Originally Posted by
bcl00
It's been a few years (2005) since my Amsterdam trip but the train was very easy. You can take the train from Schipol to Amsterdam Centraal. From there, you take a trolley to a stop near a bridge. Once you get off, walk with the river to your right for about 5 minutes or less.
Actually, I think it's easier to take the train only to Zuid, then transfer to tram line 5, and get off at the Apollolaan stop. It's probably a 5-10m walk (for a big fat dude) from Zuid to the tram stop, so if you're dragging a lot of luggage you won't want to do it. The walk from Apollolaan to the Hilton is around the same IIRC. Some interesting cars to look at behind the gates of the houses on that street.
If you go all the way to CS, then you'd have to get on the #5 going the other way and get off at the same stop. I think it would take roughly 15m or so longer to go all the way to CS then backtrack on the #5 too. Might be a little longer.
Website for tram info -
http://www.gvb.nl/ENGLISH/Pages/default.aspx
I LOVED the tram system when I was there. I wish I would've known to purchase a 24hr (or even a multi-day) pass right away. I arrived at Zuid early on a Sunday morning. It's in a business district, and most things were shut down (including the booths that would sell GVB tix, and I didn't notice kiosks selling these here).