Taxi Alternative
in Amsterdam
Schiphol is one terminal with three departure halls, fifteen kilometres from the canals. A booked car means you are met in the right hall and driven to an address the canal ring makes hard to reach by any other means.
My Private Service provides a private chauffeur service in Amsterdam, airport transfers Schiphol, executive car hire and VIP transportation available 24/7.
Why the canal ring
decides everything
Schiphol is unusual: a single terminal building with three halls rather than a scatter of separate ones, fifteen kilometres south-west of the centre. The difficulty is not the airport, it is what comes after. The canal ring is a lattice of one-way streets, narrow bridges and almost no kerbside parking, and the city belongs to bicycles before it belongs to cars. Knowing where a car can actually stop is the entire job here.
Five things that change
in this city
Amsterdam is small, flat and deceptively simple, right up to the moment a car has to stop somewhere. Here is what a prepared arrival looks like.
- Schiphol is a single terminal with three departure halls, so the meeting point matters more than the terminal number. It is confirmed with your flight before you land.
- The canal ring runs on one-way streets and narrow bridges, and stopping is not possible everywhere. We agree the drop-off point rather than discovering it with a queue of bicycles behind us.
- Bicycles have priority in practice as well as in law, and a chauffeur who has not driven here reads the city wrongly. Ours have.
- The Hague is around fifty minutes, Rotterdam about an hour, Antwerp an hour and a half and Brussels around two. A working day across the Randstad is one car and one driver rather than four bookings.
- King’s Day at the end of April and the tulip season in spring change the city completely, and so does the congress calendar at the RAI. Those dates are arranged early.
Amsterdam, Schiphol
and the Randstad
Met inside the right arrivals hall, fifteen kilometres out
Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Jordaan, Museum Quarter
The business district and the congress centre
Met on the platform, luggage carried to the car
Keukenhof, Haarlem, Zandvoort, Utrecht
The Hague, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels
The rank starts when you reach it.
Your car starts when the aircraft lands.
Schiphol is one terminal with four arrivals halls, and the one you come out of depends on where you flew from rather than on which airline you flew with. That is why the single most useful thing in a Schiphol booking is the flight number. We watch the board, the chauffeur is standing in the right hall with a name board, and you walk out of customs into a car rather than into a decision.
The drive into the city is short and the last two hundred metres are the interesting part. Hotels on the Herengracht, the Keizersgracht and the smaller cross streets are not all reachable by car, and the ones that are often have a single legal stopping point that is not the front door. The chauffeur checks it before the day and tells you where you will actually be set down, which in November with rain coming sideways is worth more than the drive itself.
Onward, the whole country is close. The Hague, Rotterdam, Delft, Utrecht and Haarlem are all short runs, Antwerp and Brussels are comfortable, and in spring Keukenhof and the bulb fields near Lisse are an easy detour on the way in from the airport if you leave a little earlier. It is arranged inside the same booking, not as a separate excursion.
The price is agreed before you travel and stays agreed. No meter, no night supplement invented at the barrier, no charge for the third and fourth suitcase. If the flight moves, the dispatch desk is staffed around the clock, and your chauffeur knows before you land.
A few distances put the day in order. Schiphol is about eighteen kilometres from the centre and the drive is usually half an hour. Keukenhof sits roughly fifteen kilometres from the airport, which is why it works as a detour rather than an expedition. Haarlem is twenty, Utrecht fifty, The Hague sixty, Delft seventy, Rotterdam eighty, Antwerp a hundred and sixty and Brussels two hundred and ten.
How does the pick-up work at Schiphol?
Schiphol is a single terminal with three departure halls rather than several separate buildings, so we agree the exact meeting point in arrivals with your flight number instead of relying on a terminal number.
How far is Schiphol from the centre?
Around fifteen kilometres to the south-west. The drive is short, but the last few hundred metres inside the canal ring are the part that needs planning.
Can the car stop at my hotel in the canal ring?
In most cases yes, but not everywhere and not at every hour. The streets are one-way, the bridges are narrow and kerbside space is scarce, so we agree the drop-off point in advance.
Can you take us to The Hague, Rotterdam or Brussels?
Yes. The Hague is around fifty minutes, Rotterdam about an hour, Antwerp an hour and a half and Brussels around two. The same chauffeur stays with you for the day.
Do your drivers speak English?
Yes, our chauffeurs in Amsterdam work in English and Dutch, with French on request. Tell us which you prefer when booking.
Is the rate fixed before I travel?
Always, in writing, before anything is confirmed. There is no meter in the car and the amount does not change for traffic or for waiting at the airport.
Which arrivals hall will the chauffeur be in?
The one your flight actually uses. Schiphol has four and they are assigned by route, so we check it against your flight number on the day. You will have the chauffeur name and mobile before you board.
Can the car reach my hotel on a canal?
To the door where the street allows it, otherwise to the nearest legal stopping point, which the chauffeur identifies in advance and tells you before you arrive rather than while you are standing outside with luggage.
How long is the waiting time after landing?
An hour on international arrivals and thirty minutes on European and domestic flights, counted from touchdown rather than from the booked time. Delays are tracked from departure and cost nothing.
Can you take us on to The Hague, Rotterdam or Antwerp?
Yes, all of them, and Brussels too. Tell us when you book so we plan the timing and send a vehicle sized for the luggage.
Can you stop at Keukenhof on the way from the airport?
In season, yes, and it is a natural detour since the gardens sit between Schiphol and the coast. Allow extra time and go early, because the middle of the day is when everyone else arrives.
Which vehicle will meet my flight?
An E-Class for one or two with light luggage, an S-Class for comfort after a long flight, and a V-Class for three or more or a family with several cases. We size it on the luggage you tell us about rather than on the seat count.
Can several cars meet the same flight?
Yes, with one chauffeur coordinating, which is the calmest way to move a company group or a family arriving together at Schiphol.
How is the transfer paid?
Confirmed in writing before you travel and settled afterwards by card or bank transfer, with a proper invoice. No payment is taken in the car.
Your car is waiting
in Amsterdam
Send us your flight number or your address and the time you need. You get the exact amount and your driver's name before you confirm. For a full stay, see our private chauffeur in Amsterdam page.