Ferries from Amsterdam, NDSM-werf

NDSM was Amsterdam's biggest shipyard until it closed in 1984. The ferry that once carried its workers now carries people going to a street-art museum in the paint hall and a monthly flea market in the shed — 361 active sailings, and still free.

The two routes

• Centraal Station — 13 minutes, 101 sailings. The long way round the IJ, and the one most visitors use.
• Pontsteiger — 5 minutes, 79 sailings. Straight across to the west side, and much quicker if that is where you are going.

Both are run by GVB and both are free — no ticket, no gate, no travel card needed.

⚠ The Centraal ferry stops at night

Unlike the Buiksloterweg crossing, which runs 24 hours, the NDSM ferry does not. Getting stranded on the north bank after a late event at one of the NDSM venues is a common and entirely avoidable mistake.

Check the last sailing when you arrive, not when you want to leave. The night bus exists but the route round is long.

What is there

The STRAAT museum of street art occupies the former shipbuilding hall. The IJ-Hallen flea market — one of Europe's largest — fills the sheds monthly. Around them are studios, a hotel in a crane, restaurants and a good deal of unreconstructed industrial concrete.

It is deliberately not tidy, and it is the most interesting thing the free ferries reach.

Which crossing to take

From the station, take the direct thirteen-minute boat and treat the ride as part of the trip — it passes the working docks and gives the best view of the IJ anywhere. From the west of the city, Pontsteiger saves you twenty minutes.

Timing

Frequent through the day, thinner in the evening, nothing overnight. Market weekends put queues on the Centraal pier that the four-minute Buiksloterweg boat never sees.