Amsterdam

Hitching at the Prins Bernhardplein liftplaats

Amsterdam [1] is the capital of the Netherlands.

Amsterdam is often abbreviated A'dam, which can be a nice alternative to put on your signs.

Hitching Out

West towards Haarlem

There is an official liftplaats about 50m south of metro station Sloterdijk on Haarlemweg.

For Liva it was not the best place even though you have had to do it when your anyway there...

North towards Alkmaar, Zaandam

There is an A10 on-ramp near Sloterdijk station. Exit the station and go 200m east on Hatostraat, 250m north on La Guardiaweg and 250m east on Basisweg and then cross over to the on-ramp.

Another ramp is a little way up the street from the last. Get there from the last by continuing further down Basisweg (which becomes Transformatorweg until Kabelweg). Follow this north past s101 (Nieuwe Hemweg). The ramp is off of Vlothavenweg. <map lat=52.34614160575179 lng=4.920845031738281 zoom=14 view='0' float='right' />

All other directions

There is a liftplaats, a spot specifically for hitchhiking, at the Gooiseweg next to the Prins Bernhardplein situated before NS Station Amsterdam Amstel (pass the bus stop). This road leads to the ramp of the S112 of the A10, the highway around Amsterdam (direction A1 and A2). There are trains, trams (12,51) and metros to Amstel station from most other stations in Amsterdam.

You can get hitches from here to the direction of Amersfoort, Utrecht, Arnhem, Nijmegen, Enschede, Germany, and Belgium. Because there are so many different directions it's better to make a sign.

Some might say there's a better spot at the start of the A2, but guaka^{site, wikitalk} doesn't agree.

Sleep

If you are caught in the rain with nowhere to go, the best place to stay dry that Zac found was outside the train station.

After walking all night in the pouring rain, trying to stay dry and warm wherever I could, I finally crashed outside the train station until the wee hours of the morning. At that time I moved inside of the station. This had mixed results. It was warmer and drier, but the security guards walked by and gave me a kick every time I dozed off.

There is another solution if you're caught in the rain : you can sleep on one of the tour boats parked along the river in front of central station, some of them have a roof outside the cabin and it can be a quite confortable place. Policemen or guards sometimes come and kick you out, but far less than in the station. ������������������� ����������������������