What's on in Amsterdam in November and December 2026, and when is it hard to get around?

PAN Amsterdam, the art, antiques and design fair, runs in Hall 8 of RAI Amsterdam from Sunday, November 1, to Sunday, November 8, 2026, from 11:00 to 18:00 on most days and until 20:00 on Tuesday, November 3.

ISPO, the sports business trade show, takes place at RAI Amsterdam for the first time from Tuesday, November 3, to Thursday, November 5, 2026, after 25 years in Munich.

TIDES Europe runs at RAI Amsterdam from Tuesday, November 3, to Thursday, November 5, 2026, with more than 900 attendees, over 100 speakers and more than 60 exhibitors working on oligonucleotides, peptides, mRNA, genome editing and drug delivery.

OEEC 2026 takes place at RAI Amsterdam on Tuesday, November 24, and Wednesday, November 25.

The World Bulk Wine Exhibition returns to RAI Amsterdam, Hall 5, on Monday, November 30, and Tuesday, December 1, 2026, open 09:30 to 18:30 on Monday and 09:30 to 17:00 on Tuesday.

The first week of November is the busiest.

Masters Expo, the luxury lifestyle fair, fills the RAI's Hollandcomplex from Thursday, December 10, to Monday, December 14, 2026, with more than 400 participants across more than 40,000 m².

Het Amsterdamse Winterparadijs, a winter festival inside RAI Amsterdam, is listed by NS for December 12, 2026, to January 3, 2027, but on October 21 I amsterdam still called its 2026 dates and times indicative.

Museumnacht Amsterdam takes place on Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 19:00 to 02:00, with museums across the city open late with special programs.

You have good options.

IDFA, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, runs for eleven days from Thursday, November 12, to Sunday, November 22, 2026.

Amsterdam Art Week 2026 runs from Wednesday, November 18, to Sunday, November 22, back in November together with its long-standing partner, the Rijksakademie Open Studios.

The Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam runs from Wednesday, November 25, to Sunday, November 29, 2026, at De Kromhouthal, Gedempt Hamerkanaal 231 in Amsterdam Noord.

Het Amsterdamse Winterterras runs on three weekends in 2026, November 13 to 15, 20 to 22 and 27 to 29, in the NDSM Loods, NDSM-Plein 85 in Amsterdam Noord, with food and drink, live music, DJ sets and a Mini Terras for families.

Bitcoin Amsterdam 2026 takes place on Thursday, November 5, and Friday, November 6, at the SugarFactory, Kristalpromenade 7, 1165 PD Halfweg.

Expect cool, wet and short days.

The organizer's 2026 timetable has Sinterklaas's steamboat at the Omval at 10:15, sailing down the Amstel under the Berlagebrug, the Nieuwe Amstelbrug and past Carré to the Scheepvaartmuseum at 11:30.

For small children, the banks of the Amstel in the morning are easiest: the steamboat is at the Omval at 10:15 and passes the Nieuwe Amstelbrug at about 10:40, with more room than the squares later on (the organizer's 2026 times).

Sinterklaas, Saint Nicholas, is the Netherlands' biggest children's holiday.

Only if your hotel is near the route and your ride falls inside the parade window.

Every Thanksgiving morning a non-denominational service is held in the Pieterskerk in Leiden, the church the Pilgrims knew before they sailed in 1620 and where their minister John Robinson is buried.

Thanksgiving week lines up well this year.

Yes.

Black Friday is Friday, November 27, 2026, and Designer Outlet Roermond, with more than 200 brands, opens on weekdays from 10:00 to 20:00.

Black Friday is Friday, November 27, 2026.

The 15th edition of the Amsterdam Light Festival runs from Thursday, November 26, 2026 (Thanksgiving Day), to Sunday, January 17, 2027, with light artworks along the canals and streets of the historic center.

By boat if you want warmth, a seat and the artworks that sit on the water; on foot if you want photographs, your own pace and an evening that costs nothing.

For more space, pick a weekday evening outside the Dutch school holidays, so before Saturday, December 19, or from Monday, January 4, and go at about 17:30, when it is fully dark.

Go early and keep it short.

Yes, and it makes a good first evening.

The lights stay on through Christmas: from 16:30 to 23:00 on Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, and on both Christmas days, Friday, December 25, and Saturday, December 26, which are public holidays in the Netherlands.

On a normal evening the train is easy: direct trains link Amsterdam Centraal with Utrecht, The Hague and Rotterdam, and many cruises leave from the Central Station area.

Book a boat for just the two of you if you want the moment to yourselves: the festival's partner boat companies take requests for private sailings.

Ziggo Dome has 18 shows listed between November 3 and December 19, 2026, including The Script (November 26 and 27), Muse (November 29 and 30), Westlife (November 23), Noah Kahan (December 1 and 2), Kehlani (December 6) and Phoebe Bridgers (December 7).

In the P1 garage under the Johan Cruijff ArenA, which the venue's promoter names for short-stay pickups: drivers wait on level 0, section A27, which has an exit right opposite Ziggo Dome.

Muse play Ziggo Dome on Sunday, November 29, and Monday, November 30, 2026.

The Script play Ziggo Dome on Thursday, November 26, Thanksgiving Day, and Friday, November 27, 2026.

Westlife play Ziggo Dome on Monday, November 23, 2026, the same evening The Pretty Reckless play AFAS Live next door, so both crowds arrive in the evening rush hour; plan to be at ArenAPoort early.

Noah Kahan plays Ziggo Dome on Tuesday, December 1, and Wednesday, December 2, 2026.

Kehlani plays Ziggo Dome on Sunday, December 6, and Phoebe Bridgers on Monday, December 7, 2026.

Ten, on the calendars checked on October 21.

Ajax play five home matches at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in this period: ADO Den Haag on Sunday, November 22 (14:30), FC Thun in the Conference League on Thursday, November 26 (18:45), FC Utrecht on Sunday, December 6 (14:30), SC Cambuur on Sunday, December 13 (20:00) and Getafe in the Conference League on Thursday, December 17 (21:00).

AFAS Live, the former Heineken Music Hall with a 6,000-capacity main hall in Amsterdam Zuidoost, has ten shows listed in this period, including Tokio Hotel (November 4), Tove Lo (November 12), Good Charlotte (November 16), Jessie Ware (November 21) and Beabadoobee (December 2 and 3).

Within about three hours by car on a clear road you reach Valkenburg's Christmas Town (November 13 to January 3, with cave markets until December 30), Magisch Maastricht (November 27 to December 27), Aachen (November 20 to December 23), Düsseldorf (November 20 to December 30), Brussels (November 27 to January 3) and Cologne's cathedral market (November 16 to December 23).

Kerststad Valkenburg runs from Friday, November 13, 2026, to Sunday, January 3, 2027, and its two underground markets, in the Fluweelengrot (50 stalls) and the Gemeentegrot, are open from November 13 to December 30, closed on December 25.

Magisch Maastricht runs on the Vrijthof from Friday, November 27, to Sunday, December 27, 2026.

The 53rd Aachener Weihnachtsmarkt runs from Friday, November 20, to Wednesday, December 23, 2026, around the cathedral and the town hall, on the Münsterplatz, the Katschhof and the Markt.

The market at Cologne Cathedral, on the Roncalliplatz, runs from Monday, November 16, to Wednesday, December 23, 2026, with more than 140 huts.

Düsseldorf runs seven themed Christmas markets from Friday, November 20, to Wednesday, December 30, 2026, so they are still open between Christmas and New Year.

Winter Efteling, the winter season of the Dutch theme park, runs from Monday, November 16, 2026, to Sunday, January 31, 2027, usually from at least 11:00 to 18:00.

On weekdays, soon after opening.

Three things.

GLOW 2026 runs from Saturday, November 7, to Saturday, November 14, with the theme "Connect".

The Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, run by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), is open daily from 09:00 to 17:00 and admission is free.

Yes, between November 27 and December 23, when all three are open, but it is a long day of about 14 hours with 6 h 35 of driving.

The Dickens Festival fills Deventer's Bergkwartier with more than 950 characters from Charles Dickens's novels on Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2026, from 10:00 to 17:00.

Gouda bij Kaarslicht takes place on Friday, December 11, 2026.

Haarlem's Christmas market, one of the largest in the Netherlands, fills the historic center around the Grote Markt from Friday, December 11, to Sunday, December 13, 2026, with about 350 stalls, choirs and live music.

The Royal Christmas Fair fills the Lange Voorhout, The Hague's tree-lined avenue, from Thursday, December 3, to Wednesday, December 23, 2026, daily from 12:00 to 21:00, with free entry.

Winter Wonders (Plaisirs d'Hiver), Brussels' Christmas market, runs from Friday, November 27, 2026, to Sunday, January 3, 2027, with 238 chalets spread over the Place de la Monnaie, the Vismet, Place Sainte-Catherine, the Bourse, Place de Brouckère, the Black Tower and Place Poelaert.

Visit Bruges had not published its 2026 Christmas market dates on October 21; travel guides place the markets on the Markt, by the Belfry, and on Simon Stevinplein.

Yes; they are only about 8 km apart.

The Nuts weekend runs from Friday, December 11, to Sunday, December 13, 2026, and marks the 82nd anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge and General McAuliffe's one-word reply to a German surrender demand in December 1944: "NUTS!" On the Saturday, veterans are honored in the town square, a parade with a band and active-duty members of the 101st Airborne ends at the memorial to General McAuliffe, and dignitaries and veterans toss walnuts to the crowd in front of City Hall.

Choose short drives and level ground.

By private car it is about 263 km, 3 h 03 on a clear road, door to door, and Düsseldorf, with seven Christmas markets from November 20 to December 30, lies on the way: via Düsseldorf the route is about 265 km.

Amsterdam has no big traditional Christmas market.

Cold, damp and dark early, but lively.

Book group transport as soon as the date is set: vans from the office to the venue, then rides home at fixed times, for example 23:00, 00:00 and 01:00, so no one has to drive.

Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, is not a public holiday, but Christmas Day, Friday, December 25, and Saturday, December 26, are.

Plan around what stays open, and book ahead.

Two long-established English-speaking congregations meet in central Amsterdam: the English Reformed Church, Begijnhof 48, inside the enclosed Begijnhof courtyard off the Spui, affiliated with the Church of Scotland, and Christ Church Amsterdam, the Anglican church at Groenburgwal 42.

Handel's Messiah is performed twice in the Main Hall: on Tuesday, December 1, at 19:30 by PRJCT Amsterdam and the Flemish Radio Choir under Maarten Engeltjes, and on Sunday, December 20, at 19:30 by the Netherlands Handel Society with the Holland Symfonie Orkest.

The 40th World Christmas Circus (Wereldkerstcircus) plays Royal Theater Carré, Amstel 115, from Wednesday, December 16, 2026, to Sunday, January 3, 2027, with tickets from €26.50, according to Kidsproof.

Hanukkah 2026 begins at sundown on Friday, December 4, so the first candle and Shabbat fall on the same evening, and it ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12.

The dependable choice is the Jaap Eden ice rink in Amsterdam-Oost, Radioweg 64, open from October to March, with an uncovered 400-meter outdoor track, a beginners' rink and an indoor hall.

Plan the ride home before you go out.

Start early in the week, because the markets in Cologne and Aachen close on Wednesday, December 23.

Plenty, and early darkness helps: the Light Festival is lit from 16:30, so a 17:00 cruise gets small children back before bedtime.

Plan short outings in the middle of the day and let a car do the walking.

Two A10 weekend closures remain for the Zuidasdok works.

MEDICA, which the US Commercial Service calls the world's largest event for the medical sector, runs in Düsseldorf from Monday, November 16, to Thursday, November 19, 2026; in 2025 it drew 78,000 visitors and 5,300 exhibitors, 390 of them from the US.

Several December sailings end in Amsterdam after a week on the Rhine: Viking's 7-night Christmas on the Rhine from Basel, for example on the Viking Bragi from December 12 to 19, 2026, via Breisach, Strasbourg, Mannheim and Rüdesheim, Koblenz, Cologne and Dordrecht, and AmaWaterways' Christmas Markets on the Rhine on the AmaStella from December 5 to 12, 2026, via Düsseldorf and Utrecht.

Arrive a day early if you can.

The Dutch Christmas school holiday runs from Saturday, December 19, 2026, to Sunday, January 3, 2027, in all regions.

Dutch schools in all regions are off from Saturday, December 19, 2026, to Sunday, January 3, 2027.

Eurostar trains to and from London don't run on December 25, though its trains between the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany do.

The date decides everything.

Book the ride before you fly.

Yes.

Plan for a gap in the evening.

The city's own celebration has been on Museumplein.

Go early.

Travel in before 20:00 and come back on the night trains: last year NS stopped almost all trains at 20:00 on December 31, and from 01:00 night trains ran between Amsterdam, Schiphol, Leiden, The Hague, Delft, Rotterdam and Utrecht, with extra stops at Bijlmer and Sloterdijk.

Check your ticket for two times and two places: boarding and return.

Stay within walking distance of where you will be at midnight.

Very little until the afternoon.

The Unox New Year's Dive is listed for Friday, January 1, 2027, at 12:00 on the beach at Scheveningen.

Use the days before New Year's Eve for what stays open after Christmas: Düsseldorf's markets and Valkenburg's cave markets run until December 30, and Brussels' Winter Wonders until January 3.