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A Guide to Amsterdam’s Swimming Pools

Essentially Amsterdam Life · July 21, 2026 · Updated October 9, 2026
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Amsterdam has around a dozen public pools, and the thing that decides whether you get a swim is not which one you pick but which session you turn up for.

Swimming pools to try first

Amsterdam has barely a handful of public pools and this is very nearly all of them, so the choice comes down to hours and what each one was built for rather than to any ranking.

Two of the six publish no opening times at all, which is why their phone numbers are in the text.

De Mirandabad

Slides, artificial waves, a heated outdoor pool and a glass-domed indoor one make De Mirandabad the one to pick when you are taking children rather than swimming lengths.

Its 2,218 reviews are more than double any other pool here, though no opening hours are published, so ring +31 20 252 4444 before setting out.

Sportfondsen Mercator

The longest hours of any pool in the city belong to Mercator on the Jan van Galenstraat, seven in the morning to ten at night on weekdays and eight to six at weekends.

A 3.4 average across 413 reviews is the lowest score in this group, which is worth weighing against a timetable nothing else here can match.

Brediusbad

Outdoors on the Spaarndammerdijk, and the timetable tells you exactly who it is for: lengths from seven in the morning, evening swims from half past five, and a general afternoon session only from Wednesday onwards.

Mondays are closed, and 235 reviews make 4.2 the best score of the six.

Sportfondsenbad

Every day at the Land van Cocagneplein pool in Oost keeps different hours, from a midday start on Monday and Friday to half past seven on Wednesday running through to nine at night.

Weekends finish before half past one, so checking the day you plan to go matters more here than the 3.7 across 574 reviews.

Optisport Bijlmer Sports

Known as De Smagtenbocht and run by Optisport, this is the Zuidoost pool, on the Anton de Komplein with a cafe on site and swimming for all ages and abilities.

Late evenings are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday only, weekends are short, and 539 reviews leave it at 3.7.

Noorderparkbad

Noord’s pool sits on the Sneeuwbalweg beside the park it is named after, and 916 reviews at 3.9 make it the second most talked-about in the city.

Nothing else is published about it, not even opening times, so +31 20 435 2120 is the number to call first.

Sessions, not opening hours

City-run pools publish a rooster, a weekly schedule of sessions, rather than opening hours, and the door being unlocked means nothing if the water is booked.

The three you need to recognise are banenzwemmen (lane swimming, no children, no floats), vrij zwemmen or recreatief zwemmen (open swimming, families, inflatables and noise), and doelgroepzwemmen (sessions reserved for a group, such as women-only, over-fifties or aquajogging).

Lessons take up most of the weekday late afternoon across the whole city, which is why four in the afternoon is the worst possible time to arrive hoping for a lane.

Every municipal pool’s current schedule sits on amsterdam.nl under the pool’s own name, and it changes at school holidays.

Lane swimming (banenzwemmen) near the centre

Marnixbad on Marnixplein is run by Sportbedrijf Amsterdam Centrum and sits on the edge of the Jordaan, which makes it the lane-swimming pool for anyone based in the centre rather than travelling out to Zuid or Oost.

Its banenzwemmen slots move around the week, so check the current rooster on hetmarnix.nl before cycling over.

Zuiderbad: an Amsterdam-Zuid pool just behind the Rijksmuseum

The historic Zuiderbad on Hobbemastraat, directly behind the Rijksmuseum, is the other close option: a historic pool dating to 1912 that offers both banenzwemmen and vrij zwemmen (check its current timetable before you go), and it sits in the Amsterdam-Zuid district despite being a short walk from the museums and the centre.

Evening swimming (avond zwemmen)

Brediusbad’s lane sessions run from half past five in the evening and Optisport Bijlmer Sports keeps late slots on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, both covered above; Marnixbad and Zuiderbad are worth checking too, since an evening banenzwemmen slot near the centre is exactly what this search usually means.

The pools not listed above

Sloterparkbad on President Allendelaan in Nieuw-West is the city’s fifty-metre competition pool, and the one to go to if you want a proper long course rather than a leisure basin.

Marnixbad on Marnixplein sits on the western edge of the Jordaan and is the most convenient indoor pool for anyone living in the centre or west.

Flevoparkbad in Oost is outdoor only and open for the summer season, which makes it the other half of the answer alongside Brediusbad in Westerpark.

Sportfondsen Mercator on Jan van Galenstraat covers De Baarsjes and Bos en Lommer, though at 3.4 across 413 reviews it is the weakest score in the city.

Zwembad de Meerkamp is in Amstelveen rather than Amsterdam, which matters for anyone in Buitenveldert deciding between it and De Mirandabad.

The outdoor season

Open-air swimming here runs from late spring to early autumn, and the exact opening and closing dates are announced each year rather than fixed.

Brediusbad, Flevoparkbad and the outdoor basin at De Mirandabad are the three that matter, and all three fill within an hour of opening on the first genuinely hot day.

Go early on weekdays, and check before travelling on a warm Saturday, because pools close their gates once they reach capacity rather than queueing people down the street.

Swimming outside a pool

Amsterdam’s subtropical pool

De Mirandabad, described above, is the one locals mean by subtropisch zwembad: its indoor wave pool sits under a glass dome with palm-tree styling, built to feel like a warm-weather pool paradise even in January, alongside the renewed 50-metre outdoor pool for laps.

Recreational and family swimming (recreatief zwemmen)

Vrij zwemmen and recreatief zwemmen are two names for the same thing, and De Mirandabad, Optisport Bijlmer Sports and Noorderparkbad, all above, run the most family-friendly sessions, since each pairs an outdoor or wave-pool area with the usual lane sessions.

An outdoor pool near the centre

There is no outdoor municipal pool inside the centre itself.

The closest is De Mirandabad’s outdoor 50-metre pool in Zuid, a short tram or bike ride away; Brediusbad and Flevoparkbad, both further out and covered above, are the city’s other two outdoor pools.

Open-water swimming is legal and popular at designated spots, and the official ones near the city are the Sloterplas in Nieuw-West, the Gaasperplas in Zuidoost, Het Twiske just north of the ring, and the beach at Blijburg on IJburg.

Water quality at every official swimming location is monitored through the summer and published, with warnings for blue-green algae, so check the current status before getting in rather than judging by how the water looks.

Do not swim in the canals or the IJ: the traffic is the danger rather than the water, and the IJ in particular carries commercial shipping with no room to stop.

For more on the lakes, woods and green spaces these swimming spots sit inside, see our Amsterdam parks guide.

Before you go

Take a swimming cap for lane sessions, since some pools require one and none of them lend you one.

Showering before you enter the water is expected rather than suggested, and most pools charge for a locker in coins or by card.

If you swim regularly, ask at the desk about a multi-visit card, and if you hold a Stadspas ask what it covers at that pool, because the discounts differ by location.

Pairing a swim with strength work is easy here too; see our guide to Amsterdam gyms and fitness for somewhere nearby to train.

To find the pool nearest you, browse the full guide to Amsterdam swimming pools.

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