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I'm planning to go to Luxembourg via Amsterdam from Jakarta, Indonesia. I will use KLM, arrive in Amsterdam at 6am and depart to Luxembourg at 4.50pm. I have a valid Schengen Visa. my questions are:

  • Is it possible for me to have transit time outside Amsterdam Airport for sightseeing to the city?
  • Do I need to claim my baggage in Amsterdam or Luxembourg?
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    Yes, your visa allows you to leave the airport. Apart from that, you could have travelled from Schiphol Airport to Luxemburg by train for about 35 euros and it would have only taken 5 1/2 hours. – Lieuwe Oct 30 '19 at 13:04
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    @Lieuwe sometimes fares are cheaper when you fly to lesser traveled destinations. For example, OP's flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam could have cost more even for the exact same flight if they were to book to Amsterdam instead of the farther away Luxemburg. – Ayesh K Oct 30 '19 at 16:05
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    ...and you must fly the ENTIRE itinerary, or else they cancel the remainder of your trip in order to deter you from doing hidden-city ticketing... – Harper - Reinstate Monica Oct 30 '19 at 16:08
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Yes, it is possible for you to leave the airport in Amsterdam. You will clear Schengen immigration controls there, whereby your passport will be stamped. After that, there will be nothing preventing you from leaving the airport. Be sure to leave plenty of time to get back to the airport, pass through airport security, and find your gate. There will be no immigration checks for your flight from Amsterdam to Luxembourg, though you will need to show your passport as identification to prove that you are the passenger named on the boarding pass.

Normally, you will claim your baggage at your final destination. There could be exceptions because of unusual circumstances, however, so be sure to pay attention to what the airline agent tells you when you check your bag.

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    yeah. Consider half an hour to get from the airport to the city, half an hour to get back, and an hour both ways to clear immigration. And that's as an absolute minimum. – jwenting Oct 30 '19 at 5:22
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    Source on showing the passport for intra-Schengen flights? I do not recall having done that on HEL–FRA in September. – Jan Oct 30 '19 at 13:32
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    @Jan I fly VIE-HEL about every other month. The staff at the gate wants to see my passport (or any form of ID) about half of the time. – raznagul Oct 30 '19 at 13:41
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    @Jan Sometimes they skip it (they are not legally obligated to do it), but airlines tend to do it to discourage reselling of tickets. In two years of fairly frequent flying (CDG-VCE) I think I skipped it only once. – Denis Nardin Oct 30 '19 at 15:51
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    @Rich The customs declaration is made by walking through either the nothing to declare or the goods to declare aisle after collecting their luggage (and clearing immigration where necessary). Luggage tags of passengers whose journey originated in the EU have green stripes on the side while those from outside do not which provides a simple way for customs agents to tell whether someone is even eligible for random spot checks if they walk through the green aisle. (In reality, upwards of 95 % of passengers aren’t ever examined.) – Jan Oct 31 '19 at 4:18
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Yes, it's possible, if you have a Shengen Visa you can travel to any country in the Shengen zone (large part of Europe).

Amsterdam is my home town, so I want to supply some practical information here.

You can see a map of Schiphol here: https://www.schiphol.nl/nl/plattegronden and if you wish to see Amsterdam then your best option is to go by train. Train tickets can be baught online (prices are 1 € cheaper then in real life, go to: https://www.ns.nl/en). Alternatively, you can buy them at yellow machines which are in the lobby room of Schiphol.

Trains (without transit) from Schiphol to Amsterdam usually depart from track 1 or 2. In 15 minutes you'll arive at your destination.

Amsterdam Central is located at a favorable place. When leaving Amsterdam Central just walk straight on and you'll enter the centre of the city.

See a map of Amsterdam Central: https://www.ns.nl/stationsinformatie/asd/amsterdam-centraal/plattegrond https://www.nsinternational.nl/nl/stations/stationsplattegronden

If you want to return to Schiphol from Amsterdam Central, then go to track 11a or 14b. The 'a' means that the train is at the middle of the track, the 'b' means that the train is at left most or right most side (yes thats I know it's strange).

My advice: train delays may occur, so plan your sightseeing tour with train delays in mind, and don't miss your flight!

About the baggage. Usually, you can claim your baggage at your last stop (Luxembourg).

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    Schengen has a c, also when writing in English. And you are wrong on the letters of the tracks, a is to the left, b to the right, there is no indication for 'in the middle' but for long trains sometimes a and b are mentioned. – Willeke♦ Oct 31 '19 at 11:21
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    And saying that you can travel to any country in the Schengen zone is not really true, there are restrictions! – Willeke♦ Oct 31 '19 at 11:26
  • You forgot to mention that NS train tickets are valid the whole day (4 a.m - 4 a.m), so it’s safe to buy them in advance, even if your incoming flight would be delayed. – jornane Nov 1 '19 at 7:29

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