City Card With Transport

City Card With Transport is one of two experiences compared on this site, it runs 1 to 5 days, and the live listing opens at $78 a person. It carries 4.3 from 4,349 reviews, reproduced here exactly as the operator publishes it.

Overview

The official city pass is sold here for 24, 48, 72, 96 or 120 hours of use from first activation. It bundles free entry to more than 70 museums and attractions, unlimited rides on GVB buses, trams and metro, one free canal cruise, and a 24-hour bike rental. The Rijksmuseum, A'DAM LOOKOUT, ARTIS Royal Zoo, the Rembrandt House Museum and the National Maritime Museum are all on the free list, and the reach extends beyond the city to Haarlem's museums, the Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen, Zaanse Schans and the Volendam to Marken ferry.

The card is digital. After booking, you download the City Card app, register with the code on your voucher, and activate only once you are in Amsterdam and ready to start. From that moment the clock runs, so travellers who plan dense days of museums plus transport between them tend to get the most back. Some venues require a pre-booked timeslot, which can be arranged before activation.

It suits visitors who want to pack in several major sights and use public transport daily. It suits them less if the main targets are the Van Gogh Museum or the Anne Frank House, since neither is included, and NS trains and non-GVB regional buses are not covered either. Discounts of 25 percent apply to selected attractions and venues, including the Heineken Experience, the Amsterdam Dungeon, Johan Cruijff ArenA stadium tours and several music venues.

What's Included

Itinerary

1. Receive your voucherAfter booking you get a voucher with a unique CC code. Download the City Card app and register the code.
2. Activate in AmsterdamActivate the card only once you are in the city and ready to use it. The validity window, from 24 to 120 hours, starts then.
3. Show the card at venuesPresent the card at each attraction entrance for free or discounted entry. Some locations require a timeslot booked in advance, which can be done before activation.
4. Scan on GVB transportScan the card when boarding any GVB bus, tram or metro for unlimited rides within Amsterdam for the card's duration.
5. Take the canal cruiseOne free canal cruise is included, with several participating cruise companies and departure points around the city.
6. Use the bike rentalA 24-hour bicycle rental is included. One reviewer used theirs from Yellow Bike to cycle through Vondelpark and the Jordaan district.
7. Get help if neededSupport is available by email at citycard@iamsterdam.com or at the official city store, open Monday to Friday from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM and weekends from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

What To Expect From The Tour

A few practical points shape how well the card works day to day.

• Keep your phone charged. The card lives in an app, so a dead battery means no entry and no transport. The listing tells users to charge their phone for all-day access. One traveller avoided the problem entirely by collecting a physical card at the store in the railway station.
• Book timeslots early. Some museums require a timeslot, and the listing advises booking these before activating the card. Doing this first protects the hours you have paid for.
• Plan dense days. Reviewers say the card pays off when you visit several places. One described using it for the Rijksmuseum, ARTIS Royal Zoo, the National Maritime Museum and a canal cruise, and said it easily paid for itself.
• Transport is GVB only. The unlimited transport covers GVB buses, trams and metro in Amsterdam. Several reviewers noted that other operators and NS trains are not included, so check before boarding.
• Scanning can be fiddly. Multiple travellers reported difficulty checking in and out on buses and trams with the QR code. One said transport worked smoothly after the first day, so expect a short learning curve.
• Try things you normally would not. One reviewer made the point that included attractions encourage detours you might otherwise skip. The free list spans museums, a zoo, a botanical garden and even an improv comedy theatre.

Common issues. The main complaint across reviews is unreliable QR scanning on trams and buses, with one traveller describing a driver threatening fines after a boarding mix-up. Transport coverage stops at GVB services, so regional buses and trains are extra. The Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House are not included. A few venues need a pre-booked timeslot, and the digital-only format means a low phone battery can block access to everything the card covers.

Questions People Ask