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Amsterdam in April
Good month: April is at the start of the recommended season (April – May (tulips), June – September). Plan around: Book the Big Museums Weeks Ahead. King's Day (Koningsdag) and Tulip season and Keukenhof can fall this month.
The season runs to the end of September, 5 months away.
3 days in Amsterdam in April · from ₹72,478 for two
Stay, food & local travel; getting there extra
Before you book April
Closures, crowds and rules at Amsterdam this month.
Worth knowing
King's Day, 27 April: the City Fills
On King's Day (Tuesday 27 April 2027) up to a million people crowd central Amsterdam, the canals fill with party boats, trams are rerouted and trains into the city are packed. Hotels charge their highest rates of the year. Book months ahead, or base yourself in Haarlem or Utrecht and come in for the day.
Heads up
Book the Big Museums Weeks Ahead
The Anne Frank House releases its tickets every Tuesday for the date six weeks later, and they go within hours; the Van Gogh Museum sells only timed tickets online. Book both, and the Rijksmuseum, as soon as your dates are fixed. In summer Amsterdam is crowded and pickpockets work the trams, Centraal and the Red Light District: keep bags zipped.
Heads up
Schengen Visa: Book the Appointment Early
VFS Global appointments for every Schengen visa are hardest to get from April to July, when Indian families travel. Book your Netherlands appointment as soon as your dates are fixed (up to six months ahead), and apply at least 45 days before you fly.
What’s on in April
Timing a trip around these changes what you pay and what you can book.
King's Day (Koningsdag)2027: 27 Apr
The national holiday for the King's birthday: the whole country dresses in orange, every street becomes a flea market (the vrijmarkt, from the evening before), and Amsterdam's canals fill with party boats and its centre with up to a million people. Trains into Amsterdam are packed and hotels cost their most; book months ahead, or watch it in a calmer city such as Utrecht, Haarlem or Delft. Museums open, many shops close.
Tulip season and Keukenhof
Keukenhof opens for about eight weeks; crocuses and daffodils flower first, the tulips peak around mid-April, and the bulb fields between Haarlem and Leiden are in colour from late March to early May, then cut. The Bloemencorso flower parade drives from Noordwijk to Haarlem through the bulb district on a Saturday in late April. Weekends and Easter are the busiest days: book Keukenhof's timed tickets early.
What it costs
For two sharing a room; 3 days on the ground, getting there not included.
Budget
₹72,478 for two
- Room a night₹15,440
- Food a day, each₹4,433
- Main sight entry, each₹2,660
Mid-range
₹1,38,436 for two
- Room a night₹27,160
- Food a day, each₹10,230
- Main sight entry, each₹2,660
Luxury
₹2,99,550 for two
- Room a night₹58,580
- Food a day, each₹23,870
- Main sight entry, each₹2,660
Totals cover the room (taxes included), food, local transport, entry and a 10% buffer: the figures the planner opens on. These are typical rates; Tourisma has no month-by-month rates for the Netherlands yet, so they don't move with the month.
Getting there
Fly into Amsterdam (AMS)
Flights from India: from 8 cities, one way from ₹21,000
Routes compared
Entry rules
Visa needed before you fly for up to 90 days, about ₹11,445
- Apply for a Schengen short-stay (type C) visa at a VFS Global Netherlands centre in India (12 cities, from New Delhi and Mumbai to Kochi and Jalandhar) at least 45 days before you fly, and no earlier than 6 months. Apply to the Netherlands if it is your only or longest stay in Schengen. The fee is €90 (about ₹9,600; €45 for children 6-11) plus VFS's ₹1,855 service charge, and it is not refunded if the visa is refused.
- At the appointment give your fingerprints and photo (skipped if you gave them for a Schengen visa in the last 59 months). A decision takes about 15 days, up to 45 days if more checks are needed. Appointments are hardest to get from April to July: book as soon as your dates are fixed.
- If you have lawfully used two Schengen visas in the last three years, ask for a multiple-entry visa: under the EU's 2024 cascade rules for Indians you can be given a two-year visa, then a five-year one.
- On your first arrival in the Schengen Area your fingerprints and face are scanned at passport control (the EU Entry/Exit System, in full use since April 2026) instead of a stamp. Allow extra time at Schiphol.
Carry: Passport issued within the last 10 years, valid at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen Area, with two blank pages; Completed visa application form and two recent photos (35 x 45 mm); Travel insurance with at least €30,000 medical cover, valid in every Schengen country for the whole trip; Return flight booking and a day-by-day itinerary; Hotel bookings for every night; Bank statements for the last 3-6 months, income-tax returns, and a leave letter from your employer (or business or college papers).
One Schengen visa covers the Netherlands and every other Schengen country (France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and more) for up to 90 days in any 180, but not the United Kingdom, which needs its own visa. ETIAS is only for visa-free travellers, so it does not affect you. Appointment waits vary by city and season: check visa.vfsglobal.com before you book flights.
Checked 2026-10; confirm with the embassy before you fly.
Elsewhere in the Netherlands in April
Also in season this month.
- Keukenhof & the Bulb Fields · great month
- Delft · good month
- Giethoorn · good month
- Haarlem · good month
- Hoge Veluwe & Kröller-Müller · good month
- Kinderdijk · good month
- Maastricht · good month
- Rotterdam · good month
Nearby in Amsterdam & North Holland:
Want this as a real plan?
Amsterdam in April, day by day, priced for your group.