The Amsterdam City Tourist Office is located directly opposite Amsterdam Central Station, at Stationsplein 10, in the charming Noord-Zuid Hollands Koffiehuis (North-South Holland Cafe). Look out for the triple “V” (VVV is short for tourist information service) or the lowercase “i” on the cafe’s facade.
Staff are available to provide tourist information; make reservations; and sell essentials like books, maps, transit cards and discount tourist passes, not to mention a variety of souvenirs branded “I Amsterdam”.
VVV Amsterdam Tourist Office
Station Square 10
1012 AB Amsterdam
The cafe itself is also of particular note – its late Art Nouveau architecture dates back to 1911 when it served as a port of call for a commuter ferry. It is one of the few non-residential projects by Amsterdam-born architect Willem Leliman, who also invented the clever mushroom-shaped posts that indicate directions on the country’s cycling and pedestrian trails.
In fact, there is still a cafeteria on site (albeit separate from the tourist office): the cafeteria has operated under the auspices of Loetje, a full-service cafe and restaurant (kitchen open until 10:30 pm), since 2015 Loetje took from the old Smits Koffiehuis, an Amsterdam institution that served clients in this place for 95 years, from 1919; When the last member of the Smits family retired in 2013, the tradition of the Noord-Zuidhollanse Koffiehuis passed to Loetje, a chain of cafes established in Amsterdam.
Netherlands Information Center at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
Visitors flying into Schiphol Airport can stop at the Holland Information Center, located in Schiphol Plaza at Arrivals 2.
VVV I Amsterdam Visitor Center Schiphol
Arrivals Hall 2
1118 AX Schiphol
What does “VVV” mean?
Most Dutch people don’t even know the answer to this, as the acronym is now the only name used for these Dutch tourist information centers. But VVV once stood for the Vereniging voor Vreemdelingenverkeer , a mouthful that means ‘Association for the Trafficking of Foreigners’, and which has fortunately been withdrawn as the official name in favor of ‘VVV Nederland’. The VVV has been helping tourists since 1885, when the first office was opened in Valkenburg aan de Geul, in the southern province of Limburg, an ancient walled city famous for its Roman catacombs and castles.
Today there are almost a hundred VVV offices throughout the country.
