The first thing that hits you is not the cold. It is the light. You walk through a heavy curtain into a room glowing ice-blue, and for a second your brain cannot figure out what it is looking at. The walls are ice. The bar is ice. The bench you are about to sit on is ice. Then the cold catches up, and your face tightens, and you realize the thermal coat they just handed you is not a gimmick.
XtraCold Icebar in Amsterdam keeps its interior at a constant minus ten degrees Celsius. Everything inside the room — the sculptures, the furniture, the glasses your drinks come in — is carved from ice sourced from the Torne River in northern Sweden. It is, without question, the strangest bar I have walked into in Amsterdam.
The whole experience lasts about 45 minutes. You get three drinks — vodka cocktails, Heineken, or soft drinks, all served in glasses made of solid ice that slowly melt in your hands. The staff are high-energy, the music is loud, and the vibe is somewhere between a nightclub and a walk-in freezer. It is not for everyone, but if you are the kind of person who wants a story to tell, this is your place.
Best value: XtraCold Icebar, 3 Drinks Included — $24.30. The standard ticket with fast-track entry and three drinks. Exactly what most people need.
Best combo deal: Canal Cruise + XtraCold Icebar — $41. Pairs the icebar with a full canal cruise, and the combined price saves you money over booking them separately.
Best full afternoon: XtraCold + 1-Hour Canal Cruise — $44.45. A longer cruise option with the icebar bundled in. Good if you want to stretch it into a proper half-day experience.
- How XtraCold Tickets Work
- Online Tickets vs Guided Tour Combos
- The Best XtraCold Icebar Tours to Book
- 1. XtraCold Icebar Amsterdam, 3 Drinks Included — .30
- 2. Canal Cruise and Entrance to XtraCold Icebar —
- 3. XtraCold Icebar + 1-Hour Canal Cruise — .45
- When to Visit XtraCold
- How to Get There
- Tips That Will Save You Time
- What You Will Actually Experience Inside
- Planning the Rest of Your Amsterdam Trip
How XtraCold Tickets Work
XtraCold sells tickets both at the door and online, but buying online in advance is the smarter move. Walk-ups sometimes get turned away during peak hours, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings. Online tickets also come with fast-track entry, which means you skip whatever line has formed outside.
The standard ticket costs around $24-25 and includes entry plus three drinks. There is no separate “no drinks” option — everyone gets three. You pick your drinks once you are inside from a menu of vodka-based cocktails, Heineken beer, and non-alcoholic options. Kids get soft drinks.
The experience is timed. Each group gets roughly 45 minutes inside the frozen room. That sounds short, and honestly, it is enough. By the 30-minute mark your fingers are numb even with the gloves they give you, and your phone screen starts lagging from the cold. Forty-five minutes at minus ten is plenty.
When you arrive, staff hand you a thermal coat and a pair of gloves. These are mandatory — you cannot enter without them. The coats are bulky and well-worn, but they do the job. If you are visiting in summer and wearing shorts, you will be fine with just the provided gear. In winter, your own warm layers underneath help.
Online Tickets vs Guided Tour Combos
You have two real options when booking XtraCold: the standalone icebar ticket, or a combo package that bundles it with a canal cruise.
The standalone ticket is the way to go if you already have canal cruise plans or if you just want a quick, fun stop between other activities. At around $24 it is not a big investment, and the fast-track entry means you are in and out without wasting time.
The combo tickets pair the icebar with a canal cruise for $41-44. If you have not done a canal cruise yet (and you should — it is one of the best ways to see Amsterdam), the combo saves you a few euros compared to booking both separately. The canal cruise portion runs about an hour and departs from a different location, so check the meeting point details when you book.
My honest take: if you are already planning a canal cruise, grab the combo. If you just want the icebar experience on its own, the standalone ticket is all you need. Do not overthink it.
The Best XtraCold Icebar Tours to Book
1. XtraCold Icebar Amsterdam, 3 Drinks Included — $24.30
This is the straightforward option and the one I would pick for a first visit. You get fast-track entry, skip whatever line has formed, and walk straight into the frozen room with your three-drink voucher. The whole thing takes about 45 minutes from the moment you put on the thermal coat to the moment you step back out into the warm Amsterdam air.
At $24.30, it is honestly well-priced for a central Amsterdam attraction that includes drinks. Compare that to what you would pay for three cocktails at any bar in the Rembrandtplein area and the ice room is basically free. The experience skews fun rather than educational — think party atmosphere with loud music, not a quiet ice sculpture museum. Groups of friends and couples on date nights tend to enjoy it most.
2. Canal Cruise and Entrance to XtraCold Icebar — $41
This is the smart pick if you have not done a canal cruise yet. You get the full icebar experience plus a proper canal cruise through the UNESCO-listed canal ring, and the combined price works out cheaper than buying both tickets individually. The canal cruise runs about an hour with audio commentary covering Amsterdam’s history and architecture.
One thing to know: the canal cruise and the icebar are at different locations, so you will need to walk between them. They give you a full day to complete both at your own pace, which is generous. Most people do the cruise first, then walk to the icebar. At $41, this is excellent value for what amounts to two separate Amsterdam experiences.
3. XtraCold Icebar + 1-Hour Canal Cruise — $44.45
Similar concept to the combo above, but through Viator instead of GetYourGuide. This one pairs the XtraCold experience with a dedicated one-hour canal cruise and runs about two and a half hours total. The few extra dollars gets you a slightly different cruise route and operator, so if availability is tight on the other combo, this is a solid backup.
The icebar portion is identical — same venue, same three drinks, same 45 minutes in the frozen room. The difference is really just the cruise component. At $44.45, it is a touch more expensive than the GetYourGuide combo, but the cruise duration is locked at a full hour rather than being flexible. Pick whichever has better availability for your dates.
When to Visit XtraCold
XtraCold is open daily, generally from noon until late. On weekdays they typically close around 11pm. On Fridays and Saturdays, the bar stays open until 1am, which makes it a natural pre-dinner or late-night stop.
The best time to visit depends on what kind of crowd you want. Afternoons (1pm to 4pm) tend to be quieter, with more families and couples. This is when you get the most space to actually look at the ice sculptures and take photos without someone photobombing every shot. Evenings after 8pm get louder and more energetic, with groups heading out for the night using the icebar as their first stop. Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest.
If you are visiting with kids, aim for early afternoon. The cold is the same regardless of time, but the atmosphere is calmer and the music is lower before the evening crowd arrives.
Seasonally, summer is actually the best time to go. I know that sounds counterintuitive — why would you want to freeze in July? — but the contrast between the 25-degree heat outside and the minus ten inside is genuinely shocking in a way that makes the whole thing more memorable. In winter, the temperature gap is smaller and less dramatic.
How to Get There
XtraCold is at Amstel 194, right in the heart of Amsterdam between Rembrandtplein and the Stopera (city hall and opera house). It is one of the most central locations in the city.
From Amsterdam Centraal Station: About a 15-minute walk south along the Damrak, through Dam Square, and down toward Rembrandtplein. Or take tram 4 or 14 and get off at Rembrandtplein. The walk is pleasant and takes you through some of Amsterdam’s best streets.
From the Rijksmuseum / Museum Quarter: About a 20-minute walk east, or take tram 4 from Museumplein. If you are doing a Rijksmuseum visit or the Van Gogh Museum in the morning, the icebar fits naturally as a late-afternoon follow-up.
From the Anne Frank House: About a 20-minute walk or a short tram ride. The Anne Frank House tends to finish by early afternoon, which leaves plenty of time to walk to XtraCold.
Tips That Will Save You Time
- Book online, not at the door. Walk-up visitors sometimes get turned away during busy periods. Online tickets guarantee your slot and include fast-track entry.
- Arrive 5 minutes early. You need time to check in and put on the thermal gear before your session starts. Showing up right at your booked time means you lose a few minutes of your 45-minute window.
- Wear closed shoes. Open-toed sandals at minus ten are a mistake I have seen people make. Your feet will be miserable.
- Leave your big bag at the hotel. The ice room is not large, and bulky bags get in the way. There is a small storage area but it is not a full cloakroom.
- Drink your cocktails faster than you think. The ice glasses start melting from your body heat immediately. If you nurse your drink for 15 minutes, you will be holding a wet lump of ice with a puddle of diluted vodka at the bottom.
- Take photos in the first 5 minutes. Your phone battery drains faster in extreme cold. Shoot your photos early while you still have charge, then put the phone away and enjoy the rest.
- Bring a phone warming pouch if you want to film the whole thing. Hand warmers in a pocket with your phone between shots work too.
What You Will Actually Experience Inside
The frozen room at XtraCold is not enormous — think of it as a large bar-sized space, maybe the footprint of a two-car garage, but everything inside is made from about 40 tons of ice. The walls, the bar counter, the seating, and all the decorative sculptures are carved from blocks shipped from Swedish Lapland. The ice is crystal-clear because it forms slowly in Arctic conditions, which gives it that distinctive blue tint under the LED lighting.
The sculptures change every few months. I have seen everything from Amsterdam canal house replicas to abstract designs to animal figures. The carving quality is high — these are professional ice sculptors, not amateurs with chainsaws. You can touch the sculptures (and the walls, and the bar), which gives the whole thing a tactile quality that most museum-style attractions lack.
The three included drinks are served at the ice bar itself. The cocktail list is short — about four or five vodka-based options plus Heineken and soft drinks. The vodka cocktails are decent, nothing craft-bar level, but they are mixed strong enough that you feel warm from the inside. The ice glasses are the real novelty. They are thick, heavy, and genuinely beautiful, but they melt continuously against your palms. Drinking from a vessel that is slowly disappearing is a strange sensation you do not get anywhere else.
The staff keep the energy up with music and occasional group activities. It is not a quiet, contemplative space — the vibe leans party. If you want a calm, atmospheric ice experience, aim for a weekday afternoon. If you want the full-volume, frozen-nightclub version, go on a Saturday night.
Planning the Rest of Your Amsterdam Trip
XtraCold pairs well with a canal cruise (especially the combo tickets mentioned above), and it is close enough to Rembrandtplein that you can easily walk to dinner afterward. If you are spending a full day in central Amsterdam, the Anne Frank House in the morning, the Rijksmuseum or Van Gogh Museum after lunch, and XtraCold in the late afternoon makes for a packed but doable schedule. For something completely different, the Red Light District walking tours run in the evenings and start just ten minutes from the icebar. And if you are in Amsterdam for a few days, a day trip to Zaanse Schans or Keukenhof (spring only) fills a whole morning before you head back for an evening icebar session.
Walking out of XtraCold and back into the Amsterdam air — even on a cold night — feels like stepping into a warm bath. That contrast sticks with you. The whole experience is short, slightly ridiculous, and more fun than it has any right to be. It will not change your life, but it will give you a genuine moment of delight and a story worth telling at dinner. For the price of three regular Amsterdam cocktails, that is a fair trade.
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The XtraCold Icebar sits between Centraal Station and Dam Square, and the location makes it a natural stop between other Amsterdam experiences. The Heineken Experience is a twenty-minute walk south and offers another drinks-centered attraction with a very different temperature. The A’DAM Lookout is directly across the IJ — take the free ferry from Centraal Station — and the panoramic views pair well with the novelty factor of the icebar. The This Is Holland is also in Noord, and both complement the icebar’s only-in-Amsterdam energy.