gvb ov travel ticket amsterdam

Public Transport

Tickets, prices, ticket sales, night buses.

Amsterdam's public transportation network includes 5 metro lines , 44 bus lines (including night buses ), 18 tram lines , 8 ferry links and trains . It will take you to all the sights and attractions of the city.

Journey planner Plan your trip    tram/metro/ferry/bus + departure times

Save money on public transport and taxi fares by renting a bike

Tickets and prices

The ticket system in Amsterdam is rather complicated. There are 5 ways to pay for your trip . Find out what the cheapest ticket is for you to purchase.

OV-chipkaart

1-hour ticket   a paper travel ticket, multi-day tickets.

For unlimited travel in Amsterdam by bus, tram and metro; for the number of days (up to 7 days) that best suit your plans.

  €9.00   1 day    €15.00   2 days    €21.00   3 days    €26.50   4 days    €33.00   5 days    €37.50   6 days    €41.00   7 days   

A children's day ticket    (4-11 years) is available for a reduced fare of €4.50.

OVpay    ⟩   Check in and out with your contactless debit card, credit card or mobile to travel by bus, tram, metro or train. No registration is necessary. You pay the same travel fares you would if you were using an OV-chipkaart. When you check into a bus, tram or metro, you always pay a boarding fee of €1,08. The costs will be in your bank transfer statement the next day, along with a website link and code to get your travel itinerary.

OVpay app New

Download the free OVpay app in Google Play    or the App Store    . Add a debit or credit card to the OVpay app (only once!). Use your mobile phone to check in (at the start of your journey) and out (at the end of your journey).

Where to buy tickets?

The 1-hour ticket and 24-hour ticket are available in the tram and bus, or from Ticket Vending Machines  at all metro stations.

• GVB Service Points 
• GVB Service & Tickets 
• Amsterdam Tourist Offices (VVV)
• Webshop    for OV-chip card or OVpay

How to use the OV-chipkaart?

It is important that you always check in and check out of each vehicle. This includes when transferring. To check in, just hold your card in front of the card reader. These are located at all the entrance and exit doors of trams and buses.

When leaving the tram or bus, you should check out by holding your card in front of the card reader once again. In the metro hold your card in front of the metro gate to open the metro gate. When transferring by metro you do not have to check out, and check in again in between your journey. You should only check out at the end of your metro journey.

in central Amsterdam

Store Your Luggage at Luggage Depot

safe, easy & cheap

Schiphol Airport Pickup Service

Same price as regular taxi, centraal station, main railway station, the best day trips from amsterdam.

Amsterdam Bus – Lines, Tickets, Info and Tips (Guide 2024)

Want to take the bus in Amsterdam? In this guide we’ll give you an overview of bus travel in the city and beyond.

Amsterdam has a reasonable bus network which complements the coverage already provided by trams and the Amsterdam metro .

The Amsterdam city buses are run by the municipal transport company GVB (Gemeente Vervoer Bedrijf) and these mainly serve the outer suburbs of Amsterdam. Other companies like Connexxion and EBS provide bus services to various places around the North Holland region.

Probably the most useful ticket is the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket here which is valid on all city and regional buses (as well as trams, metro and some regional trains).

For visitors, the most interesting bus services are GVB line 22, the Schiphol airport bus lines, the night buses and the regional buses to points of interest like the Waterland fishing villages, Zaanse Schans and Keukenhof.

GVB Amsterdam Buses

Amsterdam city transport company GVB runs a total of 44 bus lines in and around Amsterdam – serving the city centre and outer suburbs including some of the other train stations around Amsterdam .

This includes 33 day lines and 11 night bus lines and a fleet of 222 buses, some of which are electric.

The main bus station in Amsterdam is at Amsterdam Central – located on the IJ-side (northern waterfront) on the upper level. This is accessible by taking the escalators from the IJhal area.

Electronic screens show you the next departing bus. Note that the EBS buses to the Waterland fishing villages no longer run from here – you need to go to Amsterdam Noord.

The GVB bus line 22 can be a useful service as it travels between Amsterdam Sloterdijk and Amsterdam Muiderpoort stations via Amsterdam Central. It runs 4-6x an hour from 6am (weekdays) and 7am (weekends) to just after midnight.

It is good for the following places of interest: Amaze Amsterdam (Kabelweg), Museum Het Schip (Spaarndammerstraat), Westerpark (Nassauplein), Maritime Museum (Kattenburgerplein) and De Gooyer windmill (Oostenburgergracht).

GVB has online Amsterdam bus maps available here

You can also ask for paper maps at one of the GVB Service desks which are located at Amsterdam Central, Bijlmer-ArenA, Noord and Zuid stations.

GVB has a detailed ‘Amsterdam Tram Bus Metro Ferry’ map which highlights its entire network – although the desk at Amsterdam Central often runs out of stock.

Amsterdam Bus Tickets (2024)

There are various options for buying GVB Amsterdam bus tickets. Essentially, you can either pay for your single journey or buy a multi-day ticket which can offer significantly greater value. All passengers aged 4 or over must have their own ticket, children 0-3 travel free.

Travel using any type of ticket requires that you check-in and check-out of your bus journey by holding it or scanning it onto the special on-board card readers – located by the driver and at the exit doors. Your ticket is simply validated on first check-in.

Amsterdam Bus – Single Fares

There are essentially 3 types of single fare.

• The standard single GVB 1 hour fare ticket which costs €3.40 in 2024.
• A distance based fare – calculated as a €1.08 boarding fee plus a distance fee of €0.196 per km travelled. Distance fares apply when using a contactless payment option or credit on an OV-chip card .
• A 1.5 hour Bus Tram Metro (BTM) ticket which costs €6.50 and is used for longer regional journeys.

Distance fares are generally always cheaper than the standard single unless you are making a longer journey with connections.

If you only need to make 1 or 2 journeys by bus then consider using OVpay , the relatively new system which allows you to check-in and out using a contactless debit/credit card or smartphone. Your account will be billed as a single transaction at the end of the day, but always check your statement for possible errors.

We no longer recommend the OV-chip card (public transport smart card) for short-term visitors as it costs €7.50 (non-refundable) and to which credit needs to be added. You always need a minimum of €4 credit to travel by GVB bus with an OV-chip card. It is also a bit difficult getting unused credit back from an OV-chip card at the end of your trip.

The OV-chip card is being phased out by 2025 and a new OV-Pas with digital features will be introduced.

Most tickets can be purchased in advance at the GVB ticket office or GVB ticket machines. It is no longer possible to buy GVB tickets on-board from the bus driver.

Amsterdam Bus – Unlimited Travel Multi-Day Tickets

There are a number of multi-day tickets for unlimited travel around Amsterdam . If you plan to use public transport more frequently then these can save you a significant sum of money. If used well the cost-per-ride can be significantly lower than standard one-way tariffs.

We highly recommend the GVB 1-7 day tickets as it can really improve your stay in Amsterdam giving you the flexibility to just hop-on and hop-off city public transport as required.

However, if you wish to use the airport bus and regional buses then seriously consider the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket

Amsterdam Airport Buses – Connexxion 397 and GVB 369

Connexxion runs the Amsterdam Airport Express service from Schiphol airport to the centre of Amsterdam.

The red bus 397 (R-NET branded) departs from Schiphol Plaza just outside the arrivals area and goes to Amsterdam Elandsgracht bus station including stops at Museumplein and Leidseplein – it does NOT go to Central station.

A single (Bus Tram Metro ticket) costs €6.50 and the journey takes just over 30 minutes. You can buy airport bus 397 tickets online here (€6.50 single, €11.75 return – valid for 14 days).

Kids day tickets (€1) for children aged 4-11 are only available to buy from the driver, payment by card only.

The 397 bus operates 4-6x per hour roughly between 0530 and midnight. During the night there is an hourly N97 Niteliner service on the same route.

The GVB 369 bus service (also R-NET branded) runs between Schiphol Airport/Plaza and Amsterdam Sloterdijk station. This trip takes about 40 minutes and singles cost €3.40 – note that it is much faster to take the train on this route.

The Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket is valid for all airport buses.

See detailed info on travel from Amsterdam Schiphol airport to the city

GVB Amsterdam Night Buses

There are 11 GVB night bus lines which run through the night from 0030 when the metros and trams cease operation:

N81 Central Station – Sloterdijk station N82 Central Station – Geuzenveld N83 Central Station – Osdorp de Aker N84 Central Station – Amstelveen Busstation N85 Central Station – Gein via Amstel N86 Central Station – Bijlmer-ArenA N87 Central Station – Bijlmer-ArenA via Diemen N88 Central Station – Nieuw Sloten N89 Central Station – Vennepluimstraat (IJburg) N91 Central Station – Nieuwendam N93 Central Station – Molenwijk

A single costs €5.40 – tickets are valid for 90 minutes including transfers. Note, a standard GVB 1 hour ticket is not valid for travel on night buses. You can also pay a distance-based fare with an OV-chip card or by contactless card (OVpay).

Regional Buses around Amsterdam – EBS / Connexxion / Arriva

There are a number of regional bus services to various places of interest in and around the Amsterdam area.

Probably of most relevance to visitors are the buses to the popular Waterland area – which includes the traditional fishing villages of Volendam, Edam and Monnickendam – and buses going to the Zaanse Schans windmills .

Waterland buses are run by EBS using red and grey R-NET branded buses. The buses have free WiFi on board.

EBS lines run now from outside Amsterdam Noord metro station or at Amsterdam Noorderpark station which can both be easily reached from Amsterdam Central using metro line 52.

Here are some lines of interest run by EBS:

Connexxion operates buses from Amsterdam Elandsgracht (near Leidseplein) to Zandvoort via Haarlem (bus 80) and from Amsterdam Sloterdijk to the port of IJmuiden (R-NET bus 382). There is an Amsterdam Beach Tour ticket which is valid all day between Amsterdam, Haarlem and Zandvoort.

Bus to Keukenhof Gardens : Arriva operates the Keukenhof Express bus 852 from Amsterdam Europaplein to Keukenhof and bus 858 from Schiphol Airport to Keukenhof . These only run March to May when the spring flower garden is open.

The best ticket for regional travel is the 1/2/3 day Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket as it is valid on all the above mentioned regional bus services around Amsterdam – as well as GVB transport within Amsterdam and some trains in the region. The 3 day ticket at €40.50 works out at just €13.50 per day.

Book the Amsterdam & Region Travel Tickets online here and pick-up in Amsterdam when you arrive.

Alternatively, an EBS bus day t i cket costs €12.50 for adults. It is valid the entire day (until 0100) on all EBS buses serving the Waterland, fishing villages (Edam/Volendam/Marken) and Zaanse Schans areas.

The downsides to the EBS day ticket is that you still need to travel to Amsterdam Noord to pick up the EBS buses. It is not valid on the metro line 52 to Noord unlike the Amsterdam & Region ticket.

Also, it is not seamless and straight forward to combine Waterland and Zaanse Schans without travelling back to Amsterdam and transferring between Noord and Noorderpark.

TIP: Don’t get on a bus with destination “Geen Dienst” – it actually means Out of Service!

Bus Amsterdam – Summary

Buses in Amsterdam can often be handy on some routes which are less accessible by metro and tram. The most useful bus services are the airport bus and regional buses to surrounding places of interest. Using a multi-day ticket can be convenient and offer visitors good value.

This article was originally published in 2010 and has been regularly updated. Last update 21 March 2024 .

Links on AmsterdamTips.com may pay us an affiliate commission.

Related Articles

Rotterdam Metro Map

Car Sharing in Amsterdam and The Netherlands

Getting Around Utrecht, Netherlands

Train Stations in Amsterdam

The tram in Amsterdam: info, tickets, route plan & tips for passengers

Compared to the Metro, the tram in Amsterdam has a much denser network of lines and stops. The tram is operated by the municipal transport company GVB, which also organizes Metro , city buses, and ferries .

In this guide you will find information for passengers and practical tips for using the streetcar in Amsterdam.

Klicke hier, um Ihren eigenen Text einzufügen

The tram is a good way to discover Amsterdam. Thanks to a dense network of stops and lines, you can reach many destinations and sightseeing highlights. (Image: travelguide.amsterdam)

The tram network: lines and network map

The tram network has been expanding since 1875 and nowadays encompasses 15 lines and approximately 200 km of rail lines.

Tips for passengers & sightseeing by tram

• Since 2018 cash purchases of tickets onboard the tram are no longer possible . You will find more info under “Which ticket option is best for me?” (see below). It is worth it to research tickets for mass transit ahead of time. That saves time and money later.
• A not-so-secret-anymore tip is the tram line number 2. It is popular with sightseeing tourist s, as many of its stops are nearby attractions. This line will get you to the flower market, Royal Palace on the dam, Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh museum, Stedelijk museum for example and passing through all the canals of Amsterdam’s famous Canal Belt.
• Getting on and off: You may only enter the tram at the front door by the driver or at the double doors at the back. The other doors are for exit only. After entering the tram, you have to validate your ticket on the checking device. A valid ticket is also required to exit.
• The streetcar is often used by tourists. In contrast to the underground metro, you can also discover the city during the journey. Thanks to the dense network of lines, many sightseeing highlights and museums can be reached by streetcar.

Only the doors with the “Welkom” sticker are for entry. (Image: travelguide.amsterdam)

After boarding, you must present your ticket here. The validity is checked (Image: travelguide.amsterdam)

Tickets for the public transport system in Amsterdam: Which ticket option is best for me?

Whether single ride via e-purse, also referred to as OV-card, all-day ticket, “I Amsterdam Card”, or “Amsterdam Travel Card”, you will find detailed information for all, as well as current fares here.

It allows you to quickly and easily find the right ticket option for your stay in Amsterdam. Researching all options upfront and knowing which ticket option works best for you, will save you money and time after arrival and prevent stressful situations.

Our advice – when you don’t want to deal with the tariff system and ticket machines:

The single-day or multi-day tickets that are available for the public transport system in Amsterdam are typically the best choices for visitors.

These tickets allow unlimited use of the Metro (subway), GVB bus system, trams, as well as ferries for the entire period of validity (1 – 7 days).

These tickets are rather inexpensive for a European metropolitan city. For 2024 fares range between €5.85 and €9 a day, depending on period of validity

You can purchase these tickets online before your trip without additional fees via the English-language website of the authorised GVB ticket seller – click here – . You will not have to deal with ticket machines or the tariff system upon your arrival.

That saves time and nerves – after all, you will have better things to do in Amsterdam…

Tram lines in Amsterdam – overview:

A few words about the history of the streetcar in amsterdam.

Amsterdam’s first horse streetcar was opened in 1875. Today, the city’s public transport company GVB operates the streetcar.

The history of streetcars in Amsterdam dates back to the 19th century, when the first horse-drawn streetcars were introduced in the city. The first electric streetcars were then put into operation at the beginning of the 20th century and played an important role in the city’s public transportation system.

Decline and revival

In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a decline in tram use as many people switched to cars. This led to a reduction in the streetcar network, but in the 1980s the city began to modernize and expand the streetcar infrastructure.

Is there a tram in Amsterdam?

Yes, Amsterdam has a well-developed tram network . The tram is a good way to discover the city. Thanks to many stops and lines you can reach many destinations. You can find more tips and information in our travel guide.

How much does a tram ticket cost in Amsterdam 2024?

There is no classic single ticket for Amsterdam public transport. Single journeys can be paid for with the “OV / E-Purse card”. It works in a similar way to a prepaid mobile phone card. You can load an amount of money onto this card at a machine. You can then use this credit to pay for local transport. A reloadable, anonymous e-purse card (without passport photo) costs 7.50 euros (without credit).

It is easier to use local transport with a day or multi-day ticket.

I was just on a holiday and I forgot my backpack on your number 4 tram line, was just hoping if anyone may have turned it in? It is an all black Amazon backpack with a blue dell lab top ray ban sunglasses and a blue tooth selfie stick, if I was turned in I’d be ever so greatfull if it’s found! PEACE AND BLESSINGS!

Hello Gordon, We’re sorry to hear that you had such a mishap while on vacation. Please contact the lost property office of the local public transport company GVB directly. Good luck

Leave a Reply

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.