Woudsend is reached most easily by car: the village is just off the N928 between Sneek and Balk, about 15 minutes south of Sneek and an hour from Leeuwarden. From Amsterdam it is about an hour and forty minutes via the A6 over the Afsluitdijk.
There is no train station in the village. Sneek, the nearest railhead, has direct services to Leeuwarden and connections south via Zwolle to the Randstad. From Sneek, Arriva bus 41 runs to Woudsend several times an hour on weekdays. In summer, many visitors arrive by boat — the village has multiple public moorings along the Ee.