Start on Museumplein, Where the City Wakes Up Slowly
On the morning of 26 December, the trams are running a Sunday timetable and the streets are quieter than you'd expect for a capital city. That quiet is your advantage. The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum both open at 9 am on Tweede Kerstdag, and the Stedelijk follows at 10. By the time the afternoon crowds arrive, you'll already have walked the Gallery of Honour and stood in front of the night watch with room to breathe. Book ahead — advance booking is required at many locations, and this is one of the busiest weeks of the Dutch year.
- Rijksmuseum — 9 am to 5 pm
- Van Gogh Museum — 9 am to 5 pm
- Stedelijk Museum — 10 am to 6 pm
- Moco Museum — 9 am to 7 pm, if you want to stretch the day into the evening
Keep the Second Day Moving: Photography, Science and the Harbour
If you'd rather not spend the whole holiday indoors looking at paintings, the city has plenty of ways to spend 26 December on your feet. FOAM opens at 10 am for photography, and the Amsterdam Museum opens at the same hour if you want the city's own story rather than its art. Families tend to drift toward NEMO Science Museum, open from 10 am to 5.30 pm, while the Maritime Museum — closed on Christmas Day itself — reopens on the 26th from 10 am to 5 pm. The Tropenmuseum follows the same pattern: shut on the 25th, open on the 26th.
- FOAM — 10 am to 6 pm
- Amsterdam Museum — 10 am to 5 pm
- NEMO Science Museum — 10 am to 5.30 pm
- Maritime Museum — 10 am to 5 pm (reopens after Christmas Day)
- Tropenmuseum — 10 am to 5 pm (reopens after Christmas Day)
- Artis, the zoo — 9 am to 5 pm
An Afternoon of Experiences, From Stadiums to Science of the Body
Amsterdam's experience attractions treat 26 December as a full working day, which makes the second Christmas day a good moment to tick off the ones that need a slot. The Heineken Experience stays open until 9 pm, Ripley's Believe It or Not and Body Worlds until 10 pm, and Madame Tussaud until 8 pm. Ajax's stadium tour runs from 9.30 am to 5 pm. One exception worth knowing: AMAZE is closed on the 26th, though it opens on the 24th and 25th — so if that's on your list, go earlier in the Christmas weekend.
- Heineken Experience — 10.30 am to 9 pm
- Ajax stadium tour — 9.30 am to 5 pm
- Madame Tussaud — 10 am to 8 pm
- Ripley's Believe It or Not — 10 am to 10 pm
- Body Worlds — 10 am to 10 pm
- WONDR Experience — 10 am to 7 pm
- The Upside Down — 10 am to 7 pm
- Amsterdam Dungeon — 11 am to 6 pm
- This is Holland — 10 am to 5 pm
- Ice Bar Amsterdam — 2.40 am to 10 pm
- AMAZE — closed on 26 December; open 24 and 25 December
Plan Around the Holiday Rhythm, Not Against It
Tweede Kerstdag is an official Dutch public holiday — the Netherlands keeps two Christmas days, the 25th and the 26th — so the city runs to a holiday rhythm rather than a weekday one. Public transport operates on a Sunday timetable on both days, which is convenient but slower, and hotels in central Amsterdam book out well in advance over the Christmas period. The practical move is to reserve both your accommodation and your museum or attraction tickets early, then treat the 26th as a relaxed day of wandering between booked slots rather than a day of improvisation.
- Two official Christmas days: 25 and 26 December
- Public transport on a Sunday timetable on both days
- Central hotels fill up well ahead — book early
- Advance booking required at many museums and attractions
Make the Second Day of Christmas Your Anchor
Use 26 December as the fixed point in your Christmas weekend: the day when the museums are open, the experiences are running, and the city has shaken off the closed doors of the 25th. Check the current opening hours and reserve your tickets before you travel, since hours are updated through the season, then build the rest of your stay around that one full, unhurried day in Amsterdam.