Amsterdam GVB Fares: Paying by Card vs Day Tickets

What a GVB trip costs when you pay by card

GVB, Amsterdam's city operator, charges card payments by distance. Vervoerregio Amsterdam, the transport authority that sets the fares, announced the 2026 rates: a boarding fare of €1.16 (up from €1.12) and a GVB kilometre rate of €0.217 (up from €0.207). Those two numbers make up the fare for one adult trip paid by bank card (checked 12 October 2026).

Worked out for a single adult trip:

The distance charged is worked out by the system, not by you, so treat these as estimates. The exact amount appears in the OVpay app or on your bank statement afterwards.

The €10.50 daily cap (GVB Max)

You do not need to buy anything to get a daily maximum. I amsterdam's Dutch public transport page (updated 7 October 2026) describes GVB Max as automatic: check in and out with your bank card on GVB day lines and the day's charges stop at €10.50. Vervoerregio's 2026 fare proposals set that maximum equal to the price of a GVB 1-day ticket, €10.50, and its December 2025 letter to the regional council confirms the 2026 proposals were adopted on 17 November 2025 (checked 12 October 2026).

You may still see €10.00 elsewhere: I amsterdam's English payment page (last updated 20 April 2026) gives that figure, which was the cap when GVB Max started in 2025. We use €10.50 because it comes from the authority that sets the fares and matches I amsterdam's newer Dutch page.

With the per-trip fares above, you reach the cap on about the sixth trip of 3 km in a day, or the fifth trip of 5 km. Every trip after that on the same day costs nothing extra.

How to pay with your bank card

1. Use a contactless card: NS's debit card FAQ lists foreign Maestro, V PAY, Mastercard and Visa cards as accepted, plus a phone or smartwatch with one of those cards linked.
2. Hold the card or phone to the reader when you board and again when you get off. Translink's OVpay page says the same tap works on buses, trams, metro and trains.
3. Check out with exactly the same card or device. NS warns that a phone wallet and the physical card count as two different cards, so tapping in with one and out with the other leaves a journey open.
4. Each person taps their own card. NS states you cannot pay for a companion on your card.

Cards from Vivid and Paysafe and Revolut's digital debit cards do not work, according to NS, and some other foreign cards are refused too. If your card fails at the reader, check that contactless payment is switched on. Vervoerregio notes that GVB does not sell physical cards on board buses or trams, so have a backup card or a day ticket ready.

NS's FAQ lists a €33.30 correction fee for a forgotten check-out (and €20 for a forgotten check-in), for example when you check out with a different card or device from the one you checked in with. From 6 hours after the journey you can adjust a missed check-out at OVpay and get any excess back within 5 days. The GVB pages that would confirm the amount on trams and metro could not be read, so tap out every time.

GVB day tickets

GVB sells day tickets for 1 to 7 days, valid on all GVB trams, buses and metro. I amsterdam's payment page says they start at your first check-in and can be bought online and added to Apple or Google Wallet.

Because the 1-day ticket costs the same €10.50 as the daily card cap, it can never save money over tapping your card on GVB alone. It still makes sense if your card is not accepted, or if you are paying for someone who has no contactless card of their own.

The prices of the 2- to 7-day tickets were not shown on the official pages we could read; I amsterdam lists GVB day tickets "from €10". Vervoerregio's 2026 note says all GVB day and multi-day tickets rose by €0.50 this year. Check the multi-day price at checkout and buy it only if it is less than your expected card total for the same days, worked out below.

Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket

This is an official regional ticket rather than a GVB one. Connexxion's product page lists €23 for 1 day, €34 for 2 days and €44 for 3 days (checked 12 October 2026). It covers GVB trams, metro and buses, regional and night buses of Connexxion, Transdev, AllGo and EBS in the Amsterdam Area, and NS trains in the Amsterdam Area, second class only.

Connexxion says the days must be consecutive, each runs until 04:00 the next morning, the ticket comes as a single-use OV-chipkaart, and it is non-refundable. An online purchase arrives as a voucher you exchange at an NS ticket office or ticket machine at Schiphol or Amsterdam Centraal. I amsterdam's ticket page adds that from March to May it is valid on bus 858 from Schiphol to Keukenhof.

Neither page lists every station inside the "Amsterdam Area", so check Connexxion's route map before counting on it for a particular train journey.

Which option is cheaper for a 3-day visit

Per adult, travelling only on GVB trams, metro and day buses, with trips of about 3 km (2026 rates, checked 12 October 2026):

Even if you hit the GVB cap every day, card payment costs €31.50 against €44 for the regional ticket. The regional ticket only wins when, on top of heavy GVB use, you take more than about €12.50 of regional buses or NS trains inside its zone over those three days, or when you use night buses often.

When to switch:

• Mostly walking or cycling, a few rides a day: tap your card. You pay per trip and never more than €10.50 a day.
• Lots of city rides every day: still tap your card, unless a GVB multi-day ticket costs less than €10.50 times your number of days at checkout.
• Day trips by regional bus or train on several days: price those trips first, then compare with the €34 or €44 regional ticket.
• No accepted contactless card: buy a GVB day ticket or the regional ticket instead.

If you plan to cover short distances by bike rather than tram, see our guide to bike rental and cycling rules in Amsterdam. For an out-of-town day, our Zaanse Schans day trip guide shows how that journey is priced.

Free ferries behind Centraal Station

The GVB ferries across the IJ to Amsterdam-Noord cost nothing. I amsterdam's ferry page says you do not need a ticket, and its Dutch transport page adds that you do not check in or out with a card. Boats from behind Centraal Station run to Buiksloterweg, the busiest crossing, which also runs through the night, as well as to IJplein and NDSM Wharf. Pedestrians, cyclists and mopeds can all board, and the ferries have wide ramps for wheelchairs and mobility scooters.

Arriving from the airport? Our Schiphol to the city centre guide covers the train and bus fares for that first journey.