STAF 2019

July 15 - 19, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Local information Eindhoven

Eindhoven Airport

Eindhoven has a small international airport, Eindhoven Airport, with direct connections to more than thirty destinations in Europe, including Budapest, Dublin, London, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Stockholm, and Warsaw, via such low cost carriers as RyanAir and Wizz Air. A complete list of connections can be found on the airport website here.

Eindhoven airport is about a 15 minute drive from the city centre. You can make this trip by bus (buses 400 and 401) or by taxi. Bus tickets can be bought from a ticket machine at the stop. Detailed information can be found here.

Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol)

The main airport of the Netherlands is the Amsterdam Airport, Schiphol. Schiphol offers direct connections (without transfer) between the Netherlands and 326 destinations in 98 countries. Schiphol’s train station is directly below the airport. The journey takes about 1.5 hours, with trains running up to four times an hour. The Eindhoven central station is within walking distance of the conference venue and of many hotels. Taxis can be found at both exits of the station.

Düsseldorf and Brussels Airports

As alternatives to direct flights to Eindhoven or Schiphol, Düsseldorf and Brussels airports are good options. As the crow flies, they are slightly closer to Eindhoven than Schiphol airport is. However, getting to Eindhoven from either Düsseldorf or Brussels airport by train will take slightly more than 2 hours, with 1-2 transfers, once per hour. The Eindhoven central station is within walking distance of the conference venue and of many hotels. Taxis can be found at both exits of the station.

Please note: public transport tickets

Since 2012, all public transport companies in the Netherlands require travelers to use a special transportation card, the OV chipkaart. Because of this, it is not possible to buy any ticket for either the bus, train, metro, or tram directly from the driver or conductor. There are several options when traveling:

  • If you fly to Eindhoven Airport, and you plan to travel only by bus exactly twice between Eindhoven central station and Eindhoven Airport, bus tickets are available from the ticket machines (see above).
  • If you fly to Schiphol, you can either buy the tickets in advance (from, for instance, the b-europe website), or you can buy some version of the OV chipkaart at one of the yellow ticket machines at Schiphol (see below).

Different types of OV chipkaart

There are three different types of OV chipkaart. Each of them are available from the yellow ticket machines at every train station in the Netherlands:

  1. If you plan to travel only a few times by either train, bus, tram or metro, the single use card may be a good option. The cost of a card is the full rate for the specific trip you are planning, plus 1 euro supplement.
  2. If you plan to use public transportation more frequently (for instance, the bus to travel in Eindhoven, or additional traveling to do sight seeing), it is advisable to buy an anonymous ov chipkaart at one of the yellow ticket machines. Such a card costs 7.50 euro, and you can top up the balance of the card at any time for traveling.
  3. A personal ov chipkaart can be ordered online if you live in either the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium or Luxembourg. It is comparable to an anonymous card, but also offers a number of additional advantages. More information on that can be found here.

More information on the ov chipkaart and how to buy and use it can be found on the website of NS (the Dutch Railway company) and the OV chipkaart website.

Train schedules can be found on the NS website.