Is the I amsterdam City Card worth it? The sums for one to five days, and the two sights it leaves out

💡 The Short Version: The Total Experience card is €67 for 24 hours, €94 for 48, €115 for 72, €130 for 96 and €140 for 120, with public transport, one canal cruise and a bike rental. The Explorer card is €44 for 3 sights, €69 for 5 and €95 for 7 over five days, with no transport. Neither includes the Anne Frank House or the Van Gogh Museum, the two sights most visitors want. The Rijksmuseum is free but needs a booked slot, and the Heineken Experience is only 25% off. On the sums below, the Total Experience pays at €57 of sights in 24 hours, €78 in 48 and €93.50 in 72, counting transport at GVB’s own prices. The Explorer 3 beats paying separately for the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk and the A’DAM Lookout by €20. Or book a tour: the Van Gogh Museum and canal cruisead (from £37.15, GetYourGuide, 1 October 2026) covers the museum the card leaves out.

What the card includes

Prices and rules are from the I amsterdam City Card page and its FAQ, 1 October 2026. Prices below are in euros and in pounds at the ECB rate of 30 September 2026 (€1 = £0.855).

• Total Experience: entry to more than 70 museums and locations, all GVB metro, tram, bus and ferry services (the night bus too), one canal cruise and one 24-hour bike rental. Each location can be visited once. The hours run from activation, not by calendar day.
• Explorer: the number of sights you chose, from the same list, valid for five consecutive days or until the sights run out. It has no public transport and is digital only. A location that gives a 25% discount does not use up one of the visits.
• Children: the child cards, for ages 4 to 17, can only be bought with an adult card.
• How it starts: a digital card starts when you press “activate” in the I amsterdam City Card app, and a physical card on its first use at a sight or on public transport. An unactivated card stays valid for a year from purchase.
• The canal cruise: one cruise, between 10:00 and 18:00, with any participating operator, with no booking. The operators named are Blue Boat, Lovers, Amsterdam Circle Line Sightseeing, Stromma, Smidtje Canal Cruises, Amsterdam Boat Cruises and Mokum Open Boat Tours.
• Buying: online, or at the I amsterdam Store at the back of Amsterdam Centraal. GetYourGuide sells the same card: £57.23 for 24 hours on 1 October 2026, about €66.94 against the card’s €67.

What the card leaves out, and what needs a slot

• The Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum are in neither card. Together they cost €41.50 at the museums’ own prices (€16.50 and €25). The Anne Frank House tickets guide covers the Tuesday release, and the Van Gogh Museum tickets guide the timed slot. The Van Gogh Museum has been outside the card since 1 June 2022.
• The Rijksmuseum is free but still needs a start time, booked with the card’s voucher code through I amsterdam’s time-slot page. Most locations need no slot. See the Rijksmuseum tickets guide.
• The Heineken Experience is 25% off, not free. Book the slot on tickets.heinekenexperience.com/iamsterdam with the voucher code. The Tour is €24.95, so the card saves about €6.24. See the Heineken Experience tickets guide.
• The A’DAM Lookout is free, with no slot, but the combined tickets are not available with the card. See the A’DAM Lookout tickets guide.
• Special exhibitions: a location may charge a surcharge for one. I amsterdam says it will state any surcharge on its website and in the app, and will not refund it.
• Trains and airport buses. The card covers only GVB services. NS trains, including Schiphol to Centraal, and Connexxion and other regional buses are not included. That takes in the day trips: Teylers Museum in Haarlem is free with the card, but the NS train there is not, and the Haarlem day trip guide has the fare. Day trips from Amsterdam compares the others.
• Each location once, and the card is personal: once activated it cannot be passed on.

The sums

Sights at the operators’ adult prices on 1 October 2026: the Rijksmuseum €25, the Stedelijk Museum €22.50, the Moco Museum from €19.95, the A’DAM Lookout €16.50 online, and the official Canal Cruise Ticket €17. Without a card, transport is counted at GVB’s own prices (gvb.nl; Amsterdam public transport covers how to pay): €10.00 for a day, €16.00 for two days, €21.50 for three. The sums count only the sights priced here: add the entry price of anything else on your list that the card covers, such as ARTIS, NEMO or the Rembrandt House.

The Total Experience breaks even once the sights it covers cost €57 in 24 hours, €78 in 48, €93.50 in 72, €102.50 in 96 and €106 in 120, with transport counted as above. A longer card costs less a day: €67, €47, €38.33, €32.50 and €28. The Explorer pays whenever your three sights average more than €14.67 each, or five average more than €13.80. With no transport in it, it suits a reader who walks or cycles, or who buys a GVB ticket separately.

Who it does not suit

• Anyone whose list is the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum. The card gives nothing towards either, and a visit to both costs €41.50.
• Families with children under 18. Children under 18 enter the Rijksmuseum free, and the Van Gogh Museum is free to them as well, so the child cards buy mainly transport and little else.
• A visit built round one museum. The Rijksmuseum alone costs €25, less than any card.
• Readers flying into Schiphol. The train to Centraal is not in the card; Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal has the fares.

When it is worth it

• Buy the Total Experience for 48 hours or more if the sights you will pay for add up to the break-even figure above, and you will ride trams most of each day. A 24 hours that holds the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk, the Lookout and a cruise clears it.
• Buy the Explorer for three or more paid sights spread over several days if you walk or cycle: on the sums above it saves €20 or more on three.
• Skip it for one or two paid sights, for a plan built on the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum, or for a stay that is mostly canals, cafés and cycling.
• Book the slots first. The Rijksmuseum and the Heineken Experience need one, and the card does not skip the booking. 3 days in Amsterdam and Amsterdam in one day list the sights and slots for a stay to run the sums against.

For the sights the card does not cover, and the rest of the city’s bookings, see what to book before you go in Amsterdam. For a cruise worth taking on the card’s free ticket, see Amsterdam canal cruises.