The Schiphol is the Netherlands only International Airport and is located 20 minutes south of Amsterdam. It is Europe’s 3rd largest airport and the world’s 14th largest. The airport is split into three hallways allowing for accessibility and expansion.

Schiphol prides itself on having a large shopping area with more than 100 stores. It’s almost like a shopping mall that happens to have an airport attached! The shops consist of a wide variety of stores such as a Nike store, a florist shop selling seeds and bulbs, a poster and picture shop, toy stores and jewelry stands. Schiphol also provides a wide assortment of restaurants and cafes such as Grand Café Het, a deli, a modern cuisine sushi restaurant, and a McDonald’s.

The Schiphol Airport is renowned for the level of comfort and care it provides travelers. It also has its own art museum, the Rijksmuseum. The museum offers a permanent exhibition of work by several Dutch masters of the Golden Age, as well as exhibits that change throughout the year. The Rijksmuseum is the first museum in the world to have an annex at an airport. The museum also has a shop with souvenirs specially crafted for the museum.

Schiphol is very easy to navigate and its proximity to the city makes it a great stop-over airport. If you have a longer layover, go into the city and take a canal cruise. From the airport, take the train to Amsterdam’s main train station. Within yards of the station you will see where the boats depart. The Anne Frank Museum is also an easy walk from the station.

So the next time you find yourself on a layover in Amsterdam don’t just sit at the gate. Go explore the amenities offered by Schiphol—just don’t get so caught up with them that you miss your flight!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under Humanitarian, Missions, Travel Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.