Amsterdam: what to book before you go, and how far ahead

💡 The Short Version: Book the Anne Frank House first, on annefrank.org only: tickets for a visit six weeks ahead are released every Tuesday at 10:00 Dutch time, with no resellers and no door sales. The Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum are €25 each; everyone books a start time, and the Van Gogh Museum has no door sales. The I amsterdam City Card leaves out both the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum. Keukenhof is open 18 March to 9 May 2027 and its tickets go on sale on 15 October 2026. Amsterdam charges 12.5% tourist tax on top of 21% hotel VAT. Or book a tour: the Keukenhof shuttle with entryad (from £29.90) and the Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Marken tourad (from £25.19) put the transport in one booking (GetYourGuide, 1 October 2026).

What to book before you go

Prices are the adult rate, from each operator’s own page on 1 October 2026. Buy from the operator: look-alike ticket sites turn up in search results.

• The Anne Frank release. The museum says all tickets become available on Tuesday at 10:00 for a visit six weeks later, and that there is no waiting list. The tickets are not transferable or refundable. GetYourGuide’s “Anne Frank” listings are walking tours of the area: the museum says commercial tours do not provide access to the house.
• The Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum. GetYourGuide lists both entry tickets at £23.06 (about €27), around €2 over the official €25, so buy from the museum unless you want a bundle with a cruise.
• Keukenhof. The 2027 combiticket, which adds the bus, has no price yet; the park lists it as to be announced. The Keukenhof from Amsterdam guide compares the train and bus with the coach shuttle.

What the I amsterdam City Card leaves out

The Total Experience card (€67, €94, €115, €130 and €140 for 1 to 5 days; is the City Card worth it? has the sums) covers public transport, one canal cruise and entry to more than 70 sights. The Explorer card (3, 5 or 7 attractions for €44, €69 or €95, valid for five days) has no public transport (I amsterdam, 1 October 2026).

• No Anne Frank House. The museum’s own price list gives City Card holders no discount, and the ticket is still a timed slot bought on annefrank.org.
• No Van Gogh Museum. The museum says it has not been part of the card since 1 June 2022.
• The Rijksmuseum and Heineken Experience still need a booked slot. The card makes the Rijksmuseum free, but you choose a start time like everyone else.
• A’DAM Lookout is free with the card without a slot.

Opening times that change

• Anne Frank House: open daily 9:00 to 22:00. It closes at 17:00 on 27 April (King’s Day, a Tuesday in 2027), 4 May, 25 December and 31 December, and opens at 12:00 on 1 January (annefrank.org).
• Rijksmuseum: open every day of the year, 9:00 to 17:00, public holidays included.
• Van Gogh Museum: open daily. In December 2026 it closes at 17:00 on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December, and it stays open to 21:00 on Fridays through October, November and early December.
• Heineken Experience: open every day, to 19:30 Sunday to Thursday and 21:00 on Friday and Saturday.
• Strikes: a 24-hour public transport strike stopped NS trains, Connexxion and EBS buses and the GVB ferries on 9 September 2026 (Rodi). Check NS and GVB the day before a long trip.

Amsterdam tourist tax

Hotels and other accommodation charge 12.5% of the room price before VAT, with no cap per night or per stay (Gemeente Amsterdam). Hotel VAT rose from 9% to 21% on 1 January 2026 (Belastingdienst), so tax adds 33.5% to the net rate. The coalition agreement that Amsterdam’s new administration presented in June 2026 plans 16% from 2027, rising a point a year to 20% (Coalitieakkoord Amsterdam 2026-2030). Check whether the price you booked includes it.

Getting in from Schiphol

Fares are the operators’ own, read on 1 October 2026.

• Train: Schiphol station is under the terminal. Trains to Amsterdam Centraal run eight an hour and take about 17 minutes; a single is about €5.50 (I amsterdam). Check in and out with a contactless card or phone.
• Bus 397, the Amsterdam Airport Express: €6.50 single, €11.75 return, every 10 minutes, direct to Museumplein, the Rijksmuseum and Leidseplein. Pay the driver by card (no cash) or check in and out with a contactless card. A night bus, N97, runs once an hour (Connexxion). Schiphol’s bus station is being renovated, so follow the signs to the stop.
• Taxi: metered, typically €35 to €55 to the centre (I amsterdam).

Getting around

Public transport takes a contactless bank card or phone: check in and out with the same card each time. GVB Max never charges more than €10.50 a day on one card (GVB). The GVB day ticket is €10.00 for 24 hours. GVB changed its tram map on 29 March 2026, so check the planner for a line number rather than trusting an older guide.

No tram runs to the Anne Frank House until February 2028. The Westermarkt stop is out of use from 15 February 2025; trams run to Dam Square, 10 minutes’ walk away, and the museum is 20 minutes on foot from Centraal (annefrank.org). The entrance is at Westermarkt 20, not on Prinsengracht.

Day trips

Most Amsterdam day trips are NS train rides that need no booking. Day trips from Amsterdam compares them on fare and what a tour costs. The ones with something to book:

• Keukenhof has a timed ticket and a short season: 18 March to 9 May 2027. Tulip season says when the bulb fields and the park flower.
• Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Marken: the village is free, the mills charge, and a tourist entry fee has been delayed, not scrapped.
• Giethoorn is two hours each way, and a coach tour costs about what the train does.

The trains with nothing to book are Haarlem (€5.50 each way), Delft and The Hague and Rotterdam.

Where to eat

Where to eat in Amsterdam ranks the Dutch classics, rijsttafel and Surinamese roti, Foodhallen and the special-dinner restaurants by how many independent sources, in Dutch and English, name each place. It gives the closed days and which tables to book ahead: De Kas and Choux book up a month or more ahead, Pannenkoekenhuis Upstairs takes phone bookings only, and Vleminckx and Foodhallen take walk-ins.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

• 15 February 2025 to February 2028: no tram to Westermarkt, the stop for the Anne Frank House.
• 2024 to 2025: the Rijksmuseum’s adult ticket went from €22.50 (August 2024) to €25, and the Van Gogh Museum’s from €22 to €24 (January 2025); it is now €25.
• 1 January 2026: hotel VAT rose from 9% to 21%, and NS train fares rose by 6.52% on average (NS).
• 7 January 2026: Zaanstad council delayed a tourist entry fee for the Zaanse Schans by about a year. It is free to enter in 2026.
• 29 March 2026: GVB changed its tram map: tram 3 was dropped and tram 24 no longer runs along Vijzelstraat and Ferdinand Bolstraat (NH Nieuws).
• June 2026: the city’s new coalition agreement plans a 16% tourist tax from 2027 and the closure of the cruise terminal (Coalitieakkoord Amsterdam 2026-2030).
• 1 August 2026: the national ban on consumer fireworks came into force, so New Year 2026 to 2027 is the first under it (Rijksoverheid).
• 15 October 2026: Keukenhof’s 2027 tickets go on sale.

Plan the trip

• Where to sleep: where to stay in Amsterdam compares the areas, hotels near the Rijksmuseum lists the hotels by Museumplein, and Amsterdam hotels in canal houses says which have a lift.
• Getting there and about: Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal compares the train, bus 397 and the taxi, Amsterdam public transport has the GVB fares and OVpay, and the cruise terminal to the city centre covers a ship’s day in port.
• When to go: best time to visit Amsterdam gives the weather by month, and King’s Day, Amsterdam Pride, Christmas and the Light Festival and New Year in Amsterdam have the dates, closures and rules.
• What to eat: Amsterdam food tours and classes compared sets the walks, stroopwafel workshops and food cruises side by side.
• How many days: 3 days in Amsterdam and Amsterdam in one day build the plan round the bookings.