Amsterdam GVB Zone Map: Tickets & Coverage

How the GVB network is laid out

Read the GVB map as a hub-and-spoke system centred on Amsterdam Centraal. Trams fan out from the station through the canal ring to the major neighbourhoods, the metro handles longer north–south and east–west hops, buses fill the gaps the rails miss, and free ferries shuttle across the IJ to Amsterdam-Noord. Because the whole map is a single fare zone, you never calculate a zone-to-zone price inside the city — one valid GVB ticket is good on every blue-and-white GVB line shown. The red regional buses you see at Centraal belong to other operators and are not part of this map.

• Trams — the densest network; best for the canal belt, museums, Leidseplein and the centre
• Metro (lines 50/51/52/53/54) — fastest for longer crossings, including Noord, Zuid and Bijlmer ArenA
• Buses — reach pockets the rails miss, plus night routes after the trams stop
• Ferries — free behind Centraal across the IJ to Buiksloterweg, NDSM and IJplein; no ticket, bikes allowed

What a GVB ticket actually covers

A GVB ticket gives you unlimited tram, bus, metro and (already-free) ferry travel everywhere GVB operates, for a fixed run of hours from your first tap-in. Tickets scale from 1 day (€10) to 7 days (€43, about €6.15 a day), so you pick the length that matches your stay rather than buying single rides. Validity is measured in continuous hours, not calendar days — a 48-hour ticket first tapped at 3pm runs until 3pm two days later — which usually beats a calendar-day pass. Children aged 4–11 pay €5 for a one-day ticket, under-4s ride free, and night buses are included; a standalone single one-hour ticket is €3.40 and the night-bus single is €5.70.

Crucially, a GVB ticket is a city ticket. It stops at the boundary of the GVB network, so it does not cover the train or bus 397 to Schiphol, NS trains, or regional Connexxion/EBS buses to Haarlem, Volendam or the Zaanse Schans. Tap on and off with the same card or QR ticket on every tram, bus and metro ride, including transfers — a single beep means tapped in, a double beep means tapped out. Note that the older 1.5-hour BTM ticket has been discontinued for 2026.

OVpay: paying contactless instead of a day ticket

If you ride only occasionally, you can skip paper tickets and tap a contactless bank card or phone — this is OVpay, the pay-as-you-go system that replaced the old anonymous OV-chipkaart. A small per-ride charge applies, and the GVB Max cap means a single card never totals more than €10.50 of GVB travel in a day, so on a busy day it can quietly match the day-ticket price. Just remember to tap in and out, and that one card is one traveller. We break down the exact OVpay fares, the day-ticket comparison and how to avoid penalty fares in the full tickets & fares guide.

Reaching Schiphol Airport (where the GVB map ends)

No GVB ticket reaches the airport. The fastest link is the NS train from directly under Schiphol Plaza to Amsterdam Centraal — about 17–20 minutes, up to eight an hour. The Airport Express bus 397 serves the Museumplein and Leidseplein side of town, and official taxis run roughly €35–55. For times, fares and exactly where to board, see the train from Schiphol and the full Schiphol Airport guide.

Travel tickets that cross the boundary

If your plans reach the airport or the region, two combination tickets are built for exactly that. The Amsterdam Travel Ticket bundles the Schiphol train, bus 397 and unlimited GVB city transport for €23 (1 day), €34 (2 days) or €44 (3 days) — ideal if you fly in and out and stay central. The Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket (from about €23) goes further, adding the regional operators so one ticket carries you to Schiphol, Haarlem, the Volendam and Marken fishing villages, the Zaanse Schans windmills, Zandvoort’s beaches and Keukenhof in season.

Both region-style tickets expire around 04:00 the morning after their final day, rather than running purely on hours, so activate them to get the best value. For a visitor who arrives at Schiphol, rides trams all week and takes one or two day trips, a combination ticket usually works out simpler and cheaper than stacking a GVB ticket plus separate airport and regional fares. If you genuinely never leave the central zone, the cheaper city-only GVB ticket is enough.

Where the I amsterdam City Card fits

The I amsterdam City Card is a sightseeing pass rather than a transport ticket, but it does include unlimited GVB travel for its duration alongside 70+ museums, bike rental and a canal-cruise discount. Whether it beats a plain GVB ticket depends on how many paid attractions you visit each day — and it has some notable exclusions (the Anne Frank House and Van Gogh Museum among them). We run the maths, the 2026 prices and the full inclusion list in the I amsterdam City Card guide.

Choosing the right ticket for your trip

Match the ticket to your map. Staying in the centre and using transport every day? A multi-day GVB ticket is the clean, cheap choice, or OVpay if your riding is light and irregular. Landing at Schiphol and planning day trips out of the city? The Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket removes the guesswork because one pass covers both the airport run and your in-city travel.

The button below routes to a travel ticket on our partner GetYourGuide that covers the zones you’ll actually use — including the airport transfer — so you can read live 2026 pricing and pick the duration before you arrive.

GVB city ticket vs Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket