Efteling is the most visited attraction in the Netherlands, and one of the best day trips you can do from Amsterdam with kids. The park is 110 km away: about 1 hour 15 minutes by car or around 2 hours by train and bus. We visited with our two kids in October 2026, and this is how I would plan the day from Amsterdam: how to get there, what tickets cost, which rides to do first and when an overnight stay makes more sense.
Last updated: 18 October 2026 by Anastasia Dudina
Based on our own visit
We spent three days at Efteling from 14 to 16 October 2026 with our two kids and stayed two nights at the Efteling Wonder Hotel. The tips, prices and photos on this page, from the queues to the food, come from our own experience.
In this guide
Efteling tickets cost €44 in low season and €51 in high season. Book online in advance: the park welcomes over 5 million visitors a year, and popular dates sell out weeks ahead.
How to get from Amsterdam to Efteling
For a day trip, the train and bus is the most relaxed option (about 2 hours, from €27.50), FlixBus is the cheapest (from €12.49, 1h 20 min to 1h 50 min), and the car is the fastest and most flexible: 110 km and about 1 hour 15 minutes. Here’s how the four options compare:
Train + bus
⏱ ~2 hours
Train to Tilburg or ‘s-Hertogenbosch, then a bus (lines 300, 301, 136 or 800) to the Efteling stop next to the main entrance. Plan your route at 9292.nl.
💡 Add a combo ticket (transport + park entry) for €77.50: one booking, no hassle.
Book combo ticket →Direct shuttle bus
⏱ ~2h 30 min
incl. park entry
Departs 08:30 from This is Holland, Overhoeksplein 51 (ferry F3 from Centraal Station). Returns from Efteling at 18:00, back in Amsterdam ~20:00.
Book shuttle →FlixBus
⏱ 1h 20-50 min
from €12.49
Direct to Kaatsheuvel. From Sloterdijk (1h 50 min) or Bijlmer ArenA (1h 20 min).
Check FlixBus →By car
⏱ ~1h 15 min
€15 parking/day
110 km via A2/A27. Parking at the park entrance, payable on the Efteling website.
View route →By train and bus
Take a train from Amsterdam Centraal to Tilburg or ‘s-Hertogenbosch, then change to one of the buses that stop right next to the Efteling main entrance. Count on around 2 hours from the city centre, depending on your connection. Train and bus tickets from €27.50 →
Want to book everything at once? The combi ticket (€77.50) covers the train from any Amsterdam station, the bus to Efteling and park entry. Book the combi ticket (train + bus + Efteling) →
Flying in? From Schiphol airport you don’t need to go into Amsterdam first: take the direct train to ‘s-Hertogenbosch and the bus to Efteling from there. See how to get from Schiphol to Efteling.
By direct shuttle bus
On Saturdays in the high season, a shuttle bus leaves from central Amsterdam, near This is Holland (Overhoeksplein 51), and takes you straight to Efteling, with no change in Tilburg. It’s the easiest option if you don’t want to think about connections, but you’re tied to its schedule, so book your seat in advance.
By FlixBus (cheapest option)
FlixBus runs a direct route from Amsterdam to Kaatsheuvel (Efteling), with tickets from €12.49. It leaves from Amsterdam Sloterdijk (1h 50 min) and Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA (1h 20 min). There are cheaper tickets from €6.98, but those buses take around 3 hours each way, which eats into your day. FlixBus runs only once a day (twice in the high season), so book your return ticket in advance. Check schedules and book →
By car
The drive is about 110 km via the A2 and A27 and takes around 1 hour 15 minutes, traffic permitting. With kids, the car is the most flexible option: you leave when you want and don’t have to watch the clock for the last bus. Parking at the park costs €15 per day, payable on the official Efteling website.
Efteling address: Europalaan 1, 5171 KW Kaatsheuvel, The Netherlands. View route on Google Maps →
Need bus stops, hotel routes or the free shuttle line 7 between the park and the Efteling hotels? Everything is in our detailed guide on how to get to Efteling from Amsterdam.
Efteling tickets: prices in 2026
Efteling ticket prices depend on the season. Book in advance, especially in summer and during Dutch school holidays.
- High season ticket: €51
- Low season ticket: €44
- Combo ticket: Efteling + train and bus from Amsterdam: €77.50
- Children under 3: free (bring a document showing their age)
- Children aged 3 and older: full price ticket
Check the seasonal calendar on the official website to see which dates fall into low or high season. In our Efteling guide on Holland Explorer you’ll find more about tickets, opening hours and parking.
Is one day enough for Efteling? Day trip plan
Yes, if you plan it well. One day is enough for the highlights, but with over 80 attractions you won’t see everything, so pick your favourites in advance. This is how I would plan a day trip from Amsterdam:
- 07:45: leave Amsterdam by train (or around 08:30 by car) to arrive when the gates open at 10:00.
- 10:00: head straight to the most popular rides, like Symbolica and Baron 1898, before the queues build up. For Danse Macabre, scan the QR code at the entrance to join the virtual queue in the app.
- Late morning: walk through the Fairy Tale Forest, which is lovely for kids of all ages.
- Afternoon: the dreamy rides like Droomvlucht and Fata Morgana, and a ride up Pagode for a view over the whole park.
- Closing time: if you can stay late, watch Aquanura, the water and light show on the lake near the entrance.
Download the official Efteling app before you go: it shows live waiting times for every attraction, so you can plan your next ride on the go. If you’re visiting with kids of different ages, it can make sense to split up for a while.
How long are the queues? Shorter than we feared. During the autumn school holidays we waited 25 to 35 minutes at Symbolica and Danse Macabre, while other travellers had warned us about 60 to 90 minutes. The queues are well organised and keep moving, and if you don’t mind riding alone, the single rider queue is much faster. Read all our tips on queues and how to skip the line.
What about food? You don’t need to pack a lunch: Efteling has lots of food options, from food trucks and snack bars to themed restaurants, some with a playground for the kids. We paid €6.50 for a hot dog with truffle mayo from a food truck and around €9 for a huge slice of pizza. Soft drinks cost about €4 for a 0.5 litre bottle, but there are many spots in the park where you can refill your own bottle with drinking water. See where we ate at Efteling.
The park usually closes at 18:00 in low season, with longer hours in summer (20:00 in July and August, until 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays). Opening hours vary by date, so always check before your visit.
With young children, a full day plus 4 hours of travel is tiring but doable. For a more relaxed visit, consider staying overnight: all four Efteling hotels include free park entry and early access 30 minutes before the gates open to day visitors.
Top attractions at Efteling: the rides we loved
Efteling has over 80 attractions. Here are the ones not to miss:
- Thrill seekers: Baron 1898 (a 37-metre drop into a mine shaft), Python, De Vliegende Hollander (dark ride and water coaster) and Joris en de Draak (two duelling wooden roller coasters).
- Fantasy lovers: Droomvlucht, Villa Volta, Symbolica, the Fairy Tale Forest (Sprookjesbos) and Fata Morgana.
- New in 2026: Danse Macabre, a gothic-themed spinning ride with an eerie atmosphere.
Check the height requirements first: Baron 1898 needs 1.32 m; Python, De Vliegende Hollander, Danse Macabre and Vogel Rok need 1.20 m; and Joris en de Draak needs 1.10 m. Dark rides like Droomvlucht and Symbolica have no minimum height, but small children ride with someone aged 16 or older. See the full height table.
Our absolute favourite was Droomvlucht. In a suspended gondola you float slowly over a fairy world of elves, fairies and trolls in the dark. It was my kid’s favourite attraction, and as an adult I loved it too: we rode it 3 times in one day!
Don’t miss Pagode, a rotating Thai temple tower that lifts you 45 metres up for a panoramic view of the whole park. I did it with my 5-year-old and it was a beautiful experience.
My personal favourite, though, was Pirana, a wild river rapids ride through the Inca Empire, past waterfalls, rocks and totem poles. There are no paddles, so the water decides your route, and you will probably get a bit wet! Children under 1.20 metres ride with someone aged 16 or older.
Not a fan of speed or heights? Efteling is first of all a fairy tale park, and many of its most special rides stay close to the ground. See our favourite gentle rides at Efteling, and if you’re travelling with teens, our tips on Efteling for teenagers and adults.
Want a more relaxed visit? Stay overnight at Efteling
A day trip is absolutely doable, but for us the overnight stay made the trip. Hotel guests get free park entry for every day of their stay and can enter the park 30 minutes before the official opening time, so you get a head start on the queues before the day visitors from Amsterdam arrive.
We stayed 2 nights at Efteling Wonder Hotel in October 2026 and loved it: a fairy-tale castle hotel, a 5-minute walk from the park, with themed suites and Efteling characters visiting at breakfast. It looks expensive at first glance, but our stay included park tickets for 3 days and parking. Once we subtracted those, the hotel itself cost us about €140 per night for a family of four, with breakfast. See our full calculation and what our stay was like.
There are four places to stay at Efteling:
- Efteling Grand Hotel 5★: the most luxurious option, with its own entrance to the park, two restaurants and a swimming pool & spa with a toddler and baby pool.
- Efteling Wonder Hotel 4★: our pick for families, a fairy-tale castle hotel with themed suites and the story-inspired Saga restaurant.
- Efteling Bosrijk 4★: a woodland resort with cosy cottages where you might even meet fairy-tale characters on your doorstep.
- Efteling Loonsche Land: a nature resort about a 20-minute walk from the park, with cabins in a forest setting.
Not sure which one to choose? We compare all four in our guide to the Efteling hotels. Check current offers and availability →
Day trip to Efteling from Amsterdam FAQ
How far is Efteling from Amsterdam?
Efteling is about 110 km from Amsterdam. By car the drive takes about 1 hour 15 minutes, by train and bus around 2 hours, and by FlixBus 1 hour 20 minutes from Bijlmer ArenA or 1 hour 50 minutes from Sloterdijk. The Saturday shuttle bus from central Amsterdam takes about 2 hours 30 minutes, but drops you right at the park.
Is one day enough for Efteling?
Yes, one day is enough for the highlights, especially if you arrive at opening time (10:00) and use the Efteling app to check waiting times. Families with young children may find two days more comfortable, and hotel guests get early entry, which makes a big difference.
What time should I leave Amsterdam to get to Efteling for opening?
The park opens at 10:00. By train and bus you need about 2 hours, so leave Amsterdam by 07:45 or 08:00. By car, leave around 08:30. Check your route on 9292.nl or Google Maps on the day.
Is Efteling good for toddlers?
Yes, Efteling is great for toddlers. The best attractions for small children are the Fairy Tale Forest (Sprookjesbos), where they can walk through scenes from Hansel & Gretel, Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty, Symbolica, a gentle interactive castle ride, and the steam train that loops around the park. Don’t skip Carnaval Festival either: an 8-minute indoor ride around the world with Jokie and Jet, full of colourful, cheerful figures from different countries and catchy music. Some parts are dark and a bit loud, and children under 1 metre ride with an adult. Children under 3 enter Efteling for free.
Is Efteling worth the trip from Amsterdam?
Yes, absolutely. Tickets are not cheap, but Efteling is on a completely different level from any other kids attraction I’ve visited in the Netherlands. It’s more than a theme park: it’s a small fairy-tale town of its own, with hotels, restaurants and shops. Just keep in mind that it’s a full day trip, so don’t try to squeeze it in between other plans.
About the author:
Written by a local
Anastasia Dudina
I’ve been living in the Netherlands since 2013 and exploring it ever since. I write and update all articles on Amsterdam Explorer and Holland Explorer myself: real tips, not tourist traps.
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