Amsterdam is a magnet for lots of travelers because of its funky vibe, mixed with diversity, history, water canals and alternative scene. But as soon as you get more into planning, you realized that traveling to Amsterdam might not be as cheap as you first imagined.
If you ask us, each destination can be done as a luxury travel or on a budget and it is up to you, what kind of travel style you choose. People also say traveling to Dubai is super expensive, but we have already proofed it can be done on a budget as well. The same goes for Amsterdam.
How to make traveling to Amsterdam on a budget?
Cheap flights to Amsterdam
One thing is certain – if a travel is cheap or not, can already start from the beginning, with booking a flight. If you are based in Europe, there are different airlines, which will take you to Amsterdam on a budget, like Transavia, Easyjet, Ryanair, so do check them out.
Camping instead of hotels
Hotels in Amsterdam are expensive and the cheapest option is to pack a tent with you and decide for camping. Amsterdam has few »city« camping spots and we also stayed at one – Zeeburg camping. (Coordinates: 52.21.51.8 / 004.57.42.7) We have been traveling around Holland by car and slept in the car, so our price was as having a RV. In the TOP season, we paid 31€/night, including electricity.
The location of the camp is good – it is close to the grocery store and local transport, which takes you to the main train station in the city center in around 15 minutes.
If camping is just not your style, you can check out hotels here. Our recommondation for private double room is Ibis Amsterdam City West or Motel One Amsterdam. For dormitory rooms, check out the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel.
Not keen of camps and hotels? Consider in booking your stay with Airbnb. If you are not signed in their program yet, you can do that on the link here and get a voucher for 30 EUR for your first booking made.
Explore Amsterdam on foot, by bike or public transport
The cheapest option for exploring Amsterdam is definitely by foot. But this is possible only if you are concentrating only to the city center and your hotel is somewhere near by as well. The other option is renting a bike or buying a daily ticket for public transport. We paid 25€/pp for 48 hours ticket.
The Red light district for cheap food
It might sound funny, but we really enjoyed the red light district. Don’t get us wrong, it was not for the ladies of the night and the famous window displays, but rather because of numerous pubs, coffee shops and cheap Asian restaurants.
We managed to find a wok restaurant, where vegetarian noodles came for only 4,50€. We have always eaten there, as it was not just cheap, but also delicious. In the vicinity of the main train station are also lots of French fries sellers, what is a good option for a quick bite. Plan to spend around 3,50€ per portion.
Don’t even miss some food truck, selling local Dutch foods – check out what you should not miss when in Amsterdam / Holland here.
Local markets for cheap natural juices and smoothies
We really enjoy local markets on our travels and Amsterdam has many of them too. Some are selling mostly flowers, others are flea markets or even farmer’s markets, but some have something of everything. We were super happy to find a stand selling freshly squeezed juices and smoothies and for only 1,50 EUR/3 dcl cup. We were there every day.
Buy food in grocery stores
The cheapest option for food is buying it in grocery stores. Everything makes even more sense if you’ll be camping and preparing your own meals.
Explore streets and not museums and galleries
Amsterdam is full of museums, galleries and other sights, which are not for free. If you are traveling to Amsterdam on a budget, forget about them and just concentrate in getting to know the street life and vibe. After all, Amsterdam is most famous for this anyway. We spent 3 days in Amsterdam and did not pay for any tourist attraction as we want to really feel the city on our first visit. We walked a lot, sit along the canals and just enjoyed everything coming our way – it was great!
Traveling to Amsterdam on a budget or not is great and we will be back one day for sure, as there is plenty other things to do in this culturally rich city.
Nice post. These tricks are really good and effective. I like these tricks. Also, whenever I visit to Amsterdam I would try all these tricks. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much – glad you enjoyed the post and that these tricks will help you on your budget travel to Amsterdam. 🙂