Getting There

By Plane

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, 13km (8 miles) southwest of the center city, has quick, direct rail links to Amsterdam's center city; to Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, and other Dutch cities; and to Antwerp and Brussels.

In 2004, the Netherlands flag carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines merged with Air France, in what was widely interpreted as 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 will have on the services of a formerly lean and efficient (but small for a would-be global player) KLM.

From the U.S. & Canada -- Carriers with frequent flights to Amsterdam from cities that include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Montreal, Newark, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C., are Air Canada (tel. 888/247-2262; www.aircanada.ca); Continental Airlines (tel. 800/231-0856; www.continental.com); Delta (tel. 800/221-1212; www.delta.com); KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (tel. 800/225-2525; www.klm.com); Northwest Airlines (tel. 800/225-2525; 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), easyJet (tel. 0905/560-7777; www.easyjet.com), and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (tel. 0870/507-4074; www.klm.nl) and its subsidiaries KLM Cityhopper and KLM uk, fly to Amsterdam from cities that include Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, and Teesside; KLM Cityhopper flies also from London to Rotterdam; and KLM Exel flies from London to Eindhoven and Maastricht.

From Ireland -- Aer Lingus (tel. 0818/365000; www.aerlingus.com) flies daily from Dublin to Amsterdam.

From Australia -- KLM (tel. 1300/392192; www.klm.com) and Qantas (tel. 131313; www.qantas.com.au) fly from Sydney to Amsterdam.

From New Zealand -- Air New Zealand (tel. 0800/737000; www.airnewzealand.com) flies from Auckland to London, where you can transfer for Amsterdam.

By Boat

Stena Line (tel. 08705/707070 Britain, 0900/8123 Holland; www.stenaline.com) has twice-daily fast car-ferry service, and overnight and daytime "superferry" service, between Harwich in southeast England and Hoek van Holland (Hook of Holland) near Rotterdam. The fast-ferry trip time is 3 hours and 40 minutes, and the "superferry" trip time is 6 hours and 15 minutes. Frequent trains depart from Hoek van Holland to Amsterdam.

P&O Ferries (tel. 08705/980333 Britain, 020/210-3333 Holland; www.poferries.com) has daily car ferry service between Hull in northeast England and Rotterdam (Europoort). The overnight trip time is 10 hours.

DFDS Seaways (tel. 0870/252-0524 Britain, 0255/546-666 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 go by train to Amsterdam Centraal Station.

By Train

Rail service to the Benelux countries from major European cities is frequent, fast, and generally inexpensive compared to air travel.

On the Thalys high-speed train, travel times from Paris-Nord station to Amsterdam Centraal Station (via Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Schiphol Airport) are 4 hours and 10 minutes, and from Brussels Midi station they are 2 hours and 15 minutes. Departures are approximately every hour. For Thalys reservations in Holland, call tel. 0900/9296. Or book online at www.thalys.com. Tickets also are available from main rail stations and travel agents.

By Bus

Eurolines has the most comprehensive bus network in Europe. For reservations, call tel. 08705/143219 in Britain; tel. 02/274-13-50 in Belgium; or tel. 020/560-8788 in the Netherlands. Or book online at www.eurolines.com.

Eurolines has bus service between London and Amsterdam, with four departures daily. Travel time is 12 hours.

By Car

The Benelux countries are crisscrossed by a dense network of major highways connecting them with other European countries. Distances are relatively short. Road conditions are excellent throughout all three Benelux countries, service stations are plentiful, and highways have good signs. Traffic congestion in both Brussels and Amsterdam, however, can cause monumental tie-ups -- in these two cities, it's best to park your car at your hotel garage and use local transportation or walk (the best way, incidentally, to see either city).

Via the Channel Tunnel from Britain -- The fast and efficient Eurotunnel (tel. 08705/353535 in Britain; www.eurotunnel.com) auto-transporter trains transport your car through the Channel Tunnel from Folkestone, England, to Calais, France (a 35-min. trip). Departures are every 15 minutes at peak times, every 30 minutes at times of average demand, and every hour at night.