Amsterdam travel card
If you expect to hop on and off trams and metros while you are here, a travel card is the simplest, best-value way to do it — no topping up, no working out fares. It even covers the ride in from Schiphol by train or bus, plus every connecting GVB service once you are in town.
From the moment you arrive you get unlimited GVB transport: trams, the metro, day and night buses, and the free-feeling ferries across the IJ.
And if your pass is still valid on the day you fly home, it carries you back out to the airport too — one ticket, start to finish.
At a glance
Pros
- Airport transfer by public transport
- All Amsterdam GVB public transport: bus, tram, metro, ferry, night bus
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance
Cons
- Only worth it if you use public transport regularly during your visit
Amsterdam Public Transport Card
- 1-day pass: € 18 p.p.
- 2-day pass: € 24 p.p.
- 3-day pass: € 30 p.p.
- Includes: airport transfer by public transport
- Includes: all Amsterdam GVB public transport: bus, tram, metro, ferry, night bus
- Includes: free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance
Amsterdam + REGION Public Transport Card
- 1-day pass: € 21 p.p.
- 2-day pass: € 31,50 p.p.
- 3-day pass: € 40,50 p.p.
- Includes: airport transfer by public transport
- Includes: all Amsterdam GVB public transport: bus, tram, metro, ferry, night bus
- Includes additional: regional NS trains + regional Connexxion and EBS buses
- Includes: free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance
About the Amsterdam Public Transport Cards
With Amsterdam taxis as pricey as they are — €20 for a ten-minute hop is not unusual — a travel card quickly pays for itself. Passes run from one to three days, and the longer ones work out cheaper per day.
For most short city breaks the standard Amsterdam pass is all you need. If you fancy a day trip, though, the Region pass is worth the few extra euros: it adds NS regional trains and Connexxion and EBS buses right across the wider metropolitan area.
Within an hour of the city you can reach a surprising spread of the Netherlands — North Sea dunes and beaches, castles, the tulip fields, windmills and reclaimed polder, towns like Haarlem and Hilversum, a working cheese market, a designer outlet and the Zandvoort race circuit among them.
Not sure whether a pass beats paying as you go with a contactless card? Our public transport tickets & fares guide compares every option — OVpay, GVB day tickets and the region passes — side by side.
