Does Amsterdam Have a Christmas Market?
Amsterdam has one Christmas market that runs for weeks, the Christmas Village on Museumplein (the old Ice Village under a new name), by the Rijksmuseum from 3 to 27 December 2026. It’s small.
So if you’re picturing the German kind, a hundred-odd stalls packed round a cathedral, the answer is no. Everything else in the city that gets called a Christmas market is a one-day or one-weekend pop-up, or a ticketed winter funfair at the RAI.
Plenty of Dutch people who want the real thing simply get on a train to Germany, and I’d rather you knew that before you book.
None of that makes December here a waste, though, because Amsterdam’s Christmas happens on the canals. Every evening the Light Festival switches on about 20 light artworks along the water, and walking past them costs nothing.
On its own, the Amsterdam Christmas market isn’t worth the trip. As part of a December city break, it is. I treat it as the starter, an hour at dusk with a Glühwein before the evenings go to the canals.
Our Index puts Amsterdam at 5.9 out of 10 against 7.8 for Düsseldorf, which is a direct train away if you want the full German version.
Amsterdam Christmas Market 2026 Dates and Hours
The Amsterdam Christmas market runs from Thursday 3 December to Sunday 27 December 2026 on Museumplein, a day earlier than last year’s 4 to 28 December, and entry is free.
It’s open 12:00 to 21:00 every day up to and including Christmas Eve. Christmas Day and Boxing Day run 12:00 to 19:00, and the last day, Sunday 27 December, closes at 18:00.
That’s a late start and a short run next to Germany, where Cologne opens on 13 November. Blame Sinterklaas.
He arrives in the Netherlands in mid-November, and his night, 5 December, is the big one for Dutch families. Christmas only really takes over once that’s done.
At the other end, the stalls are packed away after the 27th, so there’s no market on New Year’s Eve, although the canals stay lit until 21:00 that night.
So the market gives you three and a half weeks. If you can choose within them, aim for the weekend of 19 and 20 December for the Sunday’s pop-up markets. Otherwise, 11 to 13 December gives you Haarlem’s big weekend market next door.
| Date | What’s on |
|---|---|
| Thu 26 Nov | Amsterdam Light Festival switches on, lit 16:30–23:00 every evening |
| Sun 29 Nov | Pure Markt winter edition in Park Frankendael, 11:00–17:00 |
| Thu 3 Dec | Christmas Village opens on Museumplein, 12:00–21:00 |
| Sat 5 Dec | Sinterklaas evening, the big Dutch family night |
| Fri 11 to Sun 13 Dec | Haarlem Christmas market, nearly 350 stalls |
| Thu 17 Dec | Winter Paradise opens at the RAI |
| Sun 20 Dec | Funky Xmas Market at Westergas, 12:00–18:00, and Pure Markt, 11:00–17:00 |
| Thu 24 Dec | Christmas Village open 12:00–21:00 |
| Fri 25 and Sat 26 Dec | Christmas Village open 12:00–19:00 |
| Sun 27 Dec | Last day of the Christmas Village, 12:00–18:00 |
| From Mon 28 Dec | Christmas Village closed until next season |
The Christmas Village on Museumplein
The best time for the Christmas Village is around 16:00, as the light goes. You catch the chalets in the last of the daylight, then stay on as it gets dark.
The Christmas Village itself is a cluster of 50-odd chalets selling winter snacks, hot drinks and Glühwein, with choirs wandering between them. You’ll have walked every row within the hour.
I don’t mind that, because the setting makes up for it. Last year there was even a fake canal bridge, in a city that’s full of real ones. Between that and the Rijksmuseum’s towers, it’s hard not to grin.
Skating on Museumplein (Bring Your Own Skates)
Skating in front of the Rijksmuseum is the photo most people come for, and the backdrop really is that good.
The rental skates are where it falls apart. Far too many pairs are blunt enough that you slide sideways instead of gliding, and swapping them can just get you another blunt pair.
So bring your own skates and gloves if you have them, which also takes the ticket from €16 with hire down to €8 plus fees.
Gloves are compulsory and cost €7.50 at the desk if you forget yours, and even a locker that fits about half a bag is €6.50. It’s all card, because cash has to be swapped for a cash card at the desk first.
Without your own skates, treat it as a ten-minute photo. For real skating, the Jaap Eden rink out east is the better bet. It’s a 400-metre outdoor track open from 10 October to 21 March, and an adult session is €10.60 plus skate hire.
What to Eat and Drink at Christmas in Amsterdam
I’d keep Museumplein for one Glühwein, ideally while a choir’s going, and do my eating elsewhere. This October the rink bar next door was charging €13.50 for an Aperol Spritz in a small plastic cup.
Off the square, the Dutch winter menu is short, fried and a lot cheaper.
- Bitterballen are crisp crumbed balls of meat ragout, the classic Dutch bar snack. The rink café does them with fries, but its kitchen can be painfully slow, so I’d have mine in a pub.
- Poffertjes are tiny puffed pancakes with butter and icing sugar, and they’re a treat anywhere except Winter Paradise, where five of them cost €8.50 last winter.
- Oliebollen are the star. They’re balls of fried dough heavy on the icing sugar, the Dutch winter snack. The stalls that bake them all season charged about €1.30 to €1.50 each last December, roughly a tenth of that Spritz. Eat one hot, standing up, and try not to wear the sugar.
The oliebollen stall to beat is De Amsterdamse Oliebollenkraam on the Belgiëplein in Nieuw-West, named the best in Noord-Holland in 2025.
Nieuw-West is a long way out for a visitor, though. Closer to Museumplein, there’s Family Geisterfer on Marie Heinekenplein in De Pijp, or the Gebakkraam on Rembrandtplein.
The Amsterdam Light Festival (The Real Star)
I’d plan a whole December trip to Amsterdam around the Light Festival. It runs from 26 November 2026 to 17 January 2027, and the artworks are free to see on foot from 16:30 to 23:00 every evening.
The sun’s down by 16:27 in mid-December, so the darkness everyone grumbles about here is exactly what the art needs. A city that felt grey at lunchtime looks completely different by five.
Not every piece lands, and the boat trips get pushed hard, so I’d walk the route with the festival app. This year’s 15th edition has a brand-new route, and the app strings the pieces into a Light Walk (there’s a Kids Walk as well).
A boat only earns its price when it’s pouring. If you do book one, Starboard’s boat with blankets and hot drinks rates far better than Stromma’s heated cruise, 4.4 stars from about 4,000 reviews against 3.5.
Either way, dress for wet as much as cold (the packing list has the rest). December here averages highs of 8 °C and lows of about 4 °C, and it rains on about 11 days of the month. After dark, the wind off the water makes it feel close to freezing.
Snow is a long shot, lying on the ground on 7% of market days, much the same as Cologne’s 8%. So pack waterproof shoes and a hood, not snow boots.
Sunday 20 December, Amsterdam’s Best Christmas Market Day
On Sunday 20 December two one-day markets join the Christmas Village, and for once Amsterdam really feels like a Christmas market city.
The Funky Xmas Market at Westergas is the bit I wouldn’t miss. It’s the Christmas edition of the Sunday Market, held in the old gasworks by the Westerpark, and it’s free.
The stalls belong to local makers, designers and artists, which makes it the place to buy your presents. You’ll find one-off handmade things here, which is more than most market chalets can say.
It’s a one-off in the other sense. The old multi-day Christmas market at Westergas no longer runs, so this single afternoon, 12:00 to 18:00, is all you get.
That leaves your morning free for Pure Markt in Park Frankendael, out east, which opens at 11:00. It’s more of a food market than a gift one, and it also runs on Sunday 29 November.
The two are on opposite sides of the city, so Pure Markt makes the early lunch and Westergas the afternoon. Then finish on Museumplein and the canals once it’s dark.
Winter Paradise at the RAI (Only With Kids)
Winter Paradise at the RAI is a ticketed winter funfair, mostly indoors, with a Christmas coat of paint. Tickets start at €22.50, and I’d only go with children.
Small kids love it, and the ticket covers the ice rinks and the rides.
Everything you buy once you’re inside is priced like an airport. Last winter a pizza was €18.50 and a bottle of water up to €5.50, and skating without gloves means buying a pair.
So go in the morning and bring your own gloves. It gets very crowded after about 15:00, and skating queues can run to 45 minutes. On the late slots, the rides and the outdoor area can shut before the time on your ticket runs out.
Day Trips to Proper Christmas Markets From Amsterdam
Amsterdam makes a decent launch pad for a big German Christmas market. Two Dutch markets are close enough for an afternoon, and the Rhine markets are one train away.
Haarlem (The Biggest Nearby)
Haarlem is 15 minutes away by direct Intercity, and it has the biggest traditional market within easy reach of Amsterdam. For one weekend, 11 to 13 December, nearly 350 stalls spread across 12 spots in its old centre, and entry is free.
If you can, go on the Friday, in daylight. Half the region has the same idea for the weekend, and the streets move at a shuffle at the busiest times. Haarlem gets a 4 out of 10 for Elbow room.
The Hague (Three Weeks Long)
The Royal Christmas Fair on the Lange Voorhout in The Hague runs much longer, from 3 to 23 December, 12:00 to 21:00 daily. It’s free, and it’s 49 minutes from Centraal by direct Intercity.
I’d put it closest to the German feel of any Dutch market. It’s still several dozen chalets along one avenue, though, so it works as an afternoon if you’re curious, not as the reason for a day out.
Düsseldorf (My Day-Trip Pick)
For a German market in a day, I’d pick the Düsseldorf Christmas market. The 08:31 ICE from Centraal gets you there at 10:45 with no change, and saver fares start at €29.99.
You arrive in a city with 13 markets, and the real win is room to move. Düsseldorf scores 7 out of 10 for Elbow room in our Index, against 4 for Cologne. You actually get to see the stalls, not the back of someone’s coat.
Cologne (The Classic)
Cologne is what most people picture when they say “proper”, with the cathedral market right below the spires, and it scores a 9 for atmosphere in our Index. Direct ICEs to the Cologne Christmas market take 2 hours 33 to 2 hours 40, the first leaving Centraal at 06:38.
More than four million people a season agree, so go on a weekday if you possibly can.
Maastricht, Valkenburg and Aachen (Worth a Night)
With a spare night rather than a spare day, head south. Maastricht is under two and a half hours away by direct Intercity, and its market on the Vrijthof runs from 27 November to 27 December.
Valkenburg’s markets, just down the line, are unlike anything else on this trip. They’re inside caves, and the Gemeentegrot bills itself as Europe’s biggest underground Christmas market. At a steady 12 °C down there, it feels almost warm after the canal wind.
Both cave markets run from 13 November to 30 December with timed tickets, and the Aachen Christmas market sits over the German border beyond them.
Christmas Day in Amsterdam
If you’re here for Christmas itself, Amsterdam is the better place to be on the 25th. The Christmas Village stays open on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and the canals stay lit every night. Every German market in this guide is shut on the 25th.
Cologne’s cathedral market and the rest of its central markets are over before that, on 23 December, so do Cologne by the 23rd.
Düsseldorf is the one that still works after Christmas. It reopens on Boxing Day afternoon and runs to 30 December. In Cologne, the Heinzels market on Heumarkt and the harbour market reopen on the 26th as well, running into January.
What’s harder is dinner, because Christmas is a family day at home for the Dutch. Shops shut early on Christmas Eve, and restaurants switch to set Christmas dinners that fill up well in advance, so book your Christmas dinner before you travel.
The museums are the nice surprise. The Rijksmuseum opens every day of the year from 09:00 to 17:00, public holidays included. The Van Gogh Museum keeps the same hours on Christmas Day.
So Christmas Day can be the Rijksmuseum in the morning, the Christmas Village after lunch and the canals once it’s dark.
Is the Amsterdam Christmas Market Worth It?
Yes, if the canals come first. Lit up from half past four and free on foot, they’re worth the trip by themselves, and the market is the pleasant extra.
It suits anyone who wants Amsterdam itself, the canals, the museums and the lights, and it works with kids as long as you give Winter Paradise a morning.
It doesn’t suit a market collector. If stalls and Glühwein are the whole point, base yourself in Cologne or Düsseldorf and do Amsterdam as the stopover.
For everyone else, I’d come for the weekend of 19 and 20 December, with a drink at the Christmas Village as the light goes. After that it’s the canals, oliebol in hand, and a weekday saved for the train to Düsseldorf.
