ground transporation

Floating bus tours now operating at Schiphol Airport

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In July, StuckatTheAirport.com and many other outlets shared news of the Floating Dutchman tours being offered at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

Well, we all jumped the gun. The service was supposed to kick off in July, but was delayed for about a month waiting for paperwork to fall into place for marine and road licenses.

Now everything seems to be in order and this week the first paying customers were able to climb on board.

Here’s my Floating Dutchman story from msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin:

If you’ve got a long layover between flights, your choices at most airports are to eat, drink, shop or attempt to nap while sitting up − and without drooling.

But passengers with at least five hours to wait at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport now have a new, entertaining and amphibious option.

On Wednesday, after a month-long delay, the Floating Dutchman welcomed aboard its first paying customers. The service is a cross between a bus and a boat and drives tourists from the airport to the city, enters the water at a specially-built ‘Splash Zone’ to give passengers a floating canal tour and then returns, via the highway, to the airport.

Speaking to Overhead Bin during the canal tour portion of the tour on Thursday, Annette Fatael of Toronto, Canada, said: “We have a nine-hour layover on our way from Toronto to Tel Aviv and chose this from several tours offered at the airport. It’s a huge tour bus and it was hard to believe that it was going to go into the water.”

Floating Dutchman Amsterdam

The amphibious bus carries 48 passengers, cruises the canals on battery power and is a partnership between the airport, the city of Amsterdam and a local cruise company.

The swimming boat concept is much like the Duck Tours offered in many U.S. cities. “But our floating is different because it is a luxury touring car and a fully equipped boat,” said Freek Vermeulen, managing director of Great Amsterdam Excursions. “We have a license plate and a marine certificate, so we can go everywhere. Duck Tours often use old army vehicles, are very noisy and only have permission to operate on a certain route.”

Tours last two hours and 45 minutes and are offered three times a day. Tickets cost about $56 (39 Euros) for adults and about $28 (19.50 Euros) for children. Booking online offers a 10 percent discount.

“It may prove to be one of the best ways to explore Amsterdam during a connection,” Cristian Petre of Romania wrote in the Flying Dutchman guestbook after the first day of tours on Wednesday. “We’ve now got an idea what the city is about and would return for more exploring,” noted the Kireta family of Australia.

It’s not as if Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is such a terrible place to spend a long layover. To serve the 40 percent of passengers making connections through Schiphol, the airport offers amenities that include a casino, in-terminal hotels, a library, more than 100 shops and restaurants and an outdoor observation deck. There’s also a park (with trees) inside the terminal and a branch of the Rijksmuseum.

A few other airports, including Incheon in Seoul, South Korea, and Hong Kong International Airport also offer transit passengers organized city tours. Singapore’s Changi Airport offers complimentary tours of the city. Turkish Airlines passengers stopping over at Istanbul Airport also receive free tours.

At the airport, sometimes the truth IS stranger than fiction

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Maybe it’s the heat. Or the humidity. Whatever it is, there are some wacky travel stories floating around out there today.

A naked swimmer was nabbed near JFK airport, a mom was briefly jailed in Tennessee for yelling at TSA staff at Nashville Airport and refusing to let her child go through the scanner or get a pat-down and, my favorite, the FBI was called in to meet a Southwest Airlines flight arriving at Salt Lake City Airport and arrest a passenger who got unruly when told repeatedly that he could not “smoke” his electronic cigarette.

And then there’s the threat of this weekend’s “car-maggedon” in Los Angeles.
Gridlock – and worse – is predicted due to the scheduled 53-hour closure of a chunk of Interstate 405.

The highway shutdown will certainly disrupt traveler to and from Los Angeles International Airport and, on its website, the airport has a 405 Freeway Alert page offering tips and advice. In addition to suggesting that travelers take the Flyaway bus to the airport or get a hotel nearby, the advisory lists four different helicopter companies that will provide special weekend service to and from the airport.

Unfortunately, one alternate transportation option offered by JetBlue is already sold out.

The airline was offering $4 flights (each way) between Burbank and Long Beach Airports.

See – sometimes the truth IS stranger than fiction.

Schiphol Airport’s floating bus tour

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Where I live, it’s called Ride the Ducks and, corny as is it when a bus/boat of quacking tourists drives by – which is fairly often now that summer season is in high gear – this does seem like a really fun and unusual way to check out a town.

In Seattle, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Branson, MO and the other U.S. cities where these amphibious adventures are offered, the tours start in town.

But for anyone who might find themselves stuck at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport there’s now a Dutch version of the ducks designed specifically for people like you.

Powered by 198 batteries, the carbon-neutral Floating Dutchman bus boat picks up its passengers right at Schiphol Plaza, drives into town and then drives into the water for a tour through the city’s canals. When the tour is over, the bus emerges from the water and drives back to the airport.

The time in the water is about 45 minutes, but the entire tour will take about 2 hours and 45 minutes. So if you’re thinking of doing this on a layover tour operators suggest you choose this as an option only if you’ve got at least four hours to spare.

Sound like fun? Here’s more information about Schiphol’s Floating Dutchman.

(Tip: Book online and you’ll get a 10% discount)

And if you don’t have quite enough time to take the tour, there’s plenty to keep you entertained at Schiphol.

The airport recently opened a lovely indoor/outdoor park and not too long ago, the airport opened a library.

Love the layover: cycling in London

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Fat Tire Bike Tour London

Although I’m experienced getting around London on foot and on the Tube, yesterday was the first time since high school that I traveled around the city by bicycle.

I still have a hard time with the “Look Left” part of crossing the street here. So I was glad to follow a guide during a Fat Tire Bike Tour through the city. Especially when I was issued a baby blue bike named Luscious for my journey.

Fat Tire bike Tour London

All went well and, even though it was blustery and rainy, we encountered plenty of other city cyclists along the way.  A lot of those folks were using one of the 6,000 public bikes stationed around the city as part of the bike-sharing program London launched this past July.

London bike-sharing station

Dave Phillips, our Austin, Texas-born guide for the Fat Tire Bike Tour, is a big fan of this city-sponsored bike-sharing program. From his street-eye view, he says the program seems to be working out just fine. Especially since anyone with an annual membership gets to use the bikes for free if the check-out time is less than a half hour.

Brilliant!

Dance at O’Hare, sip with Southwest, try the train in Miami

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Dance at O’Hare

It’s Unity Month in Chicago and to celebrate, both O’Hare and Midway International Airports are treating travelers to live entertainment on Friday afternoons.

O'Hare Unity Month Chicago Samba

Chicago Samba

From 2 to 5 pm this Friday, September 17th, there will be dance and music groups performing on the secure side of the domestic terminals and on the lower level at the international terminal at O’Hare, and on the secure side at Midway. Friday’s line-up includes five different groups: M.A.D.D. Rhythms, Big City Swing, Chicago Samba, Big Slim Steppin’ Network and Cu’Roi.

The entertainment stages at O’Hare are in Terminal 1, B Concourse across from Duty Free; Terminal 2, across from CIBO Market; Terminal 3 near Concourse L and in Terminal 5, on the Lower Level across from the Information Booth. At Midway, the stage is near the Battle of Midway exhibit in Concourse A.

Sip with Southwest

The Southwest Porch at Skyline Park in Denver

Southwest Porch at Skyline Park - Denver

In Denver, Southwest Airlines opened The Southwest Porch at Skyline Park. Much like the ‘porch’ Southwest opened in Bryant Park in New York City in June 2009, this outdoor venue has comfortable seating as well as a restaurant and bar serving pizzas and drinks. You can read more about it on the Nuts About Southwest blog.

Try the train in Miami

And this week Miami International Airport (MIA) opened the mile-long Concourse D skytrain. The four-car, four-station train runs along the roof of the mile-long concourse, making the trip from one end to the other in about five minutes.

Miami Airport skytrain

MIA skytrain