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Amsterdam Light Festival: Is it worth it?

Amsterdam Light Festival 2025-2026: by bike, boat, or on foot

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Information iconIn Short: Avoid this tourist trap. Book our suggested alternative instead:

A MUCH better Amsterdam Light Show: Evening Canal Cruise

With the exception of the first four or five years, the Amsterdam Light Festival has disappointed many visitors. We call it a tourist trap. As native Amsterdammers the editors of DutchAmsterdam.nl suggest you book a much more enjoyable experience:

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Amsterdam Light Festival
This photo shows a long exposure photo of the point in downtown Amsterdam where the canals Nieuwzijds Voorburgwal, Oudezijds Voorburgwal, and Oudezijds Kolk meet.

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

The annual Amsterdam Light Festival® is a winter event that combines light, art and — of course — water.

Situated primarily along the Herengracht and Nieuwe Herengracht canals in the center of the city are light sculptures created by 20 international artists.

The art installations can be viewed from canal tour boats, on foot, and by bicycle.

Below you will find

Amsterdam Light Festival, Edition 14 (2025-2026) Key Facts

  • When: November 27, 2025 — January 18, 2026 (Closed December 31)
  • Where: downtown Amsterdam, primarily along the canals of Herengracht and Nieuwe Herengracht
  • If you plan to walk or cycle, count on about 6.5 km (slightly more than 4 miles).
  • Boat cruises last 75 minutes on average.
  • Theme: Legacy. The 27 light installation – created by 22 artists – “shine their light on the theme Rituals.” The organization writes, “Edition 14 is dedicated to the theme of Legacy – both large and small. Legacy can mean major historical or environmental events that have a lasting impact, but also the continuation of family traditions, shared memories, and customs. What will we leave behind? Which stories do we pass on? How do we want to be remembered? Twenty artists from around the world explored these questions.”
  • Tickets: Many canal tour boat options to choose from (Powered by GET YOUR GUIDE)
  • Information Points: Blauwbrug, near Amstel 33, and A Beautiful Mess, Oosterdokskade 227
  • Opening Hours:
    • From 27 November until 4 January: Lights on from 17:00 (5 p.m.) until 22:00 (10 p.m.). From Wednesday to Saturday they’re on until 23:00 (11 p.m.), from Sunday to Tuesday until 22:00 (10 p.m.)
    • From 5 January until 18 January: lights on at 17:00 (5 p.m.). From Wednesday to Saturday they’re on until (23:00 (11 p.m.), from Sunday to Tuesday until 22:00 (10 p.m.)
    • During the Christmas holidays (20 December until 4 January) the lights are on daily until 23:00 (11 p.m.). On New Year’s Eve (31 December) the lights go out at 21:00 (9 p.m.)

Amsterdam Light Festival Tickets

The festival can be enjoyed free of charge. You can walk, bike, or sail your own boat along the route.

But of course, a canal cruise — Amsterdam’s top tourist attraction — is the most popular way to experience the Amsterdam Light Festival:

Many more
Amsterdam Light Festival
Canal Cruises AvailableExternal link

Map Amsterdam Light Festival 2025-2026

This map was created for the 13th edition: 2024-2025. The 14th edition (2025-2026) follows the same route. Only difference: this year there are 20 light installations – seven fewer than last year.

Walking and Cycling Directions: Amsterdam Light Festival

Many locals and visitors prefer the walk over the canal cruise boats (hint: there are many warm, gezellige cafes along the route).

Others like to cycle the route. After all, Amsterdam is the City of Bikes. You can either rent a bike, or take an Amsterdam Light Festival Bike Tour with a live guide. (Our advice: You don’t really want to ride a bike in the dark, in an unfamiliar city, while having to constantly check the map and turn-by-turn directions. Take the guided tour.)

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Refer to the map above, or use this identical, stand-alone version: Amsterdam Light Festival 2025/2026 Walking and Cycling Route

Our map does not indicate the locations of the 27 light art displays, but you cannot miss them. Along the route, illuminated information beacons display the name of each artwork and the artist or art collective. Each beacon includes a QR code for further information. Please note: this additional information is available only to those who have purchased the festival’s app. In our experience, most people simply view the artworks and read about them online later.

  • Start on the city side of Amsterdam Central Station. (If you see a church – the St Nicholas Basilica – across the water, you are on the correct side of the station.)
  • Cross the main bridge towards Damrak.
  • Before reaching Damrak, turn left (east) onto Prins Hendrikkade (towards the church).
  • Cross Kamperbrug (towards Central Station).
  • After the bridge, turn right (east) and continue on Oosterdokskade.
  • Cross the Mr J.J. van der Velde bridge.
  • After the bridge, turn left (north) to walk around the NEMO Science Museum building.
  • Continue on Oosterdok. Along the way, you will pass Museumhaven Amsterdam, a heritage site featuring antique ships.
  • At Prins Hendrikkade, turn left (east) and cross the bridge.
  • Immediately after the bridge, cross Prins Hendrikkade to Kadijksplein.
  • Cross the drawbridge over Schippersgracht.
  • Turn left (south) onto Rapenburgerplein.
  • Continue straight along Nieuwe Herengracht.
  • Cross Anne Frankstraat (yes, that Anne Frank).
  • Then turn left (east) and cross the bridge. At the first corner, enter Wertheimpark.
  • After exiting the park, turn right (west) and cross the bridge.
  • Turn left onto Nieuwe Herengracht.
  • Continue straight along the canals, past Jonas Daniël Meijerplein.
  • Cross the street and turn right (east) onto the bridge.
  • Immediately after the bridge, turn right (south) in front of the National Holocaust Names Monument.
  • Take the stairs and immediately turn left, following the path that leads to Hoftuin, where there are several light installations.
  • Exit the garden through a gate and turn left (west) onto Nieuwe Herengracht.
  • When you reach the river Amstel, turn right (north) and cross the Walter Süskind drawbridge.
  • Continue straight to the Blauwbrug and cross to the other side of the river.
  • Turn left (south) onto Amstel.
  • Turn right onto Herengracht.
  • At the bridge (Utrechtsestraat), cross to the other side of the canal.
  • Continue along Herengracht.
  • Cross to the other side of the canal at Herenstraat.
  • Continue along Herengracht.
  • Cross the footbridge at Brouwersgracht and turn right (east).
  • At Singel canal, turn left (north), then right (east) to cross the bridge.
  • Immediately after crossing the bridge, turn left (north).
  • Walk along the canal through the tunnel beneath Prins Hendrikkade.
  • On the other side is a foot and bicycle bridge and the final light installation.
  • After the bridge, turn right (east) to Central Station.

Amsterdam Essentials…

Our Suggested Alternative

Now, here at DutchAmsterdam we are dedicated to sharing the best of our city with visitors, newcomers, and expats alike. And since we are not affiliated with the official Amsterdam Tourist Office, we tell it like it is.

So here goes:

Many Amsterdam Light Festival visitors are not happy. We’re not surprised. Therefore we show you an excellent alternative — one that, in our opinion, provides a much more enjoyable Amsterdam light show. Moreover, it is one you can enjoy any time of the year.

Video: 2024/2025 Amsterdam Light Festival Art Installations

Watch a boat tour along all 27 Amsterdam Light Festival art installations:

Hessel Hoekstra filmed this video impression of the 13th edition of the Amsterdam Light Festival (2024/2025).

Additional Information about the Amsterdam Light Festival

For key facts, tickets, and a walking/cycling map, see above.

Below we provide some additional tips for visitors. And, importantly, we talk about the festival’s reviews — and give our honest opinion. You’ll understand why we then also point out an excellent alternative.

light art installation
Bridge of the Rainbow, by Gilbert Moity. Amsterdam Light Festival, 2016. Photo by Marion Golsteijn. (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Tips for Amsterdam Light Festival Visitors

Most visitors prefer to see the works of art from the water. Almost all the canal boat companies offer special tours during the festival. The organization that organizes the festival really pushes these tours, because the tour operators pay a percentage of the ticket sales.

You can choose glass-topped or open top boats. But do keep the weather in December and January in mind. Even in covered boats the temperature can be quite low. Dress warmly! At the very least, dress in layers. (This is also true if you opt to walk the route, or take a guided bike tour instead).

If you are an experienced photographer, familiar with nighttime photography, an open boat (or, indeed, a walking tour) would probably be your best choice since the windows in a regular tour boat would present a challenge — particularly in inclement weather.

Reviews often mention things like ‘dirty windows,’ ‘rain-splattered windows made it hard to see,’ or ‘the windows kept fogging over.’

Video: Amsterdam Light Festival 2022/2023 Aftermovie

What kind of light art installations can you expect? Watch this official aftermovie from the 11th edition of the festival. That edition drew just under 1 million visitors.

Aftermovie Amsterdam Light Festival 2022-2023

Plan your Amsterdam trip:

Amsterdam Light Festival: Reviews and our Opinion

As Amsterdam locals we have seen most editions of the Amsterdam Light Festival since the first one in 2012.

That first edition was a novelty. We also visited the second one — and many subsequent editions — in order to review the festival for this website. At times we saw all or part of the route by boat or on foot while accompanying friends or family members from abroad.

Frankly, the festival always leaves us feeling underwhelmed, to say the least. So we finally decided that it wasn’t worth our time and money.

Mind you, none of us are really into contemporary art. Perhaps as a result most of the art installations left us puzzled, bemused, or both. (An often heard complaint is that the light displays just aren’t very ‘Christmassy‘

There were some notable exceptions, but they were far and few between.

Now, if you appreciate modern art installations, particularly when they involve light, your mileage may well differ.

But us Amsterdammers we much prefer to take one of the regular evening canal cruises (which we frequently do)

Amsterdam is a city of lights. In our opinion the illuminated bridges, the monuments lit up by spotlights, and the gezellige interiors of countless different houses and houseboats along the way provide a much more entertaining light show than anything we have seen at the Amsterdam Light Festival.

Amsterdam Light Festival Reviews

Tellingly, the festival reviews we have seen on Google through the years are rather bleak:

“Waste of time,” “boring,” “couldn’t wait to get off the boat,” “BIG disappointment,” “an embarrassment for the city,” “epic waste of time and money,” and “low budget light installations” are among the phrases we would use as well.

The reviews at the business listing for the Amsterdam Light Festival Foundation on Google Maps are not encouraging either: 2.6 stars out of a possible 5 (last checked Friday, December 13, 2024 – 3:28 AM CET)

Tripadvisor: more than 32% of visitors say it’s ‘terrible’

The Amsterdam Light Festival reviews on TripAdvisor, the largest “social travel website” in the world, are poor – to say the least.

32.82% of visitors rate their experience as “terrible.” 18.08% say it was “poor.”

Yes, there were also people who thought the festival was “excellent” or “very good.” We’ll leave “average” in the middle, but in our view when fully 50% of your customers are clearly dissatisfied something is not right with your product.

Tripadvisor reviews of Amsterdam Light Festival
Tripadvisor reviews of Amsterdam Light Festival. Screenshot taken December 13, 2024 at 2:59 a.m. CET

In 2019 reviewers gave the festival an average of 3 out of 5 points. Fully 26% of the travelers rated the event as ‘Terrible.’

In 2023, Tripadvisor visitor ratings for the Amsterdam Light Festival are even worse. The event dropped from 3 out of 5 stars to 2.5 out of 5 stars, with 27.39% of visitors rating the event al as Terrible.

After taking a December boat tour of the 2023/2024 edition, A poster on Reddit called the Amsterdam Light Festival, “Absolutely overrated. There’s nothing special about it. … a supreme letdown.”

On Tripadvisor, a family wrote, “I do hope that this is not public funded, not impressed, compared with Glow in Eindhoven it is really bad. I will not visit it again.”

Another poster who took a boat tour said, “Very nice people/crew but this event was so lame. Barely any lights, such weird art pieces, not Christmasy at all. Terrible.”

A couple: “We travelled from Cologne for a weekend especially for the Light Festival. If we had known that there was so little to see and that it was bad, we wouldn’t have travelled.“

Another couple on Tripadvisor: “Just terrible, save your money, this was a real low point in what was otherwise a great weekend away. “

Displeased visitors denounce the festival with terms like, “cheap looking art,” “we were expecting more,” “horrible rip off,” and “boring.”

Get the picture?

Yeah. So, as promised, here is suggestion for a great alternative to the so-so light festival:

Suggested alternative: a much more enjoyable canal tour

For a much more enjoyable light show, tour the canals of Amsterdam at night — for instance with an Amsterdam Classic Boat Cruise with Cheese and Wine, a 2-hour 3-Course Dinner Cruise, or an Amsterdam Evening Cruise with Pizza and Drinks

These are tours we can heartily recommend — from our own, repeated experience:

Can you guess how many canals and bridges Amsterdam has?

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Anton and Janet Hein
Publisher at DutchAmsterdam | Website | + posts

Anton and Janet Hein live and work in Amsterdam. We are the publishers of DutchAmsterdam.

Anton was born on a houseboat in the center of Amsterdam, right across from the iconic Westertoren and what later became the Anne Frank House museum. Having lived in nearly every district since then, he knows the city like his own back pocket.

Janet was born in England and raised in Ireland before moving to Amsterdam 43 years ago. Even to date she brings an expat’s perspective to the DutchAmsterdam website.

Category: Events, Outdoor Art, Things to Do | Related to: ,

Last updated Thursday, December 11, 2025 CET (Central European Time)

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