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July and August are the busiest months of the year at Schiphol, and the changeover Saturdays are busier still.
From early July to late August, Schiphol is busier than usual for weeks on end. Because the school holidays are staggered by region (north, central and south), the summer has no single peak week but a long plateau instead, with the changeover Saturdays standing out and the morning wave from approx. 05:30 to 09:00 as the busiest part of the day.
The exact holiday dates for each region vary from one school year to the next. You can find them on rijksoverheid.nl. The latest security forecast is on schiphol.nl.
Book your taxi in advance at a fixed price with no summer surcharge, even on the busiest changeover Saturday.
Book your ride in advanceThe school summer holidays are staggered: the northern, central and southern regions start and finish on different Saturdays. That means there is no single peak week: the crowds stay high for weeks, from early July to late August.
The Saturdays when a region starts its holiday or comes back from it are the busiest days of the summer. Departing and returning travellers then overlap, both in the terminal and on the approach roads.
In summer too, most holiday flights leave in the early morning (approx. 05:30 – 09:00). Charter flights and flights to sunshine destinations cluster in exactly this part of the day, so the queues at bag drop and security are at their longest then.
In the peak weeks, the car parks around the airport fill up more often or are only available at high daily rates, and the A4 and A9 are busy for longer than just the rush hour. If someone drops you off, you can skip all of that.
In summer, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are noticeably quieter than the changeover Saturdays and the Fridays and Sundays around them. If your dates are flexible, you win twice over: shorter queues and often cheaper tickets.
The rule of thumb is still about 2 hours for European flights and about 3 hours for intercontinental flights, but in July and August an extra half hour is sensible, especially on Saturdays and in the morning wave.
Schiphol publishes a forecast of how busy security will be for each part of the day. It is worth checking the evening before you fly, so you don't plan your pickup time too tightly.
In the summer weeks, lots of travellers want to leave on the same mornings. Book your ride days or even weeks ahead and you can be sure of a car at the time you want, at the same fixed price as outside the high season.
Going on holiday from your home town? See the fixed price and journey time for your route, for example from Almere, Amersfoort, Apeldoorn, Zwolle, Breda or Alkmaar, or find your town in the list of all locations.
July and August are the high season: weeks of heavier crowds, with the biggest peaks on the Saturdays when school regions start their holidays or come back from them, and every day during the morning wave from approx. 05:30 to 09:00.
The changeover Saturdays at the start and end of each region's school holidays (north, central, south) are the busiest, followed by the Fridays and Sundays in the peak weeks. Midweek (Tuesday to Thursday) it is usually quieter.
Stick to the basic rule (about 2 hours for European flights, about 3 hours for intercontinental flights) and add half an hour during the summer peak, especially on Saturdays and for a morning flight. Follow your airline's latest advice as well.
In the middle of the week (Tuesday to Thursday), around midday between the flight waves, and late in the evening. The very first and very last weeks of the staggered season are often a little quieter than the weeks when several regions are off at the same time.
Not with SchipholRide: the price is calculated in advance based on distance and stays fixed. No summer surcharge, no night surcharge and no surprises afterwards, even on the busiest changeover Saturday.
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