GUIDE | AMSTERDAM

Christmas Photoshoot in Amsterdam: Where and When

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Updated 8 November 2026

Family in a tight hug beside the tall Christmas tree on the Leidseplein in Amsterdam, the boy in a red sweater leaning out with a grin

For a Christmas photoshoot in Amsterdam, come in December. That is when lights hang in the bare canal trees and across the shopping streets. Tall Christmas trees stand on the squares, too. The days are short, with sunset around 16:30. So an afternoon hour often starts in daylight and ends under the street lamps. A warm coat, a scarf and a knit hat are all the styling you need.

This guide comes from my own winter sessions: two proposals on the same canal, a walk before a wedding, a baby’s first Christmas and a family on the Leidseplein. It answers what families and couples ask me before they book. It also shows how my family photoshoots in Amsterdam work in winter: you choose the date, and I plan the route.

At a glance

When: December, while the lights are up in the trees and streets
Light Festival: Usually late November to mid-January, every evening
Daylight: Sunset around 16:30, about eight hours of daylight
Spots: Lit canal trees, Christmas trees on squares, markets and shop windows
Wear: Warm coats, scarves and knit hats in colors that go together
Photos: In your gallery within 7 days, or 1 day with Priority Delivery

When Are the Christmas Lights Up in Amsterdam?

At each of my Christmas photoshoots in Amsterdam, the lights were up. Strings hung in the canal trees and across the shopping streets, and the trees on the squares were lit. They stay up through the holidays.

On top of that, the Amsterdam Light Festival usually runs from late November to mid-January. Its light art along the canals is lit every evening from late afternoon.

A Christmas walk hand in hand down an Amsterdam shopping street strung with lights, lit shop windows and bikes along the pavement

Under a huge tree wrapped in lights, the couple close together beside bikes at the railing, canal houses glowing in the evening — December lights over a shopping street and in the canal trees

Crowds follow the lights. On December weekends, the Christmas markets and the main shopping streets are full, while weekdays are usually quieter. Yet one canal away, the streets are often calm again.

From experience

I plan December routes so we pass the lights without standing in the crowd. First a lit bridge, then a quieter side street, and the busy market only for a few minutes. Zara and Kian drank their mulled wine in a crowded market. Minutes later, they had a shop door full of lit stars to themselves.

After the holidays, the lights come down, but winter stays. In February, low sun and bare trees framed a winter proposal on a canal bridge. If December is full, those quiet weeks have a look of their own.

Couple seen from behind on a canal bridge in Amsterdam, looking along bare trees and a church tower in low winter sun

Where to Take Christmas Photos in Amsterdam

A Christmas photoshoot in Amsterdam stays in one picturesque area for the hour. So the question is which kind of place you like. These four kinds of spots worked in my winter sessions.

1. The Spiegelgracht and Spiegelkwartier

Lights in the canal trees | The Rijksmuseum at the end of the water | Antique shop windows next door

In December, the trees along the Spiegelgracht are wound with small lights. The canal runs straight toward the towers of the Rijksmuseum. Talia and Andre’s December engagement in Amsterdam began on its bridge at dusk, then moved on to the antique shops.

Couple on a bench by an old iron street lamp, seen from behind, a canal, red-brick houses and the Rijksmuseum towers far off

On a gray afternoon, Darren knelt on a bridge over the same canal for a proposal under the Christmas lights. Most leaves had fallen, and the lights already glowed in the branches.

Hug under a tree wrapped in Christmas lights in Amsterdam, he kisses her cheek while she smiles at the camera, canal houses behind

Tree wrapped in fairy lights above a woman walking with her eyes down, canal houses blurred behind her in the Spiegelkwartier — The Spiegelgracht and the Spiegelkwartier in December

In late autumn, the first lights may already glow among the last yellow leaves. It looked like that when I walked here with a family from Spain, just before they went home for the holidays.

Portraits work here too. Hannah, a musician, wanted new photos for her music and chose a December walk through the Spiegelkwartier.

Smiling woman in a red tartan scarf at a bridge railing on the Spiegelgracht, the towers of the Rijksmuseum soft at the end of the canal

2. Lit Trees Along the Canals

Lit trees by many bridges | Bikes, railings and lampposts | Quieter than the shopping streets

Elsewhere along the canals, lights wind around the trees by the bridges too. That is where Zara and Kian began their walk, with lit trees along the water behind them.

Start of a Christmas walk on an Amsterdam canal bridge, she in a cream pompom hat and checked scarf, lit trees along the wet canal

Hand in hand in brown winter coats down a narrow street hung with strings of lights, his long cream scarf over his shoulders

Narrow side streets often carry strings of lights between the houses. Ji-woo and Min-joon walked under them in their matching winter coats, from one bridge to the next.

3. Christmas Trees on the Squares

A tall tree on the Leidseplein | Room for children to move

A tall Christmas tree stands on the Leidseplein, and the square gives children room to run. One family came with their little boy. He spent the hour jumping, riding on his dad’s shoulders and swinging in his mom’s arms. I chose the spots, and his parents played along. For a photo by the tree, they pulled him close for a few seconds. Then the games went on.

Mom swings her laughing son sideways as the dad holds on behind her, the lit Christmas tree on the Leidseplein in Amsterdam above them

Dad kisses his little daughter's cheek by a tree full of bright rings and ribbons, the mom hugging them both in her orange coat — Two Christmas trees, two families

Smaller squares have their own trees. Lou’s was hung with bright rings and stars, the start of her baby’s first Christmas walk with her parents.

Near the Leidseplein, a stall sold oliebollen, the Dutch fried dough balls of the winter season. Father and son bit into theirs right there.

Father and son biting into oliebollen at a red winter stall near the Leidseplein, the mom smiling behind them with a paper bag

4. Christmas Markets and Shop Windows

Busiest on weekends | Lit windows and doors in the shopping streets

A Christmas market brings its own scene: wooden stalls, warm bulbs, a tall tree and sometimes an ice rink. Zara and Kian held cups of mulled wine there on their Christmas walk before the wedding.

Laughing with cups of mulled wine under the tall tree of an Amsterdam Christmas market, strings of bulbs overhead

Sharing a warm cup in front of a wooden mulled wine stall hung with icicle lights, a small fir tree at the edge of the frame

Shop windows dress up as well. Lou’s family stopped at a window with big teddy bears, and her dad lifted her high in front of them.

Dad lifts the baby high in front of a window of teddy bears while the mom reaches up to her, a first Christmas outing in Amsterdam

Hug in an Amsterdam shop doorway framed by lit stars and small Christmas trees, a wrapped gift box on the red carpet beside them

In another shopping street, a shop door glowed with lit stars and small trees. A wrapped present lay on a red carpet. An entrance like this is only a few steps wide, so it works even on a busy evening.

In the Nine Streets, strings of lights hang from house to house above the shop windows. Maren and Wes walked under them with their two boys: Christmas in the Nine Streets.

How Short Are the December Days?

Short. In December, the sun rises around 8:30 or later and sets around 16:30. That leaves Amsterdam about eight hours of daylight. On a gray day, the light is soft and even. After sunset, the sky turns deep blue for a while. Then the street lamps, shop windows and lights in the trees take over.

As a result, most Christmas photoshoots in Amsterdam cross that line within the hour. Darren and Jia Wen’s afternoon stayed gray and soft, while Talia and Andre’s evening went from dusk into blue hour. I work with whatever light the hour brings, so you can choose the time that suits your day.

Leaning together between two bikes on the bridge, her patterned bag in hand, trees with lights and the Rijksmuseum soft behind

He cups her face as she laughs, a lit branch curving above and a gabled house glowing behind them in the deep blue evening — Two December sessions on the Spiegelgracht: a gray afternoon, then blue hour

What to Wear in the Cold

For a Christmas photoshoot in Amsterdam, dress for an hour outdoors. A warm coat, a scarf, a knit hat and shoes for cobblestones are enough. Colors that go together matter more than matching. In my December sessions, a camel coat with a red tartan scarf looked warm against the lights. So did a rust teddy coat with a rust and gray beanie, and two brown coats in different fabrics. Before your session, I also share outfit suggestions.

Portrait of her in a brown corduroy winter coat over a checked shirt and cream turtleneck, gold hoop earrings, gables blurred behind

Mom in a rust teddy coat and a gray and rust beanie hugs her baby in a bear-ear hat among small Christmas trees with lights in Amsterdam

Hats belong in winter photos. The friends at a winter hen party on the canals all wore gray pompom beanies. The bride stood out in a lighter one.

Bride and a friend hugging cheek to cheek in cable-knit beanies with pompoms, both smiling straight into the camera

What If It Rains?

Light rain is usually no problem. Wet streets reflect the lights, and a dark umbrella adds a distinctly Dutch touch. However, if I confirm that the weather makes the session impractical, you can reschedule without extra cost.

Couple sharing a black umbrella beside a white picket fence and a small Christmas tree with lights, a rainy winter day in Amsterdam — A rainy winter day by a small Christmas tree

Who Comes for a Christmas Photoshoot?

Many families come with their Christmas cards in mind. Yet the lights suit everyone. Every session works the same way: outdoors, in one picturesque area, on a route I plan beforehand.

Couples also come for a walk among the lights, and sometimes for a proposal. Read how my couple photoshoots in Amsterdam work.

At a canal railing, a woman in a gray knit hat holds a warm mug, trees full of golden lights reflected in the water behind her

On your own, the hour becomes a portrait walk. Yana held a warm mug by a canal of lit trees. Selma wore reindeer antlers on her solo Christmas walk.

Portraits like these are what my portrait photoshoots in Amsterdam are about.

Friends come too, for a December afternoon together on the canals: one of my group photoshoots in Amsterdam.

Photos for Your Christmas Cards

If your Christmas photos in Amsterdam are meant for cards, timing matters. Your gallery is normally ready within 7 days after the session, once any remaining balance is paid. Around the holidays, delivery can take a little longer. So a session early in December leaves the most time. With the Priority Delivery add-on, the digital gallery arrives within 1 day.

Dad waves over the shoulders of his wife and son, all three close in front of a big fir tree full of small Christmas lights in Amsterdam

You can order prints and cards straight from your gallery, with free express delivery. Every session also includes a €25 print credit. Lou’s parents, for example, put her last frame by the canal on their cards.

Yana stayed in Amsterdam over the holidays and wanted a few photos of herself in the festive city. We walked from a shopping street strung with lights to a shop front wound with garlands. There, she held up a white snowflake. Afterward, she had her favorites printed as greeting cards.

Woman in a light blue coat and a chunky gray beanie glances back on a shopping street strung with Christmas lights in Amsterdam

Smiling in a Fair Isle sweater, a woman holds up a white snowflake ornament beside a shop front wound with garlands and fairy lights — From a street of lights to a shop front and a snowflake

A Session as a Christmas Gift

A photoshoot also makes a gift that lasts beyond the holidays. The gift card arrives by email right after you order. The recipient then has at least two years to pick a date. My guide on how to give a photoshoot as a gift explains each step.

That is how one January walk began. Emily’s parents gave her and Edward a winter photoshoot on the Leidsegracht for their trip from the United States.

Couple dressed in black holding hands on a winter photowalk by a lamp post on a bridge, gabled houses along the water

Planning a Christmas photoshoot in Amsterdam with your family? Discover how my family photoshoots in Amsterdam work.