Can we get food when we land at Schiphol Airport?

[BelfastSmile]

We’re flying into Schiphol Airport in July - does anyone know whether we’ll be able to get food when we land, before we head on? Does the arrivals area have somewhere?

Doesn’t matter what it is - a McDonald’s would be ideal as the kids can be picky, especially in a new place, so getting them something they’ll recognise would be handy!

Just seen this, Is there not restaurants at the europarks?

If you prebook a taxi as people are suggesting, just be aware of the post-Brexit passport control issues, unless you are travelling on Irish passports?

We flew from Manchester to Schipol last year in 45 mins and then stood in a snaking queue for passport control for 2 hours while the EU folks tapped through their separate "queue" in 5 mins.

I've just had a look where Spaarnwoude is: right between Amsterdam and Haarlem. Both amazing cities, so hope you get a chance to see both.

If you want to eat landside, as you come out of the airport and into the railway station (they blend into one) there is a semi-self-service place called La Place, where the food is fresh and delicious, although not especially cheap.

I’d just head to the accommodation. You’ll be able to use the facilities and probably check in early. If not, leave bags in luggage room and walk 20 mins down the road to the massive retail and food outlet.

Also remember that Dutch deep-fried snack food is out of this world (in a guilty-pleasure kind of a way). Take the kids to any snack bar for chips and order a broodje kroket (pronounced "broatche croquette", a meat croquette in a bun), they'll be hooked in no time (another Dutch expression).

Thank you, I just downloaded this app and it’s really helpful! Figured out how to get trains to where we’re going, so that’s good.

i think food-wise we’ll have to play it by ear. If we get through the airport quickly we can go straight to where we’re staying, drop our bags, and find something to eat; if security etc takes a while we’ll get food at the airport before getting the train.

One thing I couldn’t work out on the app is whether we can buy kids’ tickets on it? They seem to be cheaper, but from what I’ve read they need a special pass? So we’d maybe be better off just paying adult fare for them, depending on how often we use the trains?

Not sure about children's tickets. On the 9292.nl website there's an option to email them with any queries, so you could try that and state that you're tourists from overseas. I assume that option also appears on the app. Some of the passes they mention are only available if you're resident in the Netherlands.

If you'll just be using trains, as opposed to buses/trams etc, it may be worth also downloading the NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen/Dutch Railways) app. If you buy off-peak e-tickets on some routes more than 24 hours in advance you can get a discount (which is greater the further in advance you book). Even without a discount, e-tickets on this app should be a little cheaper than on 9292 as the latter charges a small booking fee whereas NS doesn't. Again there's a Customer Chat option on the NS site. The NS site does mention a Railrunner day ticket for children aged 4-11 which costs just 2.50 euros per day; don't know if that can be used by tourists.

You can also just tap on and off using a debit/credit card for all public transport, though despite what their publicity says not all foreign-issued VISA/Mastercards work, so always have a second card to hand. That's a little cheaper than buying paper tickets at the station. Again not sure how this would work when travelling with children, so again best to just ask.Whether you buy tickets in advance or not, there'll be plenty of help available at Tourist Information both at the airport and at stations. The Dutch are super helpful and friendly.

Hello! You sound knowledgeable. My last trip (out) from Schipol involved wonderful raw herring with gherkins and chopped onion. I liked it so much I took a picture. Would raw herring still be in season when the OP visits? How lovely to introduce her children to the food of the country they're visiting. 😀

We visited in Oct and couldn't get childrens tickets on the app. To pay on the bus we each needed a debit card to tap on/off which we didn't have either. Ended up having to pay the driver on his tablet machine thing which he explained is a lot more expensive! I'm not sure if their was a way round that, next time we'll take debit card each.
Train tickets were fine we could get those at the self serve koisks for adults and kids.

At schiphol, you have a good food selection landside. Also a small Hema for small stuff you might have forgotten. You can still get train tickets via the vending machines, quite easy to follow instructions and often there is at least one cashier available to assist. Schiphol is the hub for my flights into Europe as otherwise i have to fly via south America. As I do not speak Spanish well but am Dutch I prefer using schiphol as a hub.

Yes, could be easier just to buy paper tickets from the machines at the station. There's a surcharge of 1 euro per ticket doing it this way, but it could save a lot of faffing around. I had no trouble using various UK-issued debit/credit cards buying paper tickets from the machines. It was only when I instead tried to tap on and off on the ticket barriers that one of my cards didn't work.

Hello there @CrystalSingerFan
That looks like soused herring (maatjes)....lightly salted herring fillets, a delicious Dutch delicacy.
Although there is a season for catching the herring (May to July) outside of their breeding season, in order to protect consumers from nematodes, EU laws insist that the fish must be frozen before being salted, so now soused herrings can be produced all year round.
Soused and pickled (rollmop) herrings can be eaten in lots of ways, a favourite of my family is with sour cream and chives and potato salad.

@BelfastSmile I hope you don't mind a bit of a Dutch food detour on your thread!
It looks as though your accommodation has got a snack bar and an Italian restaurant on site which sounds great. Also there might be a local bus between the EuroParc and the train station.
Do go to Haarlem if you can, as it's a beautiful city.

Thanks for the useful background information. I'm pleased that the nematode risk has been addressed - my only knowledge of them before has been when they are introduced in gardens to deter slugs from eating hostas, etc.

I will certainly continue to eat UK soused herring, although I suspect it's not as fresh and seasonal as the Dutch ones. My favourite brand in England is https://orkneyfoodcompany.co.uk/products/ although their website is clearly failing and they mention it's a sweet cure. Do the Dutch do this?

The season starts in mid-June, but I'm not quite sure how long it goes on for, or if there is an official big-bang close date after which "no more herring for you".