Amsterdam eSIM
In Amsterdam you connect to KPN or Vodafone, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The median across the country is 94 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- KPN and Vodafone
- Real speed in Netherlands
- 94 Mbps median, 28 Mbps for the slowest tenth1,120 travellers across Netherlands, rolling 90 days
- 5G
- yes, non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Amsterdam
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $5.89 | $5.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $2.63 | $7.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $1.98 | $9.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $1.49 | $14.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $1.34 | $26.89 | |
| 50 GB | Never expires | $1.16 | $57.89 |
How Netherlands compares across Europe
- Speed rank
- 5 of 46 destinations we sell in Europe
- Regional median
- 71 Mbps
- Consistency
- The slowest tenth still reaches 30 percent of the median
- Upstream networks
- 2, KPN, Vodafone
- 5G
- Yes, non standalone
- Next fastest nearby
- Estonia, 95 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- Luxembourg, 91 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 3: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht
- tenth percentile
- 28 Mbps
- Behind these figures
- 1120 travellers, rolling 90 days
Landing at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)
- Airport
- AMS / EHAM
- Distance
- 9 km from the centre of Amsterdam
Getting into Amsterdam
- NS trains from Schiphol Airport station to Amsterdam Centraal (AMS). Runs through tunnels, where a signal drops
- Amsterdam Airport Express bus 397 (AMS)
- Niteliner N97 night bus (AMS)
- NS night train, Rotterdam to Utrecht Centraal via Schiphol and Amsterdam Centraal (AMS)
Underground and on the metro
Amsterdam Metro runs 5 lines. It opened in 1977. The operator does not publish whether the tunnels carry a mobile signal, so we do not claim either way.
Worth knowing about Amsterdam
- Schiphol's railway station is underground, directly beneath the terminal, reached by escalators from the Schiphol Plaza concourse.
- The Amsterdam Metro does not reach Schiphol; the airport link is a mainline NS train, and the proposed metro extension is still only planned.
- Metro line 52, the Noord/Zuidlijn opened in 2018, runs in deep bored and immersed tunnels under the IJ and the historic centre.
- On GVB trams, buses and metros you check in and out with a contactless debit or credit card from Maestro, V PAY, Mastercard or Visa. GVB states you do not need to register in advance or download an app.
- The same contactless card works on NS trains. NS says you do not need to activate anything and can start your journey right away, but a debit card journey is always second class with no discount.
- If you tap in on an NS reader by mistake, checking out at the same station within sixty minutes cancels the journey and you are not charged.
- GVB caps contactless travel at EUR 10.50 a day across its trams, buses and metros, provided every trip is a complete check in and check out on the same card. Night buses are excluded.
- Paper chip cards still exist in Amsterdam, sold at metro station vending machines, GVB Service and Tickets counters, service points and by tram conductors. They are valid only on GVB vehicles, not on NS trains.
- You cannot pay cash on board in Amsterdam. GVB tram conductors and Amsterdam Airport Express bus drivers both take only a debit or credit card.
- Eight NS Sprinters an hour run from Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal via Sloterdijk and Lelylaan, taking about seventeen minutes and usually leaving from platform 3.
- NS tells travellers to check in on the free standing check in poles at Schiphol but to check out at the gates at Amsterdam Centraal, so the two ends of the trip work differently.
- Public wifi at Amsterdam civic and cultural venues runs on Publicroam, a Dutch roaming network of more than 1,900 free locations including the Concertgebouw, supported by the city of Amsterdam.
- Publicroam is not an open hotspot. Every user gets personal credentials and connects over WPA2 or WPA3 Enterprise with 802.1X, so there is no captive portal and no shared password.
- You create a Publicroam account once, through its app or by texting the word publicroam to +31 970 10 260 261, and the login details come back by SMS. After that, connection is automatic.
- The ferries across the IJ from behind Amsterdam Centraal are free for pedestrians, cyclists and mopeds. Line F3 to Buiksloterweg runs day and night.