A7 route from Amsterdam to Italy...

[BrianHutchings]

I am interested in hearing from anyone who has arrived in Amsterdam and then driven their Seven southwards please.

I am considering this port as an arrival point for an upcoming tour in the Austin and would appreciate some first hand knowledge of the smaller roads around this area - I have been told that it is a busy place and I do not want to end up on dual carriageways and motorways.

Hello Ruairidh, off on one of your marathon trips again!
By Amsterdam I assume that you mean Ijmuiden which is the port for Amsterdam. It might be better to get off at Ijmuiden and avoid Amsterdam, which is always busy, especially with cyclists who, in Holland generally have right of way.
I've only been as far south as Zeeland so cannot help further than that but  one thing I learnt was that non motorway and local traffic can use the service roads that are normally on both sides of motorways and major roads. There is often very little traffic on these but there is also a lack of direction signs so SATNAV is a good idea as is a reasonable map such as the ones produced by the Dutch version of our AA known as ANWB. They do an excellent book covering the whole of the Netherlands at a scale of 1:150.
All the best with your trip.
Regards
Brian Hutchings