Frequently Asked Questions

Able Amsterdam currently has limited hotel recommendations on the Hotels page. Click here for hotel suggestions by Wheelchairtravel.org.

The Anne Frank House has limited accessibility. The original part of the museum (including the Secret Annex) is only accessible via a staircase. As an alternative, the museum offers a virtual reality tour.

The new section of the museum has a number of accessibility features, however, Anne Frank’s diary can only be seen down several steps.

For more information see Able Amsterdam’s Anne Frank House museum page or read my blog post: How wheelchair-friendly is the Anne Frank house?

Blue Boat Company offers the only wheelchair-friendly canal cruise in Amsterdam. Six out of 15 boats are wheelchair accessible. To make a reservation, contact info@blueboat.nl or call +31 (0) 20 679 1370. For more information, see the Canal Cruises page or read my Blue Boat Company canal cruise accessibility review.

Most museums in Amsterdam do not have a reduced rate for wheelchair users, but certain museums are free for wheelchair chaperones. This includes the Rijksmuseum, the Amsterdam Museum, the Dutch Resistance Museum, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, and more. For further details please see the Museums page.

Please see the Rent a Wheelchair page for more information, including a request form.

Please see the Rent a Wheelchair page for more information, including a request form.

Adapted bicycles and Firefly wheelchair attachments can be rented at Star Bikes Rental, located behind Amsterdam Central Station.

* You do not need a driving license.

* You need to be 16+ years old.

* You may ride with a hand bike on the pavement, bicycle paths, or on the road.

* You may not use a handheld phone, navigation, or tablet while driving.

* Maximum speed: Pedestrian area (6 km/hour), bicycle path (30 km/hour), and road (45 km/hour).

* You are permitted to use a handbike indoors in supermarkets, shopping centres, hospitals, etc.

* You need a working light at the front and back of the handbike if it's difficult to see during the day (e.g. mist) or at night. This is not necessary if you are riding on the pavement. If you don’t already have lights, make sure to attach attach a little bicycle lamp to the front and back. You can easily buy a set of two lights at shops like HEMA at Amsterdam Central Station for just a few Euros. Just remember the white light is for the front, and the red light for the back.

* You need to have some form of liability insurance (in Dutch this is called 'WA insurance') just like with electric wheelchairs. This covers the costs if you cause accidental damage to someone else's property. 

All of the above information was referenced from this Dutch report by Scouters.

For more information, please see the Wheelchair Repair Services page.

Please see the Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol) page for more information.

This depends on the mode of transport and how new a particular train, metro, or tram carriage is. For details please see the Public Transportation page.

A disabled parking permit issued by a valid authority outside of The Netherlands is valid in The Netherlands, provided that: 1) The parking permit has been issued in a country within Europe, and 2) The wheelchair symbol on the card is clearly visible.

For more information please see the Disabled Parking page.

If you have a disabled parking permit issued in Europe, you can park for free in Amsterdam in a disabled parking space that is on the street. When parking in a parking garage or parking lot that has a barrier to enter and exit, you will have to pay the standard parking ticket rates.

For more information, please see the Disabled Parking page.

No. Please see the Restaurants & Cafes page for a list of restaurants with accessible toilets. By clicking on a restaurant name you will be able to view accessible toilet details.

A Changing Places Toilet is a toilet “designed to meet the needs of people with complex care needs” that includes a larger space, an adult changing table, a hoist, and other accessibility features.

There is a Changing Places facility at the Rijksmuseum which includes a large changing table, a hoist, a sink and rubbish bin. If you would like to use this, please inform a member of staff who will take you down with a special lift key.

Since I started Able Amsterdam in 2018, the website has been almost exclusively personally funded. I’d love to expand the website further, but this comes with a number of costs.

From time to time, people have approached me asking if they can make a donation to Able Amsterdam because they appreciate how helpful the site has been. For this reason I have opened up a platform for purely voluntary donations via the ‘Make a Donation’ button in the website footer.

Your contribution will help toward costs associated with creating and maintaining (new) website content. Examples include costs relating to the Able Amsterdam website, its newsletter, and travel to and from accessible locations. Any donations, big or small, are much appreciated.