Amsterdam is an extremely popular tourist destination and is becoming more popular each year. It offers something for everyone, from historic buildings and museums to legal prostitution and marijuana, and over 300 festivals. All of these things are great and all, but they tend to attract something I can’t stand, lots and lots of people.

What are the best time to visit Amsterdam in order to avoid crowds? To avoid bumping into a lot of fellow tourists, try visiting Amsterdam in the winter months of December, January, and February, but be sure to avoid popular holidays like New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day. Never visit in July or August.

Because Amsterdam is such a popular destination, choosing the best time to visit is crucial if you want to avoid crowds. Popular attractions like the Anne Frank House can have lines that can take as long as 3 hours to wait in. By paying attention to trends like popular festivals and work and school vacations, you can predict which days, weeks, and months will be the most popular, and therefore, the most crowded.

Why Avoid the Crowds In Amsterdam?

The Dutch capital has become so popular in recent years, that the city council has issued new taxes on cruise ship passengers and tour groups, and launched marketing campaigns to shame the noisier tourists and encourage people to visit attractions in other parts of the Netherlands, outside of the city proper.

There are some very practical reasons to avoid crowds. When you’re overwhelmed by pedestrian traffic, you are unable to easily go wherever you want to at your own desired pace. This could mean you get to enjoy less of the city while you’re there.

There are also emotional reasons to avoid crowds as well. If you’re like me, just being around too many people makes you uncomfortable. You feel claustrophobic, and your comfort zone is constantly violated. Being in a large group of people makes you feel more alone than ever, and the larger the group, the more lonely you feel. Something about happy people makes you sad.

Even if you don’t suffer from the same types of social anxiety as I do, however, there are plenty of benefits of avoiding the crowds during Amsterdam’s peak tourism season.

Shorter lines

It’s pretty straight forward that the more tourists are visiting the same time as you are, the more of them are going to be in front of you in line for the attractions you want to go to. During the summer months, Amsterdam’s peak tourism season, popular attractions like the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House have long lines. You could easily find yourself waiting outside in line in the hot summer sun for over 3 hours.

Everything is cheaper

Price is determined by supply and demand. During the most popular vacation times, demand for tickets and hotel rooms is very high, so rates go up. Not only is it harder to find a place to stay or a seat on a plane to get there, if you are lucky enough to find a vacancy you will pay a lot more for it than in the off season months.

It’s safer

Wherever there are crowds, there are criminals who want to take advantage of them. Pickpockets and con artists flock to these herds of people to prey on distracted tourists. Common grifts in the Dutch capital include offering to take tourists’ photo while a partner steals from their bags, or offering free cookies laced with drugs, so tourists pass out and are easier to rob (or worse).

You can see more

It’s hard to enjoy the sights when you can’t see through the throng of tourists you’re herded amongst. When you’re free to wander about the city’s streets at your own pace, and stop to investigate anything that catches your fancy, without worrying that it will already be stuffed over capacity, you’re much more likely to discover something wonderful that will be the highlight of your vacation and a treasured memory for the rest of your life.

The best resource for knowing what dates to avoid is avoid-crowds.com’s crowd predictor. It takes several factors into consideration, including public and school holidays in the country and surrounding countries, and scheduled presence of cruise ships in ports in or near the city, to rank and predict how crowded with tourists the city will be on any given day. It can be a true vacation saver.

Amsterdam in Winter

Winter in Amsterdam is gray and dreary. The days are short, and temperatures average in the just above water’s freezing point (0 degrees Celsius, 32 degrees Fahrenheit). The wind and rain make it feel even colder than the temperature suggests. It’s enough to keep most tourists away, but if you’re willing to bundle up a bit to get wherever you’re going, you’ll find it’s a great time to enjoy the city without all the riff-raff getting in your way.

What you have to keep in mind is that the denizens of Amsterdam live there all year long. They are out there biking to work or play (70 percent of locals bike everywhere they go, all year round) with the only complaint that their long underwear makes their crotches extra sweaty.

There are plenty of things to do in Amsterdam in the winter. The museums are still open, and so are the shops. You can tour the Van Gogh museum or hang out in a coffee shop. As long as you dress warmly, you can still wander the streets and walk along the canals. The buildings look even better with a little snow on them.

In February, the canals have a chance of freezing over. It doesn’t happen every year, and, in fact, has become less and less common due to global warming. If it does, though, the locals break out the ice skates, and you can join them gliding along frozen passageways. It’s an increasingly rare experience that the fair weather tourists will never get to share.

Winter Events to Avoid

Of course, you won’t be the only tourists braving the cold to take advantage of the smaller crowds and cheaper travel and hotel rates. There are a few events during the otherwise crowd free winter months that cause a major peak in the number of visitors to the city. Keep these dates in mind when booking your trip to avoid a rude surprise.

• Christmas. Amsterdam is such a popular place for families to spend their Christmas vacations that most shops and museums stay open on Christmas day to accommodate them. The final weeks of December experience a dramatic increase in the number of tourists compared to the rest of the otherwise sleepy season.
• New Year’s. Add fireworks to the large crowds on New Year’s Eve, and you now have a group of wild tourists that are as dangerous as they are obnoxious. New Year’s Day is a national holiday, but you’ll notice most museums and shops are open anyway because there are so many tourists in town to patronize them. Cover charges to get into the clubs double and 10,000 people gather to take a New Year’s dive into the freezing water at the beach of Scheveningen.
• National Tulip Day. Though the iconic tulips don’t bloom until mid-April, National Tulip Day is celebrated on the third Saturday of January. 10,000 people gather to see 200,000 tulips in a massive temporary garden in Amsterdam’s Dam Square, which is open for free flower picking. They really know how to lean into their strengths.
• Valentine’s Day. What could be more romantic than a horse and carriage ride down Amsterdam’s cobblestone streets or a canal ride along the illuminated waterways? Most people certainly can’t think of anything sweeter, so you can rest assured that the iconic stalls will be packed, slowing traffic to get a perfect shot for their Instagram stories.

Amsterdam in March

The weather begins to warm up in March, though it is still unpredictable and very rainy. The first cruise ships start pulling into the port, but there are no European school holidays, so the tourism season doesn’t really begin in earnest until the tulips start blooming in April.

March, therefore, is a great time to visit Amsterdam while the crowds are still small, and the prices of hotels and attractions haven’t been raised to their peak rates yet. Of course, it isn’t exactly a dead season. There are several music and arts festivals in March that will attract their own niche crowds.

The 5 Days Off Festival, taking place over the course of 5 days in early March, is one of Amsterdam’s best electronic music festivals. The Pink Film Days, or Roze Filmdagen, is 11 days of LGBTQ film screenings.

Then there is 24H West, when the city’s museums, theaters, clubs, shops and more open their doors to the public for special events, and the HISWA Amsterdam Boat Show. There is also, of course, Saint Patrick’s Day, which assures the streets will be filled with drunken tourists (and locals) taking place in all kinds of activities, both officially sanctioned and otherwise.

Amsterdam in November

After peaking in August, the tourist season in Amsterdam begins ramping down as children go back to school in September in workers take their autumn vacations in October. By November, the weather has become cold and unpredictable, but the crowds are gone. There are no public holidays or school vacations in the Netherlands or surrounding cities, so hotel rates drop down to their off season, winter rates.

As global warming continues to destroy our planet, temperatures remain higher than normal through the fall, though the wind and rain are still very common. Later in the month, the city begins ramping up for the holidays with the Amsterdam Lights Festival illuminating the canals, but for the most part, it’s a time of rest between the summer peak and the holiday burst of activity.

Do take care, however, to avoid the arrival of Sinterklaas. The Dutch Santa Claus sails into town from his home in Spain in mid-November, bringing gifts and treats for the children. The water is littered with boats and another 400,000 people line the banks of the canals to witness the event.

Other Ways to Avoid Crowds

The best way to avoid crowds is to visit Amsterdam when there aren’t any public or school holidays, there aren’t any cruise ships in the ports, there are no festivals scheduled, and the weather is cold and dreary. Avoid-crowds.com has a crowd predicter that takes all of these things into consideration and rates how crowded the city will be on any given day.

But Amsterdam is such a fun, beautiful place that tourists make their way there all year round. I don’t think you could pick a date that isn’t going to have some sort of tourist traffic. Therefore, no matter when you visit the Dutch capital, you should follow these tips to keep them from getting in your way and ruining your vacation.

Plan Ahead

Most attractions, including the Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s Royal Palace, and the HEINEKEN Experience offer tickets online so you can be prepared and not have to wait in line to buy a ticket (and then get in another line to use the ticket). Many even offer the option of scheduled entrance times, so you don’t have to wait in line at all.

You can purchase your tickets for buses, trains, and ferries in advance as well. An I Amsterdam City Card offers transportation, tours, and discounts on popular attractions within Amsterdam such as the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh museum, and the Hermitage, as well as several outside of the city (see below) such as Volendam, Naarden, Zaanse Schans, and Marken. It’s good for 24 (or 120) hours after it’s first used.

Start Your Day Early

Most people, when on vacation, will stay up late partying, then sleep in late the next day, nursing a hangover, and taking advantage of the hotel’s free breakfast. With a little bit of willpower, you can get out and enjoy the city before they’ve fortified themselves with enough hagelsag (sweet flavored flakes) or ontbijtkoeken (breakfast cake) to take to clogging the streets.

The best time to arrive at a museum is shortly before they open since most people won’t come until after the doors open, allowing you to get in before the line even forms. If you get up early enough, you can enjoy the golden hour immediately after sunrise when the city is at it’s most beautiful. You can also avoid the hottest part of the day if you’re visiting during the summer.

Avoid Tourist Traps

Have you ever been walking down a busy street and noticed someone looking up? You probably look up as well out of curiosity. Now there are two people looking up, which more people will notice. They’ll look up and so on until the whole street is looking up at something (or nothing). That’s how tourist traps work.

Tourist traps, like Amsterdam Dungeon, Madame Tussaud, and Body World, pop up wherever large groups of tourists accumulate. Tourists are looking for things to do, and the traps offer a thing to do, but one that could be found anywhere. Don’t waste your time in Amsterdam on tourist traps. Instead, visit attractions you can only experience there, like the Van Gogh Museum or the Anne Frank House.

Explore More Than Just the City Proper

Most tourists spend their entire vacation within Amsterdam, and many don’t even venture outside of the Grachtengordel (canal area). The surrounding region, however, has plenty to offer. Despite the city council’s best efforts to market these outer options, they are still quite underappreciated. This means by booking a tour or exploring on your own, you can escape the crowd and go see what the rest of them are missing.

The Worst Times to Visit Amsterdam to Avoid Crowds

Perhaps you don’t have much control over when you go on vacation. You hate big crowds, but you only have a few long weekends to choose from when planning your trip. If you can’t pick a date that has the fewest tourists, you can at least avoid the dates that are sure to attract the most. If you hate crowds, avoid the following dates for your vacation.

Cherry Blossom Festival

This early April is mostly attended by locals and Japanese ex patriots, so you wouldn’t expect it to be particularly crowded compared to any of Amsterdam’s other 300 festivals, but since it happens during the month long Tulip Festival, it guarantees that the streets will be packed with tourists out to enjoy nature’s beauty.

King’s Day

This national holiday began in 1885 to celebrate Princess Wilhelmina’s fifth birthday. Princess Day was celebrated every year on August 31st until 1898 when the princess became Queen Wilhelmina, and the annual celebration of her birthday became known as Queen’s Day.

When Wilhelmina’s daughter, Juliana, ascended to the throne in 1949, Queen’s day was thenceforth celebrated on Queen Juliana’s birthday, April 30th. When Queen Beatrix succeeded Juliana in 1980, she opted to keep Queen’s Day on April 30, because her own birthday, January 31st, is too cold for the outdoor celebrations that have become a tradition on the holiday.

In 2013 the holiday changed to King’s Day and is now celebrated on April 27th, the birthday of the current King Willem-Alexander. King’s Day is a wild assortment of street fairs, parades, and parties that put Mardi Gras in New Orleans and New Year’s Eve in Times Square to shame.

These days, 3 million party-goers take to the streets to celebrate King’s Day. They come all dress up in orange, the national color, ready to dance, drink, and party. If you’re anything like me, you don’t want to be anywhere near that many people.

Amsterdam Dance Event

According to some, the peak of Amsterdam’s nightlife scene is the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) in which the world’s dance music industry and world-leading DJs descend on the city for epic dance parties that cater to whatever genre you might prefer. I don’t know about you, but I think it sounds too crowded.

August

Don’t go to Amsterdam in August. The whole month. Just skip it. Everything is too expensive, too loud, and too crowded to enjoy. You should probably avoid July as well for the same reasons. April, May, and June aren’t much better.

A Monthly Overview of Tourism in Amsterdam

As you’ve doubtlessly gathered by now, Amsterdam is such a popular vacation destination that big crowds show up at many times throughout the year, depending on when their public or school holiday falls or which of the cities over 300 festivals they’re most attracted to. The best way to get an accurate prediction of how crowded the streets will be in by consulting avoid-crowd.com’s crowd predictor.

In general, however, Amsterdam’s popularity among tourists follows this general timeline.

January

After the New Year’s partiers go home, Amsterdam is pretty quiet in January except for the occasional British stag party. It’s cold and windy and rainy, but if you can handle the weather, it’s a great time to avoid the crowds. It might even get cold enough to ice skate on the canals.

February

Cold, rainy weather continuing in February keep the streets relatively empty. Some winter school vacations and off season ticket and hotel prices make it the destination of choice of some thriftier Europeans. One of global warming’s many consequences is that by the end of the month you might be lucky enough to have some days that feel like spring.

March

As the weather turns from cold and wet to mostly just wet, tourism starts increasing in March. Large tour groups and cruise ships start descending on the city, but since there are no school vacations in any nearby countries, it is not yet overwhelming.

April

Tourism blooms alongside the tulips in April. It’s increasingly warm and beautiful, and the entire continent has a long weekend off for Easter. April 27th is King’s Day, which attracts the largest crowd you are likely to ever see in your entire life.

May

While the weather in Amsterdam is always unpredictable, in May you can expect more sunshine than rain, making it a very popular time to visit. Some people consider May to be the best month to visit, but those people clearly have a higher tolerance for crowds than I do.

There is an increase in traffic on the many public holidays in Amsterdam (such as Remembrance Day on May 4th and Liberation Day on May 5th) and the rest of Europe. Labor Day, for example. is not a public holiday in the Netherlands, but it is in most of the rest of Europe, so Amsterdam is a popular spot if for no other reason than their shops and museums are open.

June

The weather becomes mostly gorgeous, and Europe’s schools adjourn for the summer, so the crowds of tourists steadily increase throughout the course of June.

July

Tourism in Amsterdam peaks in July. It seems everyone is on summer vacation and rushes to the Dutch capital to enjoy the sights and the weather. Everything is crowded and expensive. Your only hope is buying skip the line tickets ahead of time or exploring the surrounding countryside.

August

Peak tourist season in Amsterdam continues in August. Just don’t go there. The streets are so crowded that traffic is impeded. The locals are so annoyed that many of them flee the city, closing the shops and restaurants they run in order to do so. This leaves the tourists fewer options, and the places that remain open are even more crowded as a result. It’s a vicious cycle that is best to avoid all together if you can help it.

September

Things start slowing down in September as children return to school. Each week is a little quieter than the one before it, and global warming has invented late zomerdagen (warm late summer days) you can enjoy.

October

As the weather begins to worsen, October is generally pretty quiet, though there are still some public holidays in other parts of Europe that result in small crowds.

November

With no school holidays and the weather once again becoming cold, wet, and rainy, Amsterdam is not very crowded in November. Airfare and hotel rates drop significantly.

December

Amsterdam isn’t particularly renowned for its Christmas celebrations, but the festive events it does host certainly create significant peaks in tourism during the otherwise slow month of December. The arrival of Sinterklaas attracts large crowds, who then clog the Beijenkorf department store in Dam Square the days before Christmas.

If you’re anything like me, knowing when huge crowds of tourists flock to Amsterdam means knowing which days I’m certainly going to avoid visiting.