WARNING

Pickpockets are active in crowded places: Schiphol Airport (including its railway station!), Amsterdam and Utrecht downtown and railway station, and also on the train travelling between Schiphol airport and Amsterdam and Utrecht Central Station. This can also occur in a tram or while watching a street artist. Mind your belongings carefully!!

Local weather

FOM Rijnhuizen is located in Nieuwegein which is close to the following weather station:

How to reach Rijnhuizen

On this webpage you find detailed information on the local weather, airports, trains, public transport, etc. For a small map and addresses: Click here.

Public transport: Trains

The nearest train station is in Utrecht, and the main station is called Utrecht Central Station (in Dutch: Utrecht Centraal).You cannot buy a ticket on the train. As of 1 october 2005 a fine of 35 euro is added to the fare if you do not have a valid ticket on boarding the train. We advise you to buy a ticket before boarding. For more information

• Time table Dutch Railways: www.ns.nl
• Train ticket information and vending machines
• Demo vending machine for tickets
• Time table German Railways: www.bahn.de

Public transport: Tram and bus (Utrecht/Nieuwegein area only)

• From the central station you can take the "sneltram" (light rail, see below) or the bus (line 74, 65, or 66).
• Tickets for bus and tram in the Netherlands can be acquired from the bus or tram driver. However, if possible the driver should be paid with exact change in view of the fact that he only has a limited amount of change available. Note that the price of these tickets are higher than the regular prices when you are using the electronic "OV-chipkaart" card.
• From 3 November 2011 the so-called "strippen-kaart" cannot be used in the Netherlands. Instead, there is the "OV-chipkaart". This chip card can be used for all busses, trams, subways and trains in the Netherlands.
• Time tables and general information: www.connexxion.nl (Dutch language only)
• A tram, or light rail, (in Dutch: Sneltram) is running between Utrecht Central Station and Nieuwegein (and IJsselstein). If you want to go to FOM Rijnhuizen you have to leave the tram at "Zuilenstein" tram station. From this tram station it is a 10-15 minutes walk to the institute.
• If you want to take the bus to the FOM institute the best way is to go by bus line 65/66 or 74 from Central Station Utrecht. Get off at bus stop Wattbaan (line 65/66 from Utrecht next stop after Gemeentehuis) and walk to the institute in 2 minutes, or at bus stop Rijnhuizerbrug (Blauwe brug) (line 74) and walk to the institute in 5-10 minutes.

Public transport: OV-Chipkaart

information OV-chipkaart in English. With the e-card "OV-chpkaart" you can use all public transport in the Netherlands: trains, busses, trams, subways. For the trains you can also buy tickets at the vending machines, or the ticket office (where you pay 0.50 eurocents per ticket service fee). For bus and tram you can buy a rather expensive ticket at the driver. On the other hand, the basic fee for a OV-chipkaart is 7.50 euro (excluding the costs of a journey!) so it depends on how often you are taking the bus or the tram...

Public transport: door to door (train, tram, bus)

You can plan your trip in the Netherlands on the public transport website www.9292ov.nl. It's only in Dutch, but probably not so difficult to use. Some words (Dutch = English): Adres = Address, Treinstation = train station, Straat = street, plaats = city, datum = date, tijd = time, vertrek = departure, aankomst = arrival, geef reisadvies = give travel info. For the institute: straat = edisonbaan, huisnr = 14, and Plaats = Nieuwegein. For Amsterdam airport you click on "treinstation" and then you choose as "station" Schiphol.

Amsterdam Airport / Schiphol Airport

The official name of Amsterdam Airport is Schiphol. Below Schiphol Plaza you can find the train station. Tickets can be purchased at the Ticket Desk in Schiphol Plaza. Take the train to "Utrecht Centraal" (Utrecht Central Station); with the direct train ("intercity") it takes 32 minutes. Single full fare: 7.30 euro (price May 2007). You cannot buy a ticket on the train. As of 1 october 2005 a fine of 35 euro is added to the fare if you do not have a valid ticket on boarding the train. We advise you to buy a ticket before boarding.

• Airport information: www.schiphol.nl
• Time table Dutch Railways: www.ns.nl
• Train ticket information and vending machines
• Demo vending machine for tickets

Bike rental

The FELIX facility has two bikes. They are available for 10 euro per bike per week. From the institute you can bike to i) the guesthouse in 2 minutes (FELIX guesthouse) or 10 minutes (FOM guesthouse), ii) downtown Nieuwegein in 5 minutes, and iii) downtown Utrecht in 25 minutes.

Web addresses

• FELIX: http://www.rijnhuizen.nl/felix 

Downloads

The logo's of the FOM and the FOM institute "Rijnhuizen" can be downloaded: Click with right mouse button on the logo, and save picture.