By bike, like a local
The best way to get around: the city is flat and there are bike lanes everywhere. If you're going to move around a lot, renting a bike works out cheaper than public transport.
Flat cityBike lanes everywhere
Visitor logistics
Practical
How to get around, how to pay, and the rest of the logistics, straight from someone who lives here.
Getting around
How to move around the city
Tram, train, bus and metro
You can pay for all of it by tapping your bank card on the way in — more convenient, and truer to the actual fare, than buying a ticket (not every station has a machine, either).
Pay by card
Rental car
Sixt, Hertz and the like. A Brazilian driving licence is valid for 6 months in the Netherlands if you're on a tourist visa. The car-sharing services (MyWheels, Fetch, etc.) are residents only.
BR licence: ok for 6 months
Uber
It exists and it works, but brace your wallet: it tends to be a lot pricier than in Brazil.
Expensive
Cami's tip
Check in and check out on every public transport trip, always. You're charged for the distance travelled: without the check-out, the fare comes out wrong.
If you're getting on a bike
The bike rules
The whole city cycles, and nobody cuts you slack for being a tourist. Four things that save you a fright and a fine.
Phone
Not in your hand
Holding your phone while cycling is banned (article 61a of the RVV) and the fine is €170. You don't even have to be using it: having it in your hand is enough. Need to check the map? Pull over first.
Bike lane
Don't stop in the bike lane
The bike lane is a road, not a pavement: stopping in the middle of it is like stopping in the fast lane. If you need your phone or the map, get off the lane and pull up onto the pavement.
Arm
Signal with your arm
Before you turn at a junction, stick your arm out towards the way you're going, left or right. It's how the people behind you know what you're about to do, and everyone here does it.
The triangles on the road
These are haaientanden, “shark's teeth”. Wherever they appear, you give way to whoever is coming along the crossing road. There's only one rule: the points face whoever has to wait. If they're turned towards you, it's not your turn.
Points at you = you wait
The points always face whoever has to wait.
- You — the teeth are on your side of the junction, points turned towards you. Wait.
- The crossing traffic — goes first. That means cars, mopeds and other bikes too.
Giving way doesn't have to mean stopping dead: if the road is clear, carry on. The teeth say who waits, not where to stop.
Details that make a difference
Good to know
Paying
Card for (almost) everything
Most places only take cards; cash is a rarity. And watch out: Mastercard isn't always accepted.
Restaurants
Kitchens close between 9pm and 10pm
If the plan is to eat later, check in advance how late that particular kitchen runs.
Supermarket
Bottles are worth money
Plastic bottles and some beer cans and bottles are returnable: the machine sits in an aisle inside the supermarket and gives back ~10 cents a bottle as a voucher.
Dinner
Book at the weekend
Dinner out between Friday and Sunday? Book ahead. The good ones fill up early.