September–October
Wk 38–40
The quietest stretch among this region's best weather weeks: crowd level around 52 out of 100, weather comfort near 63.
- Crowd level
- 47–56
- Comfort
- 59–67
Netherlands · Amsterdam
Amsterdam: canal ring, Golden Age and the Rijksmuseum
The capital of the Netherlands sits on the river Amstel and the former inlet IJ; its canal ring has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2010. The Rijksmuseum holds Rembrandt's The Night Watch, while the seat of government and the ministries lie some 60 kilometres away in The Hague.
Busiest week
JulyCrowd level 100
Wk 30 · 1,106,447 overnight stays
Quietest weeks
JanuaryCrowd level 0
Wk 2–4 · measured against the region's own year, not against other regions
Sweet spot
September–OctoberCrowd level 47–56
Wk 38–40 · quietest while the weather still holds
Warmest month
20 °CComfort 75
August · around 78 mm of rain in the month
Amsterdam in brief
Amsterdam has been the constitutional capital of the Netherlands since 1983 and lies in the province of Noord-Holland on the river Amstel and the former inlet IJ; the city proper has around 942,504 residents, the Groot-Amsterdam agglomeration 1,472,793. The name traces back to a dam built across the mouth of the Amstel in the thirteenth century, out of which the fishing village of Amstelredam grew; in 1602 the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie was founded in the city, and in the Golden Age that followed, the merchant houses and bridges of the canal ring, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2010, were built. The Rijksmuseum holds Dutch paintings from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, including Rembrandt's The Night Watch, and other major museums include the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House.
When is Amsterdam busy, when is it quiet?
Click a week. The panel on the right explains why it is busy or quiet.
Weather profile
Weather comfort is an absolute scale (0 = poor, 100 = ideal) and a second axis next to the season-relative crowd level.
JanuaryØ 3
FebruaryØ 12
MarchØ 27
AprilØ 58
MayØ 62
JuneØ 63
JulyØ 83
AugustØ 88
SeptemberØ 56
OctoberØ 55
NovemberØ 31
DecemberØ 24
Colour = season-relative crowd levelBar = weather comfort (Sun & warmth), absolute 0–100
Why this week?
September · Wk 38
Crowd level56/100 · moderate
quietbusy
Weather comfort32/100 · Sun & warmth
+9 % versus the region's annual average.
- Contributing months
- September (100 %)
- Overnight stays/week
- 779,220
- Main source markets
- Netherlands (65 %) · Germany (20 %) · Belgium (5 %) · 94% of guests modelled
- Region range
- 369,594–1,106,447 (avg 713,078)
- Base years
- 2022, 2023, 2024 (excluding 2020, 2021)
v1: Crowd-Score aus der Eurostat-Basisschicht (Übernachtungen), moduliert vom Schulferien-Druck der Quellmärkte, region-spezifisch gewichtet mit dem Quellland-Mix. Season-relativ zur Region. Event-Schichten folgen.
Plan your trip
Pre-filled with the next date in week 38.
DestinationAmsterdam
Travel datesPick a week in the calendar
FlightSearch flights (opens in a new tab)
StayFind stays (opens in a new tab)
ActivityExplore activities (opens in a new tab)Ad · commission link
Photos: Johny Goerend · reisetopia · Dino Reichmuth on Unsplash
The travel year in Amsterdam, month by month
The year as a table to read and to cite: crowd level for every month, plus weather comfort and temperature from the climate normals.
| Month | Crowd level0–100, season-relative | Weather comfort0–100, profile “mild” | Avg temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3 | 21 | 5 °C |
| February | 12 | 24 | 6 °C |
| March | 27 | 33 | 8 °C |
| April | 58 | 47 | 11 °C |
| May | 62 | 66 | 15 °C |
| June | 63 | 75 | 18 °C |
| July | 83 | 75 | 19 °C |
| August | 88 | 75 | 20 °C |
| September | 56 | 68 | 17 °C |
| October | 55 | 52 | 13 °C |
| November | 31 | 32 | 8 °C |
| December | 24 | 23 | 6 °C |
The crowd level is season-relative: 100 is the annual peak of Amsterdam itself, not the busiest destination in Europe. The figures say when it is quiet here — not where it is quieter than elsewhere.
Weather comfort 0–100 from the climate normals, profile “mild” – the same profile as the recommendation above, not the selection in the calendar. A “–” means the data for that month is missing.
Index 2.0 · As of 25/08/2026
The windows worth catching
Three windows from the model: first whether the weather suits the region, then how busy it gets.
May
Wk 19–21
A second option, also with usable weather: crowd level around 60, weather comfort near 67.
- Crowd level
- 60
- Comfort
- 63–70
July–August
Wk 30–32
The region's peak: crowd level around 98 out of 100. Only if the dates are fixed.
- Crowd level
- 96–100
- Comfort
- 75–76
Amsterdam compared with Europe
How full the accommodation is here, measured against Europe – on the only measure on which two travel regions can be compared.
- Bed occupancy in Amsterdam
- 41.4
- European median
- 23.1
per cent of bed places, annual mean
per cent of bed places, annual mean
Furthest from the median: April, at 2.3× the value. Closest to the median: August, at 1.4× the value.
Mean across 12 months, weighted by their weeks. This occupancy compares travel regions with one another. The crowding in the table above compares Amsterdam with itself. The two measures are never combined.
Climate through the year
Average temperature with day/night range and precipitation across the twelve months.
- Avg temperature
- Day/night range
- Precipitation
| Month | Avg temperature (°C) | Day avg (°C) | Night avg (°C) | Precipitation (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 5 | 5 | 5 | 79 |
| Feb | 5 | 6 | 5 | 69 |
| Mar | 7 | 8 | 6 | 62 |
| Apr | 9 | 11 | 8 | 54 |
| May | 13 | 15 | 12 | 51 |
| Jun | 17 | 18 | 15 | 72 |
| Jul | 18 | 19 | 17 | 74 |
| Aug | 18 | 20 | 17 | 78 |
| Sep | 16 | 17 | 15 | 93 |
| Oct | 12 | 13 | 12 | 104 |
| Nov | 8 | 8 | 8 | 91 |
| Dec | 6 | 6 | 6 | 84 |
The band shows mean daytime to nighttime temperature. Precipitation shown as monthly total (mm). Typical monthly value (climate normal), not a forecast.
How sunny?
How much sun a typical day delivers, month by month, expressed as hours of full midday sun.
Moderately sunny
≈ 3.2 h of full midday sun per day, annual average
Jun
Sunniest month
| Month | ≈ h of full midday sun per day |
|---|---|
| Jan | 0.7 |
| Feb | 1.5 |
| Mar | 2.9 |
| Apr | 4.6 |
| May | 5.6 |
| Jun | 5.9 |
| Jul | 5.6 |
| Aug | 4.7 |
| Sep | 3.3 |
| Oct | 1.8 |
| Nov | 0.9 |
| Dec | 0.5 |
Basis: mean daily solar irradiance in kWh/m²/day; 1 kWh/m² is roughly one hour of full midday sun (1,000 W/m²). Not the same as measured sunshine duration. Typical monthly value (climate normal), not a forecast.
Directly reachable from
Destination airports of Amsterdam and every European departure airport with a direct connection to them.
Destination airports
Select a destination airport to see the direct departure airports.
“Directly reachable” means a direct connection exists according to our sources. We do not show a live timetable. Availability and flight days can vary by season and airline.
Ski areas in Amsterdam
Mapped ski areas in this region with slope kilometres, lifts and elevation, plus the long-term snow average from our climate data.
- Ski areas
- 4
- Lifts
- 7
- Highest point
- 19 m
| Ski area | Slopes | Lifts | Elevation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skicentrum Hoofddorp | not available | not available | not available |
| Skiclub Il Primo | not available | not available | not available |
| SnowWorld Amsterdam | not available | not available | not available |
| Wolfskamer Wintersport | not available | 7 | 1–19 m18 m vertical drop |
Slope, lift and elevation figures come from open mapping and are complete to varying degrees. “Not available” means not mapped, not “does not exist”. Opening hours and season are not included. Snow figures are long-term averages for the whole region, not snow depth on the mountain and not a forecast.
Amsterdam in detail
Capital on the Amstel and the IJ
Amsterdam has been the constitutional capital of the Netherlands since 1983, lies in the province of Noord-Holland on the river Amstel and the former inlet IJ; the seat of government, the royal residence, the Supreme Court and all ministries and embassies of the country are in The Hague, some 60 kilometres away. Amsterdam is the most populous city in the Kingdom of the Netherlands; the city proper had around 942,504 residents in 2026, and the Groot-Amsterdam agglomeration 1,472,793 as of 1 January 2024. Since 24 March 2022, the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, to which the city belongs, has comprised 30 municipalities across seven sub-regions; since 2011, immigrants have formed a majority of the city's population, and among residents under 15 the share with a migrant background stands at nearly two-thirds.
Name, Golden Age and canal ring
The city's name traces back to a dam with a lock built across the mouth of the Amstel in the thirteenth century, out of which grew a fishing village called Amstelredam; in 1275 the settlement was first recorded as Amstelledamme. In 1602 the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie was founded in the city, followed in 1621 by the Dutch West India Company. Nearly 7,000 merchant and warehouse buildings and almost 1,300 bridges from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries bear witness to the Golden Age; today over 8,000 of the city's buildings are protected as monuments. The Amsterdam canal ring became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010, and in 1876 the newly opened North Sea Canal linked the city to the North Sea.
The Jodenbuurt and the National Monument
From 1492, Jews expelled from Spain came to Amsterdam, and from the mid-sixteenth century Ashkenazi Jews from Poland followed; the Jodenbuurt became their preferred quarter. In 1941 the German occupying forces turned the Jodenbuurt into a fenced-in ghetto. The National Monument on the Dam, built in 1956, carries a 22-metre obelisk of reinforced concrete and travertine.
Museums and concert halls
The Concertgebouw was completed in 1888. The Rijksmuseum was begun in 1876, opened in 1886, rebuilt between 2003 and 2013, and reopened on 13 April 2013; it holds Dutch paintings from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, including Rembrandt's The Night Watch. Other major museums include the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, the Stedelijk Museum of modern art, and the Scheepvaartmuseum.
Churches, squares and bridges
The Oude Kerk, whose first stone church was built in 1325, the Nieuwe Kerk of 1408, and the Westerkerk of 1620 to 1631 carry valuable historic organs. On the Dam, the city's central square, stands the Paleis op de Dam, the Royal Palace; on the Singel stands the Munttoren, a historic customs house. The Magere Brug, an Amstel bridge from 1670, lies in the city centre, as does the Begijnhof with its small houses for the beguines, dating back to the fourteenth century. Several districts, including Amsterdam-West, hold buildings in the style of the Amsterdam School, a strand of expressionist architecture, among them the housing block Het Schip from 1917 to 1921.
Sport and parks
The football club Ajax Amsterdam is the Netherlands' record champion and plays its games at the Johan Cruyff Arena, which seats more than 50,000. In 1928 Amsterdam hosted the Summer Olympics; the Olympic Stadium today serves, among other things, as the finish of the annual Amsterdam Marathon. Vondelpark, near Leidseplein, is Amsterdam's first city park. The Albert Cuyp Market in De Pijp is the largest daily market in Europe.
Frequently asked questions about the best time to visit Amsterdam
Short answers on timing, weather and getting there, all from the data on this page.
When is the best time to visit Amsterdam?
- The best time to visit Amsterdam is September–October (Wk 38–40): it is the quietest stretch among the region's best weather weeks – crowd level around 52 out of 100, weather comfort about 63 out of 100.
When is Amsterdam quietest?
- January (Wk 2–4) is the quietest time in Amsterdam. Crowd levels there sit at 0 out of 100, the lowest across the year.
When is Amsterdam busiest?
- Amsterdam is busiest in July (Wk 30) with around 1,106,447 overnight stays in the peak week.
What is the weather like in Amsterdam and when is it warmest?
- It is warmest in Amsterdam in August with an average of 20 °C and around 78 mm of rain in the month.
How do you get to Amsterdam?
- Amsterdam is reachable via the destination airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) with direct flights.
Quiet travel windows across Europe, once a month
The Crowd Report names the emptiest weeks of the coming months — for every region, not just this one. Free, unsubscribe any time.
Sources and data vintages
Every provenance note on this page, collected in one place.
- Cover photo
- Photo by Adrien Olichon on Unsplash
- Cover video
- Video by Matheus Bertelli on Pexels
- Crowding figures
- Index 2.0 · As of 25/08/2026. v1 approximation, calculated from Eurostat overnight stays. Day tourism and cruises (Venice, Dubrovnik …) are still missing, so we show these destinations as quieter than they are. The crowd score is a model-based forecast, not a measurement.
- Climate data
- Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2025.
- Reachability
Data sources: direct connections from Wikipedia (“Airlines and destinations”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, aggregated and modified by us), cross-checked with Eurostat, Destatis and the UK Civil Aviation Authority; airport data from OurAirports (Public Domain). The derived connection data is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Data as of: September 2026
- Ski areas
Data sources: ski areas from OpenSkiMap, based on OpenStreetMap, licensed under ODbL 1.0; snow depths from ERA5-Land (Copernicus Climate Change Service).
- Region text
- Text by HolidayHub, written from Wikivoyage „Amsterdam“ (1801188) · Wikipedia „Amsterdam“ (269238107) · Wikidata Q727. Wikivoyage and Wikipedia are licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikidata CC0.
- Data basis
- All figures are approximations derived from open data (crowd level from Eurostat overnight stays, climate from Copernicus/ERA5-Land), not measurements.