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I have to travel to Amsterdam next week, but I have a question regarding the Tram tickets.

Do I buy the tram tickets in the Central Station? Can I buy tickets from the tram driver?

Since it's a short trip I will be taking just the Tram 16, from the Central Station and the Keizersgracht.

Can I buy tickets that are valid for more than three days?

When do the tram start working? I know they run until 12:30pm but I don't know when they start?

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On my last visit to Amsterdam, I did not buy any ticket for the tram. I just entered the tram, asked the tram driver how much the fare was to the destination, and paid the fare directly (there is a small box where you can put the coins) and just alight at the destination. The price would be around 2.60 Euro for 1 hour trip. Means if you ride the tram 2 times within 1 hour, you don't need to pay for the second ride, as long as you can show the ticket as the proof.

For your question regarding tickets that last more than 3 days, there is 24-, 48-, 72-, 96-, 120-, 144- and 168- hour anonymous OV-chipcards. So your best bet should be 72 hours OV-Card. You can buy this tickets all big supermarkets, post office and of course, the central station.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e5/OV_Chipkaart.jpg

The tram starts working from 06.00 until 00.30 the next morning.

Note that Amsterdam is not a very big city, you can just walk from Van Gogh Museum (South Amsterdam) to Central Station (North Amsterdam) within approximately 1 hour.

Please read this article for more information.

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  • I promise you to confirmed you as the answer as soon as I get there, Thanks...
    – Necronet
    Jan 8, 2012 at 8:06
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    Recently the Netherlands introduced a new fare system called ov-chipcard. You can still buy a ticket at the driver, but this is rather expensive
    – user141
    Jan 8, 2012 at 9:12
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    I edited my answer to cover most of questions.
    – Rudy Gunawan
    Jan 9, 2012 at 3:24
  • When I buy Anonymous Ov-chipcards do I get to ride for more than two trips withouth recharging or I need to recharge?
    – Necronet
    Jan 9, 2012 at 20:41
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    from what I found in web, there are 2 types of ov-card. The first one : the tourist ovcard, that available in 1,2,3,4,5,6,and 7 days. It means if you buy 3 days/72 hours ov card you can have unlimited tram riding, but the ov card expires in 3 days. The second is the ov card that charged per riding, means if you have a default 20 euro inside the card, and let say each trip cost you 2 Euro, you can ride tram at least 10 times without recharge/top up.
    – Rudy Gunawan
    Jan 10, 2012 at 4:25
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All public transport only recently adopted a national system called "ov chip kaart", it is a chip containing card where you prepay your journey. On entering the the tram/bus/train the card is activated by holding it close to designated boxes. At the destination you repeat this and the price is calculated and charged on your card.

You can still pay at the driver, but this is rather expensive. Given the hassle to obtain and charge a chipcard, you could consider paying at the driver if you only need to use the tram once or twice. For more frequent use I would recommend buying such a prepaid "ov-chipkaart" enter image description here

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  • yes I will only be using the tram two or three times ... thanks for the advice
    – Necronet
    Jan 8, 2012 at 10:05
  • You can buy day passes or one-way passes from kiosks and machines at train and metro stations. There's a surcharge on the price for them, but for your limited number of journeys it should be less than buying a permanent (plastic) card.
    – jwenting
    Jan 12, 2012 at 6:57
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OV-chipcard costs 7.50€ just for the empty card, fare is 0.83€ + 0.142€ per 1km traveled. If you forget to check out it takes 4€. Personally, I think OV-chipcard is one of the most annoying systems I've seen. Getting in and out of a tram now takes forever. On the other hand, in the tram you can buy (cash only) 1-hour card for 2.70€. You still need to check out if you're planning to transfer.

Another alternative are day passes, there are 7.50€ for 1 day, 12€ for 2 days, 16€ for 3 days and 20.50€ for 4 days (prices as of 2014, you can check up to date prices)

The easiest place to but them near Centraal is to go to the entrance of the metro (subway), there quite a few machines to buy tickets. Don't get confused, as there will be machines for city transport (GVB) and trains (NS). City ones are blue-white, while train are blue-yellow.

You can see tram schedule on GVB page or just use Google Maps (click on tram stop, click on the tram number, you'll get the schedule).

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  • And if you don't check out, or to get a refund after you leave the Netherlands, you have to navigate a complicated website that is only in Dutch.
    – Andrew Lazarus
    Aug 5, 2016 at 21:41
  • It does have a website in English as of right now and it seems more simple tbh.
    – kissu
    Oct 26, 2021 at 8:44

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