Amsterdam vs Rome, for crew.
The two guides side by side, the three that cost money or liberty first. Each line is the guide's own sourced answer and opens the section it came from.
The same eight questions
Cannabis is not legal, it is tolerated under conditions, and central Amsterdam's street rules are a separate layer again.
Cannabis is not legal in the Netherlands. The government's position is that possessing, selling or producing drugs is against the law, and that the Public Prosecution Service does not prosecute for possession of small quantities of soft drugs for personal use. The tolerated ceiling is no more than 5 grams. The tolerance is a prosecution policy, not a permission.
Amsterdam in full →Rome enforces its urban decorum rules with reduced-rate fines and a 48 hour exclusion order, and the buyer of a fake is the one who pays.
Under Rome's Regolamento di Polizia Urbana it is an offence to bathe in the listed historic fountains or to misuse them by throwing objects in, pouring liquids or substances in, putting animals in, damaging them, or climbing, clambering or lying on them. The listed fountains include the Trevi, the Barcaccia at the foot of the Spanish Steps, the fountain of the lions in Piazza del Popolo and the Gianicolo fountain. Reduced fines run from 160 to 450 euro depending on how serious the breach is. The tradition of throwing coins into some historic fountains, the Trevi among them, is expressly preserved.
Rome in full →Station directly beneath the terminal, seventeen minutes to Centraal, eight trains an hour.
The railway station sits directly beneath the terminal. I amsterdam gives the run to Amsterdam Centraal as 17 minutes, with trains eight times an hour between Schiphol and Centraal, calling at Sloterdijk, Lelylaan and Hoofddorp.
Amsterdam in full →The Leonardo Express runs non-stop from the airport's own station to Roma Termini in 32 minutes for 14 euro.
The Leonardo Express is non-stop between Fiumicino and Roma Termini: 32 minutes, 14 euro single, a departure every 15 minutes. Aeroporti di Roma publishes departures from Termini between 04:50 and 23:05, and from Fiumicino between 05:38 and 23:27. Trenitalia sells four tickets in a single transaction for 40 euro instead of 56.
Rome in full →Licensed taxis carry blue number plates; the apps use a separate marked pick-up point at Schiphol.
Official taxis are identified by a blue licence plate and an official sign on the roof. I amsterdam's advice is to take only taxis with a blue plate.
Amsterdam in full →Licensed white taxis carry a fixed 55 euro airport fare into the centre; app cars are pre-booked private hire, never a street hail.
Licensed taxis are white, carry TAXI on the roof and a municipal symbol on the front doors, and show the licence number on the door panels, the rear and inside. The rank is on the arrivals level of Terminals 1 and 3, with taxis also at the railway station.
Rome in full →An EU or EEA SIM works at home rates; a Gulf, UK or US SIM does not.
A SIM from an EU or EEA operator roams in the Netherlands at domestic rates. Calls, texts and data are billed as they are at home.
Amsterdam in full →An Italian prepaid SIM means clearing an identity check built for residents, and a non-EU line roams in Italy with no EU price cap behind it.
TIM's own online activation route asks for a codice fiscale, the first five digits of the new SIM's ICCID, and identification either by SPID credentials or by video with photographs of an identity document and an Italian health card. A short-stay visitor has none of those.
Rome in full →Mild, grey and wet in small doses rather than downpours. Take a jacket in every month.
KNMI's 1991 to 2020 normals for the Schiphol station put the annual mean at 10.7C, with a mean daily maximum of 14.3C.
Amsterdam in full →The summer risk in Rome is not the peak temperature, it is several hot days in a row, and the state runs a formal alert for exactly that.
The Ministry of Health's national heat forecasting and warning system issues bulletins for 27 cities, grading each one daily on four levels from 0 to 3, with 24, 48 and 72 hour forecasts. Roma Capitale gives the alert season as June to September; the Dipartimento della Protezione Civile's own page describes the bulletins as running from May to September.
Rome in full →Dinner is early, kitchens shut around ten, and the card comes out rather than cash.
The Dutch eat early. Most people sit down at around 18:30, most restaurants are full from that point, and kitchens often close around 22:00. Arriving at nine on a late report narrows your options sharply.
Amsterdam in full →In Lazio the cover charge is illegal, a service charge is legal only if it was on the price list before you ordered, and refusing your card is a breach.
Lazio regional law 21/2006, article 16, bans the coperto. Where food and drink are served at table the price table or list must be put at the customer's disposal before ordering and must state any service element clearly enough for the price to be easily understood, and charging extra for the cover is forbidden. Breaching article 16 carries an administrative fine of 2,500 to 7,500 euro on the business.
Rome in full →Crew allowances into the Netherlands are lower than a passenger's, and the VAT refund is now a digital process.
Dutch Customs sets a separate, smaller allowance for crew working international traffic including non-EU countries: 40 cigarettes, or 50 grams of smoking tobacco, or 20 cigarillos, or 10 cigars, or a proportional assortment, for your own use, from age 17. Walk off with a passenger-sized carton and you are over it.
Amsterdam in full →Non-EU residents can reclaim VAT on invoices over 70 euro, but the digital exit visa has to be applied by customs before the goods leave the EU.
The refund is open to travellers resident outside the EU where the value of the goods on each invoice is above 70 euro, and the goods must leave EU territory within the third month following the date the invoice was issued.
Rome in full →Not mandatory, 10% for good service, and nothing is added for you.
Tipping is not mandatory in the Netherlands. Nobody chases you for it and nobody is embarrassed by its absence.
Amsterdam in full →Not compulsory, with no fixed rules, but leaving close to 10% is customary when you are happy with the service.
Italy's official tourism portal says tipping in Italy is not compulsory and there are no established rules.
Rome in full →