A practical city guide
Amsterdam on a Budget
Everyone knows the best attractions in Amsterdam, but few people know how to truly save money! In this guide written by locals, find our best money saving tips.
What to know before you go
Here are some basic things to know. Unfortunately, we cannot help you with accommodation with this guide, as it depends so much on season and availability. Our best advice is to book early, and book off season!
Emergency number: 112 for police, ambulance or fire.
Non-emergency police: 0900-8844.
Best season for saving money: winter is generally much cheaper than spring and summer.
Bring a reusable water bottle: Amsterdam tap water is safe to drink, and there are public refill points around the city.
Bring a rain jacket: you will probably need it at some point.
Transport
Amsterdam is small enough that paying for transport every five minutes is usually unnecessary.
Walk within the old centre. Jordaan → Dam Square → Nine Streets → Museumplein distances are very manageable.
For a full day exploring, cycling lets your transport double as sightseeing. At Amsterbike, a city bike is currently €16.50 for 24 hours, €30 for 48 hours, €43.50 for 3 days, €51 for 4 days and €55.50 for 5 days. A lock is included. Children under 12 start at €12/day.
On buses, trams, metro and trains you can usually use OVpay: tap in with your contactless debit/credit card, phone or smartwatch, then tap out with exactly the same card/device. No OV-chipkaart needed for a normal visitor.
One person = one payment card/device. You cannot tap five people through with one bank card.
Download 9292 for planning journeys across different Dutch transport operators. Use the NS app when you specifically want train prices or train discounts.
The ferries behind Amsterdam Centraal are free for pedestrians and cyclists. Take one to Noord instead of treating every boat ride as a paid attraction.
Schiphol has its own train station underneath the airport. Unless you genuinely need a taxi, check the NS train first.
Transport deals
Amsterdam has enough transport tickets to make saving €3 unnecessarily complicated. A normal GVB 1-hour ticket is €3.40, while unlimited GVB travel costs €10 for 24h, €16 for 48h, €21.50 for 72h, €27.50 for 4 days, €34 for 5 days, €39 for 6 days and €43 for 7 days. If you are only making one or two trips, pay-as-you-go is usually simpler; if you are hopping on and off all day, start comparing the passes.
Travelling with friends? The GVB Group Day Ticket is €27 for up to five people for 24 hours. That works out at €9 each for three people, €6.75 for four and €5.40 for five, so it becomes particularly good value for groups of 3–5 people. Everyone has to travel together and the ticket is kept in one person’s GVB app.
Coming from Schiphol? The Amsterdam Travel Ticket is €20/€27/€34 for 1/2/3 days and combines airport travel with GVB. Going further out to places such as Zaanse Schans or Volendam? Compare the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket: €23/€34/€44 for 1/2/3 days.
Travelling with kids? Under 4s travel free. Ages 4–11 can get a €5 GVB child day ticket, while on NS trains a Railrunner costs €2.50 for the day. For ages 12–17, the old Jongeren Dagkaart is gone; NS now offers free NS Flex Dal Voordeel with 40% off off-peak travel or PrijsTijd Deals with youth discounts of up to 65% if you book suitable journeys ahead.
LOCAL TIP: The €27 group ticket is one of the deals tourists miss most often. If there are four or five of you using trams/metro all day, definitely do the maths before everyone buys an individual pass.
Differences between Amsterdam cards
This is where you can either save quite a lot of money or buy an expensive card you barely use. The Museumkaart costs €75 for adults and €39 up to age 18, lasts a year and covers 500+ museums across the Netherlands.
A useful rule of thumb: if you plan on visiting around 3–4 major paid museums, start calculating. Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh are both €25 for adults, for example, so just those two already total €50. The Museumkaart is valid at both Van Gogh and the Anne Frank House, although you still need to reserve a time slot; Anne Frank currently charges Museumkaart holders a €1 reservation fee.
There is one big family caveat: do not automatically buy a €39 youth Museumkaart. Many major museums are already free for children/teens — Rijksmuseum is free through age 18 and Van Gogh is free under 18 — so add up your child’s actual admissions first.
The I amsterdam City Card costs €67/€94/€115/€130/€140 for 24/48/72/96/120 hours and combines included museums and attractions with GVB transport, one canal cruise and 24h bike rental. It does not include Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum or NS trains.
LOCAL TIP: Museumkaart is usually better for a museum-heavy trip; the City Card makes more sense if you are actively cramming attractions + transport + a cruise into a short period. If you mostly want to wander around and visit two museums, buy normal tickets.
Supermarket tips
You can tell who has just arrived by how much money they are spending at AH To Go. Normal Albert Heijn supermarkets are better for a proper shop; get a free Bonuskaart so you actually receive the orange Bonus prices. AH To Go is convenient at stations, but normal Bonus promotions do not generally apply there.
Also check Dirk if there is one nearby: it focuses heavily on straightforward low prices and does not require a loyalty card for its normal promotions. Jumbo’s Jumbo Extra’s programme is free too. For a cheap day, supermarket breakfast + supermarket/market lunch + one restaurant dinner is much more realistic than eating out three times.
LOCAL TIP: Dutch supermarket promotions often assume you are buying multiples. Always check whether “2 voor €5” is actually useful when you only need one. Cheap food is not cheap if you throw half of it away.
Local secret for cheap groceries
The cheapest groceries are often the groceries shops would otherwise have to throw away. Albert Heijn’s Overblijvers currently offers a €4.95 Surprise box worth at least €14.95, a €4.95 vegetarian box worth at least €14.95, and a €2.95 bakery box worth at least €8.95.
Also download Too Good To Go for discounted surprise bags from bakeries, cafés, hotels, restaurants and supermarkets, and look for reduced stickers on products approaching their expiry date.
LOCAL TIP: Bakery boxes are ideal to pick up in the evening and use for breakfast the next morning. Suddenly your €3 rescue bag has covered breakfast for two people.
Dutch terms to know to find things for cheap
You do not need Dutch to survive Amsterdam, but it helps enormously when staring at a supermarket label wondering why everyone else is grabbing the same cheese.
aanbieding = offer · korting = discount · actie = promotion · 1+1 gratis = buy one get one free · 2e halve prijs = second one half price · afgeprijsd = reduced · huismerk = store brand · voordeelverpakking = value pack · dagdeal = daily deal · daghap = cheap daily meal · studentenkorting = student discount · tweedehands = second-hand · kringloopwinkel = thrift store · gratis = free.
And learn statiegeld: it means deposit. Eligible cans and small plastic bottles carry a €0.15 deposit, while large plastic bottles carry €0.25. Return them at supermarket machines instead of throwing money into the bin.
LOCAL TIP: Searching Google in Dutch can uncover things English tourism sites miss. Try phrases such as “gratis Amsterdam,” “daghap Amsterdam,” “studentenkorting Amsterdam” or “kringloop Amsterdam.”
Free places to sit
Your feet hurting does not mean you now owe a café €4.50. OBA Oosterdok, Amsterdam’s central library near Centraal, is free to enter, has seven floors, free Wi-Fi and free study/work spaces. There are also several OBAs around the city, just search "OBA" in your mapping application.
The NEMO rooftop is also completely free — you do not need a museum ticket — and is currently open Tuesday–Sunday from 10:00–17:30. Museumplein, Vondelpark, Westerpark and Oosterpark are also easy places to stop, picnic or regroup without buying anything.
LOCAL TIP: OBA Oosterdok is especially useful if it is raining, your phone needs some time on Wi-Fi, you have an awkward hour before a train, or everyone in your group simply needs to sit down.
Essential apps
You do not need fifteen “Amsterdam travel” apps. 9292 = all public transport; NS = trains, fares and train deals; GVB = Amsterdam transport/tickets; TicketSwap = resale concert, club and festival tickets; Social Deal = restaurant, spa and activity discounts; Too Good To Go = cheap surplus food; HogeNood = toilets; Buienradar = extremely necessary Dutch rain surveillance.
For things actually happening in the city, check Double A Magazine and I amsterdam Uitagenda rather than relying only on generic tourist lists.
LOCAL TIP: TicketSwap is especially useful on the day of an event when people realise they cannot go. Prices are not guaranteed to be cheaper, though, so always compare with the original ticket price.
Free activities
A surprising amount of the good Amsterdam is still free. Take the free ferry to Noord, explore NDSM, walk the Jordaan/canal belt/Nine Streets, use the free NEMO rooftop, picnic in Vondelpark, cycle or walk along the Amstel, browse Albert Cuypmarkt or Dappermarkt, or spend an afternoon exploring Oost or Westerpark.
Also check local calendars for gallery openings, neighbourhood festivals, markets, exhibitions and cultural events. The best free activity might be something temporary that was not even happening when this guide was written.
LOCAL TIP: Take the ferry to NDSM around late afternoon, walk around, then ferry back after dark. You get the ferry ride and waterfront views for exactly €0.
Avoid tiny expenses
The big costs are easy to notice. It is the repeated €2–€5 ones that quietly murder your budget. Refill your water bottle; return statiegeld cans; bring a shopping bag; download tickets/maps on Wi-Fi; ask your accommodation to hold luggage before paying for storage; check Social Deal before booking an activity; and walk a few streets away from Dam Square before choosing somewhere to eat.
You also do not need to tip like you are in the US. A tip for good service is appreciated, but 20–25% is not the Dutch standard. And when a card terminal asks whether to charge you in euros or convert the amount to your home currency, check your bank’s rates before accepting the conversion.
LOCAL TIP: Toilets are another stupid little expense here. Download HogeNood before you desperately need it; it shows nearby toilets, whether they are accessible, opening hours and whether they charge.
Enjoy yourself
The point of travelling cheaply is not to win some imaginary contest for lowest daily spend. It is to stop wasting money on things you do not care about so you can spend it on things you do.
If Van Gogh is your reason for coming, pay the €25. Have the nice dinner. Go to the concert. Then walk home, refill your water bottle and eat tomorrow’s €2.95 bakery rescue box.
For sightseeing, Amsterbike currently offers 24h bike rental €16.50 · self-guided walking tour €5 · self-guided bike tour €20.50 · bike + canal cruise €28.50 · 3h guided bike tour €36.50. A bike is especially good budget maths because it doubles as both transport and an activity.
LOCAL TIP: Pick one or two things to splurge on before your trip. It is much easier to avoid random tourist spending when you already know what you actually want to spend your money on.
Save on the boring stuff. Spend on the good stuff.
