Xtracold Icebar Amsterdam

Amsterdam has canals, bikes and brown cafés — and one bar where the walls, benches, sculptures and even the glassware are carved from ice. The Amsterdam Icebar (long known as XtraCold) sits at Amstel 194-196, holds a steady -10°C, and hands you a thermal cape and gloves on the way in. Here is exactly what the visit involves, what it costs you in time, and how to get there.

Amsterdam Icebar at a glance

Detail	What to expect
Address	Amstel 194-196, 1017 AG Amsterdam
Temperature	-10°C in the ice room; the front bar is heated
Time inside the ice	Up to about 20 minutes
Total visit	About 45 minutes, plus as long as you like in the warm bar
Drinks included	Three: one cocktail or beer in the warm bar, two in the ice room
Age limit	18+, no exceptions; valid ID may be requested
Check-in	Arrive 20 minutes before a timeslot ticket
Contact	+31 20 320 5700, [email protected]

What the experience actually is

This is a themed, timed attraction rather than a bar you wander into for the evening. The story frame is the Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz and his ship trapped in the ice off Nova Zembla, so the front room is dressed as a sailor’s tavern with expedition-themed ice sculptures. When your group’s turn comes, a ship’s bell rings and you move through into the cold.

Inside, everything load-bearing and decorative is ice: bar top, seating, carved panels, polar-bear tableaux and the shot glasses themselves. LED lighting embedded behind the blocks shifts colour, which is why the room photographs far better than the temperature suggests it should. Dutch tourism listings put the interior at roughly 35 tonnes of ice, rebuilt periodically as the carvings wear.

What your ticket includes

• Three drinks: one cocktail or beer in the heated sailor’s tavern, then two ice-cold shots or beers served in ice glasses.
• A thermal coat and gloves, issued before you enter the ice room.
• Entry to the ice room for up to about 20 minutes, with unlimited time afterwards in the warm bar if you buy more drinks.
• Photos shot inside are uploaded automatically to the venue’s gallery a few minutes later and stay online for four weeks.
• Free rescheduling or cancellation up to eight hours before your slot, managed yourself online.

Open ticket or timeslot ticket?

The two ticket types behave very differently on a busy Saturday, and choosing wrong is the main way visitors end up waiting in a queue on the Amstel.

• Open ticket: you pick only the date. If the ice room is full when you arrive, you wait for the next slot with space.
• Timeslot ticket: the printed time is your entry into the ice, so arrive 20 minutes earlier to check in and drink your warm-bar cocktail first.
• Miss your slot and staff will try to fit you into the next one, subject to space; no-show tickets are not refunded. Call ahead on +31 20 320 5700 if you know you will be late.

Opening hours and when to go

Hours are not uniform across the week and third-party listings disagree with each other, so treat the official site as the only reliable source before you travel. The venue’s own contact page lists shorter Sunday-to-Thursday hours and late Friday and Saturday openings, while several aggregator pages still show an older all-week 11:45 to 01:00 schedule. Last admission falls well before closing time.

• Quietest visit: early afternoon on a weekday, when slots are easiest to book and the room is not shoulder-to-shoulder.
• Best contrast: July and August, when Amsterdam highs sit around 22°C and 40 minutes at -10°C is a genuine relief after a day on a bike.
• Fewest crowds citywide: April to May and September to November, the shoulder seasons.
• One thing to check: the Icebar closes for a few days once a year, typically around January or February, while the ice interior is rebuilt. Dates are announced only shortly in advance.

How to get there

The Icebar is on the Amstel a few minutes from Rembrandtplein and a short walk from the Magere Brug, so almost every central route works.

• Tram: lines 4 and 14 from Amsterdam Centraal, two stops to Rembrandtplein, then roughly a three-minute walk.
• Metro: lines 51, 53 and 54 to Waterlooplein, then about three minutes on foot toward the river.
• On foot from Dam Square: about 15 minutes south along Rokin to Muntplein, then east along the Amstel.
• By bike: easy and very Amsterdam, but lock up properly and remember the ride home comes after three drinks.
• By car: the nearest garage is Parking Waterlooplein, Valkenburgerstraat 238; the venue also offers a discounted parking reservation link. A P+R on the edge of the city plus public transport is usually cheaper and less stressful.
• From Schiphol: train to Amsterdam Centraal, then tram 4 or 14, roughly 30 to 40 minutes door to door.

Plan live departures with Google Maps or the Dutch 9292 app, which shows real-time tram and metro times.

Accessibility and practical limits

The venue is on the ground floor with step-free access through the main door, but the ice room itself has a threshold step of about 5 cm. Manual wheelchairs that can be lifted over it get in without difficulty; electric wheelchairs are not suitable. Dress for real cold under the supplied cape — bare legs and open shoes are the most common regret.

Frequently asked questions