Taxi Mijdrecht to Schiphol

The first leg from Mijdrecht crosses the peat-meadow country on provincial roads. The driver takes the N201 towards Uithoorn and Aalsmeer, passes the flower-auction area and joins the A9 near Aalsmeer or Amstelveen, which leads via Badhoevedorp onto the A4 and the Schiphol exit.

Outside the busy hours you stand at the departure hall after roughly 29 minutes and 20 kilometres. The opening stretch on the N201 is the fragile link: partly single-carriageway, it can back up near Uithoorn and the auction between about seven and nine in the morning and again late in the afternoon.

Journey time then climbs towards three quarters of an hour. The driver weighs that N201 congestion into the pick-up time, so you check in with margin.

Twenty kilometres sounds short, but from Mijdrecht the ride starts on the N201, a provincial road that is partly single-carriageway. That first stretch towards Uithoorn and the flower auction largely decides how early you leave.

At night it flows: 29 minutes to the departures hall. For a European flight at 07:00, arriving at Schiphol by 05:00, that means a 04:15 pick-up. In the afternoon the N201 is busier. If you leave on a long-haul flight at 19:00, you must be at the airport by 16:00 and you'll spend 43 minutes on the road in the rush; the car then comes at 15:00. Those times contain 15 minutes of margin.

The busy hours on the N201 fall roughly between seven and nine in the morning and at the end of the afternoon, with queues near Uithoorn and the auction. Leaving from Vinkeveen, Wilnis or Amstelhoek, enter your own address; the driver comes to your home and takes the same feeder route to the A9.

From there it's via Badhoevedorp to the A4 and the Schiphol exit. The moment you leave changes nothing about what you pay. No night, weekend or rush-hour surcharge applies, and Comfort costs €60.

Pick-ups run throughout Mijdrecht and the surrounding villages of De Ronde Venen: Mijdrecht itself with districts such as Proostdijland and Hofland, plus Wilnis, Vinkeveen, Waverveen and Amstelhoek. Fill in the complete address and village at reservation and the driver draws up outside your home.

Mijdrecht has no railway station, and reaching Schiphol from the surrounding villages by public transport is equally awkward, so nearly every ride simply starts at the front door. Collection at a company on one of the local business estates, such as the industry along the Communicatieweg, can be agreed too.