The Schiphol airport website provides a travel planner from any location. For your information, Schiphol airport can be reached by train from both Germany and Belgium as well as Holland, with travel times varying on the location: points of embarkment in Belgium require a 2-3 hour travel time; Germany 2-11 hours travel time. If you are traveling by train from within the Netherlands, Schiphol airport is a mere 15 minute journey from Amsterdam, 1 hour from Rotterdam, and 1.5 hours from Eindhoven. Tickets can be purchased at the yellow machines by the platforms, at the ticket box, or online. There is also a night train service with trains leaving every hour linking Utrecht, Amsterdam, and Schipol in one direction, and Schiphol, Leiden, Den Haag, Delft, and Rotterdam in the other direction.

Bus: Bus access is just as easy, with 6 lines coming from Amsterdam as well as direct routes from Aalsmeer, Amstelveen, and Hoofddorp, amongst others.

Alternative: If you are going to Amsterdam the Connexxion Schiphol hopper may be the best option. An 8 seater air conditioned mini bus, this service leaves the airport every 10 minutes between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. and does a circuit around the majority of the main hotels in Amsterdam. You will see the hopper at platform A7 right outside the arrivals hall, and a seat can be booked for your return journey up till 2 hours before you wish to depart your hotel.

Facilities at the Airport

Business: Schiphol Amsterdam Airport provides its travelers with a communications area for computer and fax use, but as the whole building has wireless internet a laptop can be used anywhere.

Kids: Children's play areas provides parents with a little relief from long waits; located between piers E and F and open between 6 am and 10pm they are equipped with slides and soft toys, computers, and educational games.

Shopping: The Schiphol shopping plaza is located before passport control making it accessible for travelers and well wishers a like. The duty free area after passport control is dubbed See Buy Fly, and consists of 75 outlets selling everything from cameras to delicatessen products, from designer coats, to top shelf whiskey. The major brands that one would expect are all represented, and a few others: Schiphol Amsterdam Airport boasts the only Rolex outlet outside of Switzerland.

Schiphol Amsterdam Airport website.

The website for Amsterdam's airport, is both well laid out and informative providing a trip planner to aid arriving or departing from the airport, maps of the building, details of the particular lounges and their airlines, the routes served by the airport, information for disabled travelers, further information on bars, restaurants, and tax free shopping, airport hotels in Schiphol, luggage requirements, check in and security control, and up to the minute flight information.

Schiphol airport is one of the easiest airports in Europe from virtually every perspective and serves Amsterdam well.