Ten hour stop over in Amsterdam

Trains to Amsterdam centraal leave from under the main Schiphol concourse (follow the exit signs on arrival). Get a return ticket from the ticket booth on the main floor - the clerks all speak embarrassingly good english. Trains in are highly frequent; the trip takes 15 to 20 min. Best mode of transportation would probably be the trams depending on what you want to see. Amsterdam is definitely walkable, but if you've only got 9 hrs would make sense to jump some distances by tram to cram it all in. You could also hire a bike if you like.

Watch out for pickpockets around the main station, centraal has a bit of a reputation for it.

Depends a bit on what period of the day/night; you seem a horse-riding type to me and there are some nice stables next to the nearby dunes, easily to be googled.

Fwoggie I nominate you for the most patient poster of TT;-) after the Brugge or Gent query, this is number 2 in the list of MAQ's.

Instead of opening a new thread I hope nobody minds if I latch on to this one as I have a similar "problem" to the OP.

I'll be spending the night at Schiphol Airport on Saturday to catch an early flight on Sunday, so we decided to go into Amsterdam for dinner on Saturday evening. Can anyone recommend a nice restaurant close to Centraal, preferrably a traditional Dutch brasserie place? Preferrably not too deep in "De Wallen" as I'm travelling with my 60 yo. mother :)

OP: There is an information desk inside Schiphol Airport (not sure where exactly) where the tourist board offers guided city tours and other excursions for people on a stop-over, so you could see what they offer. While I agree that it's very easy to get INTO the city and you could just stroll around for some hours, a guided tour would probably be a better way to see the sights and not worry about getting lost (and missing your next flight).

Edit: Here's the link to the guided tours:

http://www.schiphol.nl/Reizigers/WinkelenOntspannen/NaDePaspoortcontrole/Ontspannen1/GreatAmsterdamExcursions.htm

#2 It's not too bad, I don't mind. For some FAQ's I have txt files that I've written before and saved that I just copy and paste in reply.

OP what time of the day are talking here btw? The Anne Frank house can be busy.

(For the benefit of anyone else reading this - OP it doesn't affect you - the Anne Frank house shuts for Yom Kippur - this falls in October in 2011, it's open every other day including xmas day and all Sundays, ie 364 days a year. Which is nice. When I went it used to shut for most jewish holidays including the Sabbath, ie every Saturday. Caught lots of tourists out that did).

this is number 2 in the list of MAQ's
It's also competing with "can you recommend me a hotel in Barcelona" for the number 1 spot in the list of questions that apparently cannot be answered by doing a forum search. I've answered this question about 50 times in the past years - I lack the patience today to explain once again that it takes 15-20 minutes by train to Amsterdam Centraal bla bla bla.

Get a return ticket train to the city, depends in case you are tiered get a day transport ticket for all trams and buses.nr 1-3-9 24/25, will bring you to many parts of the city and 26 even to the city beach. ask for a free transport map at the GVB or indeed hire a bicycle and be one of us.Mac Bike is also at the CS, they have maps too. I would personal skip museums.no time

Millions of answers to this very same question.