Amsterdam Christmas Market

Amsterdam celebrates Christmas on several squares, and the Amsterdam Christmas market, whose 2026 edition has already been announced, takes place on the Museumplein, the open space in front of the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum: the Christmas Village Amsterdam, also known as the Kerstmarkt Museumplein, whose tenth edition runs from Thursday 3 to Sunday 27 December 2026, with free entry. Around fifty stalls of food, drink, art and gifts, with mulled wine at the counter, at the foot of the museums. Alongside it, the Leidseplein hosts an ice rink and a small market of chalets every winter, with 2026 dates still to be confirmed. From Paris, the Eurostar takes 3h20 to Amsterdam Centraal, with no change.

The Christmas Village on the Museumplein, Amsterdam’s Christmas market

The Christmas Village occupies the Museumplein, the large lawn of the museum quarter, south of the centre. The official page mentions around fifty stalls, split between art, gifts and food, laid out in a village of chalets. The 2026 edition is the tenth, and entry remains free from 3 to 27 December. This market runs right through Christmas: it stays open on 25 and 26 December, with reduced hours.

The announced opening hours run from 12pm to 9pm from 3 to 24 December, 12pm to 7pm on 25 and 26 December, and 12pm to 6pm on 27 December. The FAQ on the same page mentions an 11am opening at weekends and on 25 and 26 December: check the opening time on icevillage.nl before coming for lunch. Despite the domain name, the 2026 page makes no mention of an ice rink on the Museumplein.

Mulled wine, gifts and museums: what you will find there

The Christmas Village menu follows the formula of northern Europe’s Christmas markets: mulled wine, hot dishes, sweet treats, artwork and gift ideas. The organiser does not detail any Dutch speciality on this page, but mulled wine is the first thing listed; the Dutch recipe and its Alsatian, German and Nordic cousins are compared in mulled wine and its variants. The setting matters as much as the menu: the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum line the square, and you go from a room of paintings to a steaming cup in a few steps.

The Leidseplein: ice rink and oliebollen

Amsterdam’s second Christmas site is the Leidseplein, the square of theatres and cafés, north of the Museumplein. In 2025, the Leidseplein ice rink and its Christmas market ran from 5 December 2025 to 11 January 2026, with wooden chalets on the Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen, oliebollen (the Dutch doughnuts of the year’s end), waffles, spiral fries, cheese and a glühwein tower. According to the 2025-2026 price list, access to the ice cost €5, skate hire €10 and the skates-and-hot-drink combo €19.50. The dates of the 2026 edition have not yet been published; check ijsbaan.amsterdam to find out.

Getting to Amsterdam from France

• Train: the Eurostar (formerly Thalys) links Paris-Nord to Amsterdam Centraal in 3h20, direct via Brussels-Midi, Rotterdam and Schiphol, with around ten departures a day according to the booking sites (figures range from 11 to 13).
• From Amsterdam Centraal: trams 2, 3 and 5 to the Museumplein stop, then a short walk; or metro 52 towards Zuid to Vijzelgracht, then about 15 minutes on foot.
• Car: 502 km from Paris, around 5h50 without traffic; 286 km from Lille, about 3h30. The organiser recommends public transport.
• Parking: paid Q-Park car park under the Museumplein.
• 2026 dates: Christmas Village from 3 to 27 December; Leidseplein to be confirmed.

Haarlem, The Hague and the southern Netherlands

Amsterdam combines well with other Christmas towns. The Haarlem Christmas market takes place west of Amsterdam, and the Royal Christmas Fair, The Hague’s Christmas market, opens on almost the same days, from 3 to 23 December. For a family break, the Efteling park and its Christmas winter season are in Brabant, to the south. The Christmas Village on the Museumplein remains a medium-sized market: it takes an hour or two to see, and it is the city around it that fills the weekend.