Amsterdam public transport: tickets, passes and apps

The decision is days of use, not distance. Amsterdam's tram, bus and metro network is short-hop: most trips inside the canal ring are 10–25 minutes, and you rarely ride more than three or four times a day.

For one or two days, contactless is simplest. Tap a bank card, phone or smartwatch on the reader when you board and again when you leave; the system (OVpay) charges the normal hourly fare with no discount and no paperwork. It works on GVB trams, buses, metro and on NS trains, so one card covers the whole trip.

For three days or more, or if you plan to ride often, a GVB multi-day ticket is usually cheaper and removes the tap-out worry. It covers GVB tram, bus, metro and the free IJ ferries inside Amsterdam. It does not cover NS trains to Schiphol, Haarlem or Zaanse Schans — those need a separate train ticket or a tap of the same contactless card.

If you are based in Amsterdam but making day trips by train, look at the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket: it bundles GVB city transport with train and bus travel in the region around the city, including Schiphol, Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Haarlem. It is sold for 1–3 days and is the one ticket that covers both city and region.

Skip the Holland Travel Ticket unless you are crossing the country by train in a single day; for a city break it costs more than you will use.

Three ways work on almost everything: a contactless bank card, a phone or watch wallet, or a paper/plastic ticket bought in advance. Trams and buses no longer take cash, and drivers do not sell tickets on board in most cases.

Contactless is the default for visitors. Hold the card flat on the reader when you get on and again when you get off — the same card both times. If you forget to tap out, the system charges the maximum fare for that operator, which is several times the real cost. If you have a physical card and a phone wallet, keep them apart: tapping the wrong one on the way out breaks the journey.

Buy GVB tickets from the machines at Centraal station and other major stops, from the GVB service desk, or in the GVB app. The app also shows live departures and lets you buy a ticket before you reach the stop, which saves queueing. The Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket is sold at Schiphol, at Amsterdam Centraal and at some hotels and tourist offices.

On NS trains, tap in at the gate or pole before the platform and tap out at your destination. Intercity Direct services on the high-speed line to Rotterdam and Breda carry a small supplement on top of the fare; pay it at the supplement pole on the platform or in the NS app.

Amsterdam's city transport is one fare zone for visitors: a ride inside the ring costs the same whether it is two stops or twenty minutes. The old strippenkaart zone system is gone; fares are now time-based, so you pay per hour of travel rather than per zone.

That makes short hops cheap and long, broken journeys expensive. Two trams an hour apart are two fares. If you are sightseeing across the city all day, a day or multi-day ticket beats paying per hour after roughly three rides.

The region outside Amsterdam — Schiphol, Haarlem, Zaanse Schans, Volendam, Amstelveen — is a different fare area. GVB tickets stop at the city boundary; regional buses and NS trains charge by distance. The Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket is designed for exactly this gap, so it is the one to price first if your plans include a day outside the city.

Schiphol sits directly above its own railway station. Trains run to Amsterdam Centraal roughly every 5–10 minutes through the day, take about 15–20 minutes and cost €5–6 (2026 estimate). Buy at the yellow NS machines, tap a contactless card at the gates, or use the NS app. The same card must tap in and out.

For the city centre, get off at Amsterdam Centraal. For the museum quarter or the south, Amsterdam Zuid or Amsterdam RAI can be closer to your hotel — check which station is nearer before you board, as not every train stops at all three.

A taxi from Schiphol to the centre is a fixed fare of roughly €45–55 (2026 estimate) and takes 20–30 minutes outside rush hour. Uber and Bolt operate from the same pick-up area. The bus is slower and rarely worth it when the train is this frequent.

If you land late, note that night trains and night buses run, but less often; the first trains start around 05:30–06:00 and the last around 00:30–01:00 (check).

Tap out every time, with the same card. This is the single most common and most expensive mistake visitors make.

Do not buy a ticket from a driver on a GVB tram; there is no cash sale and the driver will send you to a machine or the app.

The free IJ ferries behind Centraal station are part of the network, run every few minutes and take bikes. They are the cheapest way to reach NDSM and the north bank.

Validate nothing on contactless — the tap itself is the check-in. Paper tickets bought at machines are already valid from the moment of purchase.

If you are staying outside the ring, price the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket before committing to a GVB-only pass; the regional add-on is often the difference.

Check the NS app for weekend engineering works. Trains to Schiphol and Rotterdam are sometimes rerouted, which adds 15–30 minutes.