🇳🇱Netherlands

What to buy as soon as you land

The Netherlands is one of the easier countries in Europe for this: prepaid SIMs are anonymous. No passport, no registration, no proof of address. You put the card in an unlocked phone and it activates itself.

That leaves only the question of where you buy, and the answer is almost never the airport. Schiphol's kiosks charge a 50% to 100% markup on the same packages sold at any supermarket till in town.

Comparison table

Prices verified for July 2026.

Where exactly to buy

• Schiphol (AMS): Service Point and the Airport Telecom kiosk sit in Schiphol Plaza between arrivals halls 3 and 4, with AKO and Relay newsagents also carrying prepaid cards. Convenient, and roughly double the price.
• Supermarkets: Albert Heijn and Jumbo sell Lebara and Lycamobile packs at the checkout, as do HEMA and Primera. This is where locals buy them.
• Operator shops: KPN, Vodafone and Odido have stores in every city centre if you want help with the setup.

Short verdict

If your phone takes an eSIM, activate an Airalo or Gohub profile before you fly and you are connected on the jet bridge. If you want a physical card, ignore the arrivals hall, take the train into town, and pick up a Lebara bundle for EUR 10 in the first Albert Heijn you pass.

Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)

Schiphol is 9 km south-west of the city, and the NS railway station is directly beneath Schiphol Plaza - you never go outside.

• NS train: Direct services to Amsterdam Centraal run up to 8 times an hour during the day and hourly through the night, taking 16 to 17 minutes. Tapping in with a contactless card via OVpay, or using an e-ticket bought in advance, costs about EUR 5.50; a disposable ticket from the yellow machines costs more once the single-use card fee is added, around EUR 6.20. Platforms 1-3 are down the escalators from the main hall, and the yellow OVpay posts are in the hall before you reach them - you must tap in there.
• Amsterdam Airport Express, bus 397: Run by Connexxion to the south-west of the centre (Museumplein, Rijksmuseum, Leidseplein) in about 30 minutes for EUR 6.50. Stops B15-B19 are directly outside Schiphol Plaza. Worth it only if your accommodation is near those stops.
• Official taxi: The rank is outside Schiphol Plaza; licensed cars have blue number plates and a roof sign. Into the centre is EUR 45 to EUR 65 depending on traffic, and licensed drivers must accept cards.
• Uber and Bolt: Both operate, with a dedicated pick-up zone on the airport approach road rather than at the kerb.
• What to watch out for: People inside the arrivals hall offering rides are not licensed taxis and charge whatever they think you will pay. Decline anything offered indoors and walk to the official rank.

Eindhoven (EIN)

Eindhoven handles most low-cost flights and has no railway station of its own.

• Bus plus train: Buses 400 and 401 run to Eindhoven Centraal in 20 minutes for roughly EUR 3.50 to EUR 4.50 on OVpay. Intercity trains from there to Amsterdam Centraal leave every 15 minutes, take 1 hour 20 minutes and cost EUR 23 to EUR 26.
• Direct coach: AirExpressBus runs Eindhoven airport to Amsterdam Centraal in about 1 hour 45 minutes, EUR 25 to EUR 30 booked in advance.

Which option suits which traveller

• Solo traveller: The NS train from Schiphol, tapping in with OVpay.
• Family or group of three to four: A taxi or Uber at around EUR 50 to accommodation outside the historic core, which saves wrestling suitcases up tram steps and over canal bridges.
• Night arrival between 01:00 and 05:00: NS runs hourly all night to Amsterdam Centraal - you may change at Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA. Night bus N97 is the fallback.
• On a budget: Flying into Eindhoven, the local bus plus an off-peak Intercity.

Every Dutch operator - GVB in Amsterdam, RET in Rotterdam, HTM in The Hague, NS on the railways - now runs on the single national OVpay system. Tourists no longer need an OV-chipkaart.

• How it works: Tap a contactless bank card, phone or watch on the reader as you board or enter (check-in), and tap the same reader again when you get off (check-out). The fare is calculated from the pair and billed once a day.
• The identical-token rule: You must check in and out with the physically same thing. Tap in with the plastic card and out with the phone - even with that same card loaded in Apple Pay - and the system sees two incomplete journeys and charges the full unreduced fare twice. This is the single most common and most expensive tourist mistake in Dutch transport, and it is the one r/Amsterdam has to explain every week.
• Forgetting to check out has the same effect, so make the tap on the way off automatic.
• Amsterdam daily cap: GVB caps contactless spending at EUR 10.50 a day (GVB Max) provided you use the same card throughout. Once you hit it, the rest of the day's city journeys are free. A single GVB ticket is EUR 3.40 and a 24-hour ticket EUR 10.00, so the cap usually makes paper tickets pointless.
• Bikes: Renting is easy and cycling is the fastest way across Amsterdam, but the traffic is fast, dense and unforgiving of hesitation. If you are not a confident city cyclist, the tram is the better first-day choice.

• Apps worth installing:

• 9292 - the national journey planner covering every operator.
• NS - railway timetables, disruptions and e-tickets.
• GVB - live trams, buses and metro in Amsterdam.

Money and paying for things

The Netherlands uses the euro (EUR).

• Cards, not cash: Dutch retail runs on debit cards. A large number of shops, supermarkets, cafés and public services are "pin only" and refuse banknotes outright - this includes many Albert Heijn branches. Some places also decline credit cards and want a debit card specifically, so having both is sensible. Carrying only cash will leave you unable to buy things.
• ATM withdrawals: Use the yellow Geldmaat machines, the shared network run by ING, Rabobank and ABN AMRO. They are the standard, bank-operated option.
• ATMs to avoid: Standalone Euronet machines in tourist areas, for the usual reasons - a direct fee plus a poor conversion.
• The DCC trap (dynamic currency conversion): At any cash machine or card terminal, decline the offer to be charged in your own currency and choose EUR. The convenience costs several per cent.
• Tipping: Not obligatory - service is included by law. Rounding up, or 5% to 10% in a restaurant when you were happy, is normal.

What your room actually costs

Two tax changes make Amsterdam noticeably more expensive in 2026 than the headline rate suggests:

• VAT on accommodation rose from 9% to 21% on 1 January 2026.
• Amsterdam's tourist tax (toeristenbelasting) is 12.5% of the net room price, the highest in Europe. It is collected at the property, usually at check-in.

Together those put the total tax burden around a third of what you pay. Booking sites vary in how much of this they show up front, so read the breakdown before you assume the displayed figure is final. The city has already announced an increase to 16% for 2027.

Amsterdam neighbourhoods for your first nights

Practicalities

Hotels take a credit or debit card at check-in as a guarantee against extras, typically pre-authorising EUR 50 to EUR 100 a night. Most now push digital check-in. Bring the passport of every guest - properties are required to register foreign visitors.

Local rules and cultural differences

• Cannabis in public: Tolerated inside licensed coffeeshops, banned on the street in central Amsterdam - the De Wallen area in particular - with a EUR 100 fine. The tolerance is for the premises, not the substance.
• Coffeeshop rules: Over-18s only, with an original passport or ID card. Sales are capped at 5 g per person per day and no alcohol is served.
• Photography in the Red Light District: Photographing or filming the window workers is strictly forbidden. Cameras and phones get taken off people who try.
• Alcohol in public: Prohibited in areas signed Gedeeltelijk verbod alcohol, with fines from EUR 95.
• Drones: Effectively banned across Amsterdam, which lies inside Schiphol's controlled airspace.

Everyday practicalities

• Power sockets: Types C and F, 230 V, 50 Hz.
• Time zone: CET (UTC+1), CEST (UTC+2) from the last weekend of March to the last weekend of October.
• Opening hours: Shops and supermarkets Monday to Saturday roughly 08:00-22:00, Sunday 09:00-20:00. Museums daily 09:00 to 17:00 or 18:00. Many smaller shops open late on Monday morning.
• Public toilets: Usually EUR 0.50 to EUR 1.00, paid by contactless card at the turnstile - another reason a card matters more than cash.
• Wi-Fi: Free at Schiphol, on NS trains and on GVB vehicles.
• English: Near-universal. There is no practical language barrier, and switching to English is not considered rude.