Cheap Amsterdam guide - All the best cheapskate tips in one place

We cover everything we can on this site, but I'll admit it: I'm a bit of a cheapskate. When I lived in Amsterdam I always hunted for the bargains, and keeping costs low is how I've been able to come back dozens of times since. This page pulls the cheapskate tips together in one place, for anyone who travels on a tight budget, whether because they have to or because it lets them do more with the same money.

A reality check before we start. Amsterdam is not the cheap city it was when this page first went up in 2009. The prices it quoted then (hostel beds from €20, hotel doubles from €40, a gram for €8) are long gone, and the city now adds a tourist tax of 12.5% of the room price to every stay. Your bed will be your biggest cost by far. The good news is that a lot of the best things in the city still cost little or nothing.

Free things to do in Amsterdam

The list of free things here isn't as long as in some big cities, but it has a few things you might not have thought of.

• The free ferries. The GVB ferries that cross the IJ from behind Centraal Station to Amsterdam Noord are free for pedestrians and cyclists. The short hop to Buiksloterweg drops you by the Eye Filmmuseum, and the longer ride to NDSM takes you to the old shipyard. When this page first ran, Noord was a place you rode to and straight back from. It isn't anymore.
• Free lunchtime concerts at the Concertgebouw. Most weeks except in July and August, the Concertgebouw hosts a free half-hour lunchtime concert, at 12:30pm, often on a Wednesday, sometimes a public rehearsal by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. You need a free ticket, released online about a week ahead, two per person. They go fast.
• The Rijksmuseum garden. The museum costs €25, but its garden is free to wander.
• Free shows in Vondelpark. From May to September the Vondelpark Open Air Theatre puts on free performances most weekends, from comedy to classical. Leave a donation if you can.
• The markets. Browsing costs nothing, and both big markets (below) are sights in their own right.

>> Free things to do in Amsterdam
>> The free ferry to North Amsterdam

Free walking tour of Amsterdam

Tip-based walking tours are still one of the best deals in town. SANDEMANs, the company that started the idea, runs a Free Tour of Amsterdam from the National Monument on Dam Square. It lasts about two hours on average, covers the canals, the Golden Age and the Jewish Quarter, and at the end you pay the guide what you think it was worth. I did this tour years ago and felt it was a bargain at the tip I gave. Guides make their living from those tips, so pay what you can.

One thing is different now: since April 2020 the city has banned guided tours through the Red Light District, so no walking tour will take you past the windows.

>> Free walking tours of Amsterdam

Cheap flights to Amsterdam

There's no magic trick for airfare, but a few habits help. Check several booking sites and the airline's own site before you buy, stay flexible on dates, and price the shoulder season against summer. Late May and June can be far cheaper than July and August, and our guide to early summer flights to Amsterdam explains why the window matters. Also look at alternate airports and the budget airlines that fly to Amsterdam from elsewhere in Europe.

If Amsterdam is one stop on a longer trip, a multi-stop ticket can cost less than a pile of separate flights. AirTreks, BootsnAll's sister company, has built multi-stop and round-the-world tickets since 1987. This sample route is tagged budget-friendly:

Getting around for less

Walk. The center is flat and compact, and you can cross it in well under an hour. When you do need a tram, tap a contactless bank card in and out. GVB caps what you pay that way at €10.50 a day on its trams, buses and metro, so you'll never pay more than that even on a busy day. From the airport, the train to Centraal costs €5.50 one way in second class (2026), a fraction of a taxi. Our airport transport guide has the details.

Renting a bike for a few days is another good-value way to cover more ground. See bike rental in Amsterdam, or buying a used bike if you're staying longer.

Cheapest Amsterdam hostels

The city is packed with hostels, and some are much cheaper than others. A few of the cheapest are out on the fringes, but the original advice here still stands: it's rarely worth spending an extra 30 minutes each way to save a couple of euros a night. Big names like the Flying Pig (with its Downtown hostel near the Red Light District and its Uptown hostel near Vondelpark) and Stayokay are still going.

Some hostels are much better than others at around the same price, so book the good ones as soon as your dates are firm. Prices rise on weekends and in summer, so a midweek stay in the shoulder season is where the real savings are. Check whether the price you see includes the 12.5% tourist tax.

>> Cheapest hostels in Amsterdam
>> Find the right Amsterdam hostel for you
>> All Amsterdam hostels

Cheap hotels in Amsterdam

With hotels in Amsterdam you tend to get what you pay for, at least at the budget end. Cheap rooms are usually small, and if the place next door charges twice as much, it's probably much nicer. You can sometimes find three- and four-star hotels running promotions that bring them close to two-star prices in the same area, so if that's your budget, look for those deals. If you're choosing between a private room in a hostel and a one-star hotel, don't expect many special offers.

>> Recommended budget hotels in Amsterdam
>> The cheapest Amsterdam hotels can be well located
>> Budget hotels in the Red Light District

Cheap drinks in Amsterdam

Drinking in Amsterdam bars adds up fast. Happy hours help, and many of the best ones are in bars inside hostels. They're open to anyone, even if you aren't staying there, and they're a good place to meet other travelers. The cheapest drink is still a beer from the supermarket, but remember that drinking alcohol in public is prohibited in the city center, so that supermarket beer is for your room, not the canal edge by Dam Square.

>> Amsterdam nightlife

Cheap food in Amsterdam

Amsterdam is still a reasonable city to eat in if your tastes are modest. A giant cone of fries with mayo works as a meal. The FEBO automat chain, where you pull hot snacks out of little windows in the wall, is still going strong (its Grillburger turned 50 in 2026) and it's open late. At the Albert Cuyp Market you can get a herring from the fish cart or a bag of fresh stroopwafels.

>> Best French fries in Amsterdam
>> Places to eat in Amsterdam
>> What to eat in Amsterdam

Cheap shopping in Amsterdam

The city is full of the same chain stores you'll see all over Europe. For cheap fashion, H&M is everywhere. For housewares and odds and ends, the Dutch chain HEMA is the place for most things that aren't food or clothes.

Your best cheap shopping is at the two big outdoor markets, and each is a sight in itself.

The Waterlooplein flea market, behind the city hall, is the oldest flea market in the country, with around 300 stalls. It's open Monday to Saturday, 9:30am to 6pm. Expect a mix of vintage and secondhand goods, books, clothes, souvenirs and plenty of new stuff. The selection is unpredictable, which is the fun of it.

The Albert Cuyp Market in De Pijp is bigger, with around 260 stalls, and it's where locals do their everyday shopping: food, flowers, fabric, clothes and cheap everything else. It's open Monday to Saturday, 9:30am to 5pm, and closed on Sundays and public holidays. It used to be hard to find. Now metro line 52 drops you at De Pijp station, right by the market, about ten minutes from Centraal.

>> Waterlooplein flea market
>> Albert Cuyp Market
>> Amsterdam shopping guide

The Red Light District on a budget

The Red Light District is one of the oldest and most beautiful parts of the city, and walking through it costs nothing. If you're worried you might feel uncomfortable, go earlier in the evening, when it's full of other visitors of all ages. Just follow the rules: no photos of the sex workers, no smoking cannabis on the street (a €100 fine since 2023), and no drinking in the street. Bars in the core of the district close at 2am on weekends.

Older versions of this page ended this section with advice on prostitute prices. We've dropped it. The district is a neighborhood where people live and work, and the city has spent years trying to cut down on exactly that kind of tourism.

>> Attractions in the Red Light District

Coffeeshops on a budget

First, a correction: this page used to say you can buy and smoke weed legally in Amsterdam. You can't. Cannabis is tolerated, not legal. Licensed coffeeshops can sell adults 18 and over up to 5 grams per transaction, and you should bring ID.

Prices on the menus in the center are fairly consistent, and you don't get bulk discounts (the 5-gram limit sees to that). You might save a little at a coffeeshop out in the residential neighborhoods, but it's rarely worth the extra travel unless you're going that way anyway. Smoke in the coffeeshop or on its terrace, since smoking on the street in the center is off-limits. If you'd like to bring your own, most coffeeshops are fine with that as long as you buy a drink. Tobacco can't be smoked indoors, so pure joints only inside.

Space cakes are cheap and strong, and people overdo them all the time. Eat a small piece, then wait much longer than you think you need to before having more.

>> Buying marijuana or hash in a coffeeshop
>> Where you can smoke and where you can't
>> The dangers of space cakes

Cheap Amsterdam FAQ

How much do I need per day in Amsterdam on a budget?

It depends almost entirely on your bed. Transport can be capped at €10.50 a day with a bank card on GVB, and food can be cheap if you eat from markets and snack bars. Price your hostel or hotel for your exact dates first, add the 12.5% tourist tax if it isn't included, and build the rest of your budget around that.

Is the I amsterdam City Card a good deal for budget travelers?

Only if you'll use it hard. It bundles museums, a canal cruise, bike rental and (in most versions) public transport, but it doesn't include the Van Gogh Museum. See our City Card page and add up what you'd actually do.

When is Amsterdam cheapest?

Usually midweek in the colder months, outside holidays and big events. Our Amsterdam in winter page makes the case, and the festivals guide shows which dates to avoid if you're watching the budget.