Amsterdam · December

Amsterdam in December with kids

By Ramya ChinnaduraiPublished 15 October 2026Updated 15 October 2026

The Light Festival's own dates page, not a tourism weather table, is what you can actually plan around. The Amsterdam with kids page already covers GVB child tickets, ARTIS prices and NEMO start times. This note is the 2026 to 2027 light span, the RAI winter park, and the days those houses close early.

Amsterdam Light Festival, Winterparadijs, ARTIS, NEMO and I amsterdam were opened on 15 October 2026. The old I amsterdam weather URL returned 404, so no December °C average is invented. Christmas Village still showed 2025 dates, so it is omitted.

26 November to 17 January, and a 21:00 New Year

Amsterdam Light Festival prints edition 15 from Thursday 26 November 2026 until Sunday 17 January 2027. On 31 December it closes at 21:00. Info points close on 25 and 31 December. I amsterdam's 2026 calendar repeats that span.

Daily switch-on times do not agree. The festival site says 16:30 to 23:00. I amsterdam says 17:30, with different weekday closes. Both are official. This page will not pick one. Use the live dates page the week you walk.

Do not treat the route as a playground. It is a look from a pavement or a boat after dark. Keep the afternoon for a ticketed indoor room.

RAI is dated. Museumplein is not.

Winterparadijs at RAI runs 17 December 2026 to 2 January 2027. Closed 31 December. Opens 10:00 on 1 January. Outdoor attractions close 22:00. Umbrellas are not allowed. After 18:00 the dress code is a party, not jogging bottoms.

That is a paid winter park with a transfer. It is not a canal-side market you stumble into. Funky Xmas Market is the one stall field I amsterdam dated: Sunday 20 December 2026, 12:00 to 18:00, "subject to change." Christmas Village on Museumplein still read 4 to 28 December 2025. Walk past chalets if you see them. Do not build the day on that leftover card.

Sinterklaas feast day is 5 December on I amsterdam's winter page. The intocht listing disagreed with the annual calendar (14 versus 15 November 2026), so the arrival date is omitted.

Houses that shut earlier

ARTIS prints 24 to 26 December at 09:00 to 17:00, 31 December at 09:00 to 16:00, and 1 January at 10:00 to 17:00. The standing day is 09:00 to 18:00. The holiday list does not print a year. Read it again in November.

NEMO adds Mondays 21 and 28 December 2026. The shop clock is Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:30, and Mondays in school holidays. Under-13s still need an adult. A Christmas-holiday article still headed 2025 to 2026 said the house stays open 25 and 26 December and 1 January. Treat that as standing copy, then check the ticket calendar.

I amsterdam's winter page says canals freeze for skating only after four nights below 4°C, and that this does not happen often. Do not promise ice.

A December day that holds: NEMO or ARTIS in daylight, Light Festival after 16:30 if you accept the disagreement on the exact switch-on, Winterparadijs on a date it is actually open. Skip 31 December at RAI. For the April tulip clock, use Amsterdam in April.

What December is not

December is not a second King's Day. It is not a month with an official tourism thermometer on the pages we opened. It is not a guarantee of snow, even though I amsterdam likes the Christmas-card photograph.

GVB child day tickets stay presale only. The City Card still excludes Van Gogh and Anne Frank House. Those two facts do not relax for the lights.

If you have one indoor ticket, buy NEMO for a school-holiday Monday when the house has said it is open. If you have one paid outdoor evening, buy Winterparadijs on a day that is not 31 December. If you have no extra tickets, walk the Light Festival route after dark and keep the afternoon free. Do not stack all three on 25 December, when the info points are shut and ARTIS is on the short clock.

NEMO's Dutch school-holiday page lists the Christmas break as 19 December 2026 to 3 January 2027. That is why the extra Mondays exist. It is not a weather sentence. I amsterdam's winter page still likes the snow photograph. Canal ice still needs four nights below 4°C. Plan the museum, not the skate.

The I amsterdam City Card child card still cannot be bought alone. Van Gogh and Anne Frank House are still excluded. A Light Festival walk does not unlock either house. Book those separately if they matter, and do not count them as a winter saving.

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