Cultures of Thinking Seminar
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Booking a Hotel in Amsterdam

If you would like to book a hotel, we recommend that you stay within the city centre. Public transportation is easy and efficient to use from the city centre to the International School of Amsterdam and your hotel will be located close to many restaurants, entertainment and shopping centres.

Shops are open until 6:00 p.m. during the week, except for Thursday nights when they are open until 9:00 p.m. Saturday shopping is open until 5:00 p.m. and one can shop on Sundays along the pedestrian area in Amsterdam until 5:00 p.m.

Hotel Booking Tip:
www.booking.com
This website allows you to select from a variety of hotels within the city centre in a variety of languages. On-line bookings can be made and maps of hotel locations are included. There is also information about Amsterdam city on the site.

Hotels close to the tram 5 and metro 51 routes offer easy access to the school. The Novotel and Holiday Inn at Amsterdam RAI lie half way between the city and the school. You can take a train from Schiphol to RAI and walk for a few minutes to either hotel.

In Amstelveen itself we have The Grand Hotel Amstelveen. It is close to the school and a shuttle bus will bring you to the school each morning. However the hotel is far from shops or any entertainment centres.

For any other help and assistance regarding hotel bookings, please contact cot@isa.nl.


Travel Pass

When arriving at Schiphol airport you will need to buy a train ticket to Central Station. You may also wish to buy an OV Travel Card to use on the tram, bus, or metro in the centre of Amsterdam during your stay.

Dutch public transport requires a so-called OV-chipkaart, a smart card that can be used for bus, tram, train and metro services. The OV-chipkaart entitles you to unlimited travel around Amsterdam - day and night. With this OV-chipkaart, you must check-in and check-out when boarding or disembarking from a tram, bus, or metro.

If you are staying in Holland for more than a few days and plan to travel by public transport, we recommend the anonymous OV-chipkaart as the best and most economic ticket for your trips since it can be used for all public means of transport in Holland.

When you buy an anonymous OV chipkaart it will cost 7.50 euros and will remain valid for five years. OV-chipkaart points of sale carry the pink OV-chipkaart logo and you can purchase a one day travel card or anonymous OV-chipkaart at:

• public transport service desks

• the yellow Sales & Add Value Machines in metro and train stations

• at tobacco shops and in several supermarkets

• the VVV tourist information offices (such as the one on the Amsterdam Central Station forecourt)

You can top-up your OV-chipkaart in the main foyer at our school. When traveling by train, make sure you have at least 20 euros worth of credit on your anonymous OV-chipkaart.

For more detailed information about the cards and getting around Amsterdam, visit the GVB website - in English - at: http://en.gvb.nl/ovinmamsterdam/Pages/bestdeal.aspx

Information about the Dutch OV chip card can be found in English at: http://www.holland.com/global/tourism/article/ov-chip-card-5.htm