk inside Schiphol Plaza can tell you which shuttle stop is closest to your chosen lodgings. In addition, some individual hotels near the airport and in town have their own shuttle service.

Bus no. 197 departs every half hour from in front of Schiphol Plaza for Amsterdam's downtown Marnixstraat bus station. Line 199 serves the Amstel railway station in Amsterdam South. On both buses the fare is 3.40€, and buses depart every 30 minutes at peak time, and every hour at other times. These buses are a lot slower than both the train and the Connexxion hotel bus.

Taxis are expensive, but they're the preferred choice if your luggage is burdensome or if there are two or more people to share the cost. You find taxis waiting at the stands of SchipholTaxi (tel. 020/653-1000) in front of Schiphol Plaza. Taxis from the airport are all metered. Expect to pay around 45€ to the Center. Remember, a service charge is already included in the fare.

By Boat from Britain

DFDS Seaways (tel. 08705/333111 in Britain; 0255/534-546 in Holland; www.dfdsseaways.co.uk) has daily car ferry service between Newcastle in northeast England and IJmuiden on the North Sea coast west of Amsterdam. The overnight trip time is 15 hours. From IJmuiden, you can either go by train to Amsterdam Centraal Station, or by jet-foil with Fast Flying Ferries to a pier behind Centraal Station.

P&O Ferries (tel. 08705/202020 Britain; 0181/255-555 Holland; www.poferries.com) has daily car-ferry service between Hull in northeast England and Rotterdam (Europoort). The overnight trip time is 10 hours. Ferry company coaches shuttle between the Rotterdam Europoort terminal and Rotterdam Centraal Station, from where there are frequent trains to Amsterdam.

Stena Line (tel. 08705/707070 Britain; 0174/389-333 Holland; www.stenaline.com) has twice-daily fast car-ferry service between Harwich in southeast England and Hoek van Holland (Hook of Holland) near Rotterdam. The trip time is 3 hours 40 minutes. Frequent trains depart from Hoek van Holland to Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

By Cruise Ship

You arrive at the cruise-liner dock, the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam, Oostelijke Handelskade 9 (tel. 020/418-6854; www.ptamsterdam.com; tram: IJ-tram), on the IJ waterway just east of Centraal Station and within easy walking distance.

By Train

Rail service to Amsterdam from other cities in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe is frequent and fast. International and Inter City express trains arrive at Centraal Station from Brussels and Paris, and from several German cities and from more distant locations in eastern Europe, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. There's also the Amsterdam/Brussels Inter-City train, and connections can be made in Brussels to the North Express, the Oostende-Vienna Express, the Oostende-Moscow Express, and the Trans-Europe Express. Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Netherlands Railways; www.ns.nl) trains arrive in Amsterdam from towns and cities all over Holland. Service is frequent to many places around the country and trains are modern, clean, and run on time. Schedule and fare information on travel by train and other public transportation (openbaar vervoer) in the Netherlands is available from tel. 0900/9292, or visit www.9292ov.nl; for international trains, call tel. 0900/9296.

The distinctive burgundy-colored Thalys (www.thalys.com) high-speed train, with a top speed of 300kmph (186 mph), connecting Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and (via Brussels) Cologne, has cut travel times from Paris to Amsterdam to 4 1/4 hours, and from Brussels to 2 1/4 hours -- figures that will be reduced to closer to 3 1/4 hours and 1 3/4 hours respectively when the high-speed rail lines in Holland are operational. For Thalys information and reservations in France, call tel. 08/3635-3536; in Belgium, tel. 0800/95-777; in Germany, tel. 0221/19419; and in Holland, tel. 0900/9296. Tickets are also available from main railway stations and travel agents. One-way weekday first-class (Comfort 1) fares from Paris to Amsterdam in late 2000 were about $120; tourist class (Comfort 2) one-way tickets were about $80; on weekends the respective one-way fares were $75 and $68. Four Thalys trains run between Paris and Amsterdam every day via Brussels.

Britain is connected to the Continent via the Channel Tunnel. On the Eurostar (www.eurostar.com) high-speed train (top speed 258kmph/160 mph), the travel time between London Waterloo Station and Brussels Midi Station (the closest connecting point for Amsterdam) is 3 1/4 hours. On weekends the respective one-way fares were £140 and £100. Departures from London to Brussels are approximately every 2 hours at peak times. For Eurostar reservations, call tel. 08701/606600 in Britain, and tel. 020/423-4444 in Holland.

Arriving at Amsterdam

Whether you arrive by Thalys high-speed train from Brussels or Paris, by ordinary international train, or by Netherlands Railways train from elsewhere in Holland, you'll likely find yourself deposited at Amsterdam's Centraal Station, built in 1884-89 on an artificial island in the IJ channel. The building, an ornate architectural wonder on its own, is the focus of much activity. It's at the hub of the city's concentric rings of canals and connecting main streets, and is the originating point for most of the city's trams, Metro trains, and buses.

An office of VVV Amsterdam tourist information is inside the station on platform 2 and another office is right in front of the station on Stationsplein; both offices have hotel reservation desks. Other facilities include a GWK Bureau de Change, where you can exchange traveler's checks, U.S. dollars, and other currencies, ATMs, train info center, luggage lockers, restaurants and snack bars, newsstands, and other small specialist stores. The station is a departure point for Metro trains, trams (streetcars), buses, taxis, passenger ferries across the IJ waterway and around the harbor, water taxis, canal-boat tours, and the Museum Boat and the Canal Bus. Outside, on Stationsplein, there's usually street musicians performing, and a barrel organ or two. The Smits Coffee House NZH (tel. 020/623-3777), has a pleasant waterside terrace overlooking the inner harbor from where you can watch the canal boats glide by.

A less welcoming aspect of the station is the pickpocket convention that's in full swing at all times. Messages broadcast in multiple languages warn people to be on their guard, but the artful dodgers still seem to do good business. Avoid becoming one of their victims by keeping your money and other valuables under wraps, especially among crowds. Then, as likely as not, there'll be a "heroin whore" or two, a platoon of panhandlers, and more than a whiff of pot smoke in the air.

An array of tram stops are on either side of the main station exit -- virtually all of Amsterdam's hotels are within a 15-minute tram ride from Centraal Station. The Metro station is downstairs, just outside the main exit. City bus stops are to the left of the main exit, and the taxi stands are to the right. At the public transportation Tickets & Info office on Stationsplein, you can buy a strippenkaart or dagkaart for trams, Metros, and buses.

By Bus

International coaches -- and in particular those of Eurolines (www.eurolines.com) -- arrive at the bus terminal opposite Amstel rail station (Metro: Amstel) in the south of the city. Eurolines operates coach service between London Victoria Bus Station and Amstel Station (via ferry), with up to five departures daily in the summer. Travel time is just over 12 hours. For reservations, contact Eurolines (tel. 08705/808080 in Britain, or 020/560-8788 in Holland). From here you can go by train and Metro train to Centraal Station, and by tram no. 12 to the Museumplein area and to connecting points for trams to the Center. For the Leidseplein area, take the Metro toward Centraal Station, get out at Weesperplein, and go above ground to take tram lines 6, 7, or 10.

By Car

Holland is crisscrossed by a network of major international highways. European expressways E19, E35, E231, and E22 converge on Amsterdam from France and Belgium to the south and from Germany to the north and east. These roads also have Dutch designations; as you approach the city they are, respectively: A4, A2, A1, and A7. Amsterdam's ring road is A10. Distances between destinations are relatively short, traffic is invariably heavy but road conditions are otherwise excellent, service stations are plentiful, and highways are plainly signposted.

If you want to drive from Britain to Amsterdam, you can use the fast and efficient Le Shuttle auto transporter through the Channel Tunnel from Folkestone to Calais (a 35-min. trip), and drive up from there. Le Shuttle has departures every 15 minutes at peak times, every 30 minutes at times of average demand, and every hour at night. In late 1998, fares ranged from £120 to £190 ($190-$290) per car, depending on the day, time, and other variables. The cheapest transits are usually midweek between 2 and 5am. For information, call tel. 0990/353-535 for Le Shuttle reservations in Britain, tel. 03/21-00-61-00 in France, tel. 020/504-0540 in Holland. Reserving in advance makes sense at the busiest times, but the system is so fast, frequent, and simple that you may prefer to retain travel flexibility by just showing up, buying your ticket, waiting in line for a short while, and then driving aboard.