Amsterdam Travel Pass Options: GVB vs ATT vs ARTT vs City Card

What is the right Amsterdam travel pass for your trip?

The right Amsterdam travel pass depends on one question most guides skip: do you need the Schiphol airport train covered, or only city transport? GVB covers city trams, metro, buses and ferries only. The Amsterdam Travel Ticket and the Amsterdam and Region Travel Ticket both add national rail on top, at different reach. And the I amsterdam City Card includes GVB plus museums, but not the airport train at all. The table below lines up all four side by side so you can pick by what you actually need covered, not by which name sounds the most complete. Our public transport in Amsterdam guide covers the underlying GVB network in full if you want the basics first.

How do the four main options compare, side by side?

This comparison table is the fastest way to see the real tradeoff, since the products look similar on the surface but cover genuinely different territory.

Pass	City transport (GVB)	Airport train	Regional trips	Museums included
GVB ticket	Yes, unlimited	No	No	No
Amsterdam Travel Ticket (ATT)	Yes, unlimited	Yes	No	No
Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket (ARTT)	Yes, unlimited	Partial, via regional rail	Yes	No
I amsterdam City Card	Yes, unlimited	No	Partial, region museum perks only	Yes, 70+

Airport coverage is the column that should decide your first cut. Flying into Schiphol and needing that leg covered rules out a plain GVB ticket and the City Card on their own, and points toward the ATT or ARTT instead.

Which pass actually covers the Schiphol airport train?

Only the Amsterdam Travel Ticket and the Amsterdam and Region Travel Ticket include the national rail leg between Schiphol and the city. A plain amsterdam transit pass from GVB stops at the city limit, and so does the I amsterdam City Card, which is the single most common surprise for first time card buyers. Landing at the airport with only a GVB ticket or a City Card means buying a separate train single or the express bus 397 for that one leg. Our Schiphol to Amsterdam guide breaks the airport leg down on its own, train versus bus versus taxi, with the exact ticket to pair with each option.

What does the plain GVB ticket cover on its own?

City transport only, but all of it: every tram line, four metro lines, the full bus and night bus network, and the free harbor ferries behind Central Station. It is the cheapest of the four when your whole trip stays inside Amsterdam with no airport or regional leg to worry about. Our GVB tickets guide has the full price ladder across every duration from one to seven days.

When does the Amsterdam Travel Ticket win over a plain GVB ticket?

The moment your itinerary includes flying in or out through Schiphol. The ATT bundles the airport train, the Airport Express bus 397, and unlimited GVB into one ticket valid for one to three calendar days, which suits most short city breaks landing and leaving through the same airport. Buying the airport leg separately and a GVB ticket on top usually costs close to the same total, so the ATT mostly wins on convenience: one barcode from the arrivals hall to the last tram ride.

What extra ground does the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket cover?

Everything the ATT covers, plus regional trains and buses reaching Zaanse Schans, Haarlem, Zandvoort, Volendam, Marken and, in season, the dedicated Keukenhof bus lines. It is the widest reaching amsterdam transport card of the group, built specifically for visitors planning at least one day trip beyond the city. Our day trips from Amsterdam by train guide walks through each destination and which ticket unlocks it.

Does the I amsterdam City Card replace a travel pass entirely?

Only for city transport. The card includes unlimited GVB for its full validity, the same coverage as a plain GVB ticket, plus more than 70 museums and attractions on top. What it does not include is the airport train or regional rail, so a card holder flying through Schiphol still needs a separate train single or bus ticket for that one leg. The efficient combination for most card holders is the card itself plus a standalone train ticket each way, rather than a full ATT layered on top of a card that already covers city transport.

Which pass fits a typical weekend trip?

For a two to three day visit landing and departing through Schiphol with no day trips planned, the ATT usually wins on simplicity: one ticket handles the airport both ways and every tram ride in between. Add a serious day trip to Zaanse Schans or Keukenhof to that same weekend and the ARTT becomes the better fit, since it absorbs the regional leg into the same product rather than requiring a separate ticket on the day you travel. Visitors who already hold the City Card for museums should skip both ATT and ARTT for city days and only add a train single on the specific days they cross the airport or region boundary.

See the real coverage side by side. Book the Amsterdam Travel Ticket for the airport plus city combination, or check whether the I amsterdam City Card already covers your museums and transport together.

How does this fit into the bigger Amsterdam pass decision?

A travel pass only solves the transport half of the trip. Visitors also weighing museum entry, canal cruises and attraction discounts should widen the comparison beyond transport alone. Our Amsterdam pass comparison lines up every major card and ticket product on the market, transport included or not, side by side with real prices, so you can see which single option, if any, actually covers your whole trip. The city card Amsterdam hub runs the same comparison across every pass and single ticket on this site in one table.

What about tram and metro fares if I skip a pass entirely?

Paying per ride through the national OVpay system is always possible without buying any of the four products above, tapping a contactless bank card in and out of every vehicle. It suits a light trip with only one or two rides total, but the flat per ride fare adds up fast across a full sightseeing day. Our tram and metro tickets guide covers the single fare pricing in full if you are weighing pay per ride against any bundled pass.

What happens once your trip runs longer than three days?

Both the ATT and the ARTT cap out at three calendar days, so a longer stay needs a second layer once that window closes. The simplest fix is pairing the bundled pass with a plain GVB ticket for the remaining city days, since the airport and regional legs are usually only needed once each anyway, at arrival and departure. Visitors staying a full week or more should also weigh whether the I amsterdam City Card, which runs up to 120 hours and bundles museums with GVB, ends up the simpler single product for the bulk of the trip, filled in with a train single at each end for the airport legs.

Does it matter which direction you use the pass first?

Not for the transport coverage itself, since every option here works identically whichever direction you travel, airport to city or city to airport. What matters more is timing the activation to your actual first ride rather than your landing time, since all four passes measure validity from calendar days or hours from first use, not from purchase. A pass bought online the night before but activated only at boarding wastes none of its validity, while one activated too early burns hours before you have even left the terminal.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between ATT and ARTT? The ATT covers the airport train and city transport for one to three days. The ARTT adds regional trains and buses reaching Zaanse Schans, Haarlem and other day trip destinations on top of the same city and airport coverage.

Does any Amsterdam travel pass include museum entry? No, except the I amsterdam City Card, which bundles unlimited GVB transport with more than 70 museums and attractions. The ATT and ARTT are transport only products.

Which amsterdam travel pass covers Schiphol Airport? The Amsterdam Travel Ticket and the Amsterdam and Region Travel Ticket both include the national rail leg to and from Schiphol. A plain GVB ticket and the City Card do not.

Can I use the City Card and a travel pass together? You can, but it usually wastes money on city transport, since the card already includes unlimited GVB. The one gap worth filling separately is the airport train, which the card does not cover.

Is a regional pass worth it if I am only staying in the city? No. The ARTT’s extra coverage only pays off on the days you actually leave Amsterdam. For city only days, a plain GVB ticket or the City Card covers the same ground for less.