Amsterdam Light Festival 2026–27: Hours, Route, Tickets

Dates and hours for the 2026–27 edition

The festival's dates and hours page and its general FAQ give the same schedule for edition 15:

The festival says a second information point near Central Station will follow, without details yet. The edition 15 page describes a brand-new route for the anniversary edition, plus free events along it, and says more information will follow.

Free or paid: four ways to see the artworks

Seeing the art costs nothing. The walk FAQ says it is not mandatory to buy a ticket, but also that the artworks have no signage. What you pay for is context, a route map, or a seat on the water.

Walking the route

The route is about 4.5 km and takes around 1.5 hours at a normal pace. The artworks are not in a set order, so you can start anywhere; for first-timers, the festival suggests starting at Amstel 1 or Waterlooplein.

The Light Walk adds an audio guide, artist background and your position on the route map, plus restaurant offers along the way. The festival's ticket FAQ prices it at €6.99 and its walk FAQ at €7.99, so check the price in the app before you pay. There is also a Kids Walk with quiz questions and a scavenger hunt, aimed at ages 7–12; its price was still to be set when we checked. The festival's pages give mid-November and 24 November as the dates the app and its in-app map go live.

If you would rather stay offline, the directions page says a limited number of printed route maps are available at the information points.

Seeing it by boat

According to the ticket FAQ, festival cruises start at €29.75 per adult, children aged 4–12 pay half, children up to 3 travel free, and CJP card holders get 25% off. Tickets went on sale on 1 October 2026. The cruise page lists covered, heated canal boats with toilets, open boats with blankets, boats with drinks, and private or group boats booked directly with partner companies.

Booking with an operator can be cheaper. Stromma's Light Festival cruise showed "from €22.75" against a crossed-out €29.75 when we checked. It runs daily from 16:30 to 21:30 on heated, enclosed boats from Damrak pier 4 and Middenkom opposite Central Station, with an English and Dutch audio guide. Our canal cruise comparison covers the regular year-round boats and docks.

Which option to choose

For two adults on a dry evening, walking costs nothing, or €6.99–7.99 if you buy the Light Walk. A festival-shop cruise for the same couple costs €59.50 at the €29.75 fare, and less if an operator's online offer applies. Pay that if it is cold or wet, if someone in your group cannot manage 4.5 km on cobbles, or if you have only one evening and want to see the works from the water; the festival describes the canals as the canvas for this edition.

Walk if you want to linger, take photos at your own pace, or stop for food; start soon after 16:30 so you are not still on the route when the lights go off at 23:00. Switch to a cruise if rain sets in: the cruise FAQ says boats almost always sail, and if one cannot, the company contacts you to rebook.

Getting there and moving around

The festival asks visitors to come by public transport and names Amsterdam Centraal and Waterlooplein as the nearest stops. For how to pay on trams and the metro, see our guide to GVB fares by card or day ticket.

Cycling between artworks is possible, and the festival says there are bike racks along the route; it asks cyclists to stop and get off before using the app. Our bike rental guide covers prices and the city's cycling rules.

Christmas and New Year's Eve at the festival

The lights stay on through Christmas, and the information point opens daily from 19 December to 3 January, except 25 and 31 December. On New Year's Eve the artworks switch off at 21:00, two hours early, so walk or cruise earlier in the evening. For the rest of that night, our guide to Amsterdam's New Year's Eve fireworks ban covers the rules and what visitors can still do.