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|---|
1) THE CONSEQUENCES
Amsterdam is not a very friendly
city for people who don't pay their "parking tax". Little
vans roam the streets ,with extremely motivated parking officers
onboard looking for cars that do not have a valid ticket displayed
in the windshield.
Extreme joy is displayed upon discovery of such
a vehicle, after which a big, yellow clamp is attached to one
of the wheels which will not come off until € 76,75
has been paid to one of the offices of the "Stadstoezicht".
Might the car be left on the spot for 24 hours with the clamp
still attached (i.e. the fine has not been paid), it will be towed
away, and € 190,= plus € 40 per 12 hours is happily added to the clampfee.
Needless to say that this is every visiting motorist's dream...
In the hotel we used to sell special parkingtickets
for one or three days until the parking office decided it was doing too well a job by delivering the cards to the hotels. The rules heve been changed, and now we have to collect them ourselves. Since we do not find the time to stand in line with everyone who has to pay a fine etc... we had to cancel this service. (Eventhough it is supposed to be a well arranged citycouncil business it took us, in the worst case so far, two weeks to obtain new parkingcards!) These cards allow you to park anywhere throughout the whole city,
eventhough outside the city centre the parking is about 50% cheaper. In case you have lots of spare time; they should still be available at the parking offices.
| PARKING RATES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Timespan | In the city centre | Outside the centre |
| Per hour from 9 AM/ 12 AM | ||
| Daytime ticket (9 AM-7 PM) | ||
| Evening ticket (7 PM-12 AM) | ||
| Whole day (9 AM/ 12 AM) | ||
| Per 3 days | ||
 |
|---|
by night. |
There is, like in any "civilised" city in 2003, always the risk of people trying to break into the car, or worse; trying to steal the car itself.
We always advise people to take everything out of the car;
clothes, bags, radios, blankets that might conceal parts of the interiour, empty cigaretteboxes, everything. The object is to show people that there is absolutely nothing left in the car that might be of interest to people with only one interest.
 |
|---|
parkingmeter by day. |
Finally, don't let these words put you off. Amsterdam is still not a criminal city. But if you do have the choice, leave the car at home. The city is too small for wheels.
