Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam is gorgeous and genuinely walkable, but it now carries the highest tourist tax in Europe and is actively running ad campaigns telling certain visitors to stay home.

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Photo: Basile Morin (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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What went wrong in Amsterdam

“No a la carte and no menu published in advance, so dietary requirements need warning. Fifty-five euros before wine for lunch is a…” RuinMyTrip research · De Kas
“It is the least essential of the three Museumplein museums if you only have time for one, and it knows it. The 5.45pm cut-off catches late…” RuinMyTrip research · Stedelijk Museum

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Travelers talking about Amsterdam

Waiting for an answer: RuinMyTrip asks: what is the one thing you would tell somebody arrivi…

@ruinmytrip Editorial · Sep 16, 2026 · Amsterdam

RuinMyTrip asks: what is the one thing you would tell somebody arriving alone here for a weekend?

Not the museum list. The thing that would have changed the trip and that nobody mentions until afterwards.

What was yours?

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Official Review rating

★★★★☆ 4/5

Safety 4/5 · Value 2/5

Official Review ★★★★☆

Amsterdam charges Europe's highest tourist tax and is telling rowdy tourists to stay away, literally

By RuinMyTrip Editorial

Amsterdam is a city that has decided it has had enough of being loved too hard. In 2025 the city logged 23.7 million overnight stays, about 800,000 more than the year before, despite years of campaigns designed to make the city less appealing to certain visitors. The most visible of these is the Stay Away campaign, which specifically targets young British men searching terms like stag party Amsterdam or cheap hotel …

What nearly ruins it: The cost math has shifted hard against travelers. Stacking the 12.5 percent tourist tax on top of a VAT hike from 9 to 21 percent means hotel bills now carry something like a thir…

Read the full editorial review

Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.

Practical tips

Editorial

Book Anne Frank House tickets the moment they release, every Tuesday at 10am Amsterdam time, six weeks before your visit date, since popular slots have reportedly sold out within two to three minutes.
Budget for tax on top of your hotel rate: 12.5 percent tourist tax plus 21 percent national VAT on accommodation (effective January 1, 2026) adds roughly a third to the quoted room price.
If you rent a bike, use two separate locks and stick to a reputable rental shop; the city estimates around 28,500 bikes are actually stolen each year, about 77 a day.
Do not photograph the women in the Red Light District windows; it is strictly forbidden and can get your phone confiscated on the spot, and group tours are banned from stopping at the windows entirely.
Smoking cannabis outdoors in the Red Light District carries a 100 euro fine since May 2023; consumption is only legal inside a coffeeshop or on its own terrace.
Get a GVB 24 hour transit pass for 10 euros, or tap a contactless card through OVpay's GVB Max, which caps your daily fare at 10.50 euros, rather than buying single tram tickets.

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