Amsterdam is famous for a lot of things: legalized prostitution and marijuana culture come to mind. But Amsterdam is more than a place to get high and visit the notorious Red Light District. The Netherlands boasts more museums per square mile than any other country in the world, and 92 of them are in Amsterdam. Yep, there are 92 museums in Amsterdam!
Unfortunately, you probably won’t have time to visit all 92 museums during your trip, but I’ve put together a list of the top 5 most-visited museums in the city.
1. Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum is the most visited single-artist museum in the world — in case you couldn’t guess, it houses the largest collection of artwork by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. Among the 600 works displayed here, you’ll find famed paintings such as The Potato Eaters, Sunflowers, The Yellow House, and one of three versions of Bedroom in Arles. There is also no shortage of self-portraits, ensuring that you never forget whose museum you are in.
As you make your way through the exhibits, you’ll learn about different phases of Van Gogh’s life and what inspired his work during that time. Not only is Van Gogh’s art displayed in the museum, but also that of his contemporaries: such as Paul Gauguin’s The Painter of Sunflowers. This allows for another important perspective on Van Gogh and how he has been viewed through history.
Address: Museumplein 6, Amsterdam
Cost: €22 for adults; free for children under 18. Tickets must be purchased in advance online.
Hours: Daily from 09:00-18:00; Fridays until 21:00.
More information: https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en
Get a private tour: Van Gogh Museum Exclusive Guided Tour With Reserved Entry
2. Rijksmuseum
Before the Van Gogh Museum took the number one spot, the Rijksmuseum was the most-visited museum in Amsterdam and the Netherlands for many years. As a national museum, the Rijksmuseum is maintained by the government; in fact, Rijksmuseum means “national museum” in Dutch. Though the museum originally opened in 1800 in The Hague, it was moved to Amsterdam several years later and did not move to its current location at the Museumplein until 1885. These days, it’s one of the most recognizable museums in Amsterdam.
While the Rijksmuseum collection includes upwards of 1 million objects, there are about 8,000 items on display. These are objects of important arts, crafts, and history dating from the years 1200 to 2000. Additionally, the museum’s RIJKS restaurant in the Philips Wing was awarded a Michelin star in 2017.
Address: Museumstraat 1, Amsterdam
Cost: €22.50 for adults; free for children under 18
Hours: Daily from 09:00-17:00
More information: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en
3. Anne Frank House
Many people know Anne Frank as the face of the Holocaust. Her diary, which was published by her father in 1947, has been translated into more than 60 languages and read by children and adults around the world. But most people singularly associate the Holocaust with Germany — and though Anne was born in Germany, her family moved to the Netherlands when she was four years old. The Franks lived and spent two years hiding in a townhouse on Prinsengracht street in Amsterdam.
Their house is now the museum. You can walk the same stairs that Anne and her family walked and see the secret annex where they were hidden. The museum also explores theories of how the Frank family was eventually discovered by Nazis. At the end of the museum, a powerful exhibit called “Reflections on Anne Frank” discusses Anne’s legacy.
Note: Buying tickets can be tricky. When I went in 2013, it was easy to buy tickets at the door (after standing in line for an hour). Now, tickets are released online every Tuesday at 10 a.m. Central European Time for visits six weeks later.
Address: Prinsengracht 263-267, Amsterdam; museum entrance at Westermarkt 20
Cost: €16 for adults; €7 for children 10-17; free for children under 10. Tickets must be purchased in advance online.
Hours: Daily from 09:00-22:00, with some exceptions
More information: https://www.annefrank.org/en/museum/
Add to your visit: Anne Frank Guided Walking Tour through Amsterdam’s Jewish Quarter
4. Sex Museum
Despite the serious undertones of the previous three museums, this is Amsterdam after all. (As stated above, the home of legalized prostitution and marijuana.) While a traveler to Amsterdam may not plan their trip around a visit to the Sex Museum, its location on a busy street across from Amsterdam Central Station has earned it a spot as the 4th-most visited museum in the city. It’s the kind of place you stumble across accidentally and decide to go in, because why not?
The museum features a number of shock-value gimmicks — photos are allowed throughout the entire museum, so that’s to be expected — but also discusses the history of human sexuality through interesting photo, video, and multimedia exhibits. This museum covers the sensitive topic of sexuality unabashedly, which is unique to Amsterdam’s culture. And the Sex Museum is apparently of much better quality than the similar “Erotic Museum” located in the Red Light District.
The Sex Museum’s price has doubled since 2018, when I visited for €5 — and I don’t know that it’s worth paying €10 for. 🤷♀️
Address: Damrak 18, Amsterdam
Cost: €10 (must be age 16 or older)
Hours: Daily from 10:00-18:00
5. Stedelijk Museum
If you consider yourself a modern art fan, the Stedelijk Museum is for you. Located at Museumplein, near the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum has its own small collection of Van Goghs as well. Focusing on contemporary art and design from the 20th and 21st centuries, other famous names you might recognize include Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and Henri Matisse.
The Stedelijk Museum has more than just paintings; with 90,000 objects in its collection, the collection is subdivided into 11 different categories such as sculpture, prints and drawings, posters, photography, and industrial design. It covers significant contemporary art movements such as Neo-Impressionism, Pop Art, and COBRA. Interestingly, “CoBrA” refers to a European avant-garde movement in which the artists expressed their interest in Marxism and modernism; the acronym gained its name from the founders’ home cities of Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam. The Stedelijk was home to COBRA’s first large-scale exhibition in November 1949, proving its relevance as a contemporary art center over the years.
Address: Museumplein 10
Cost: €22.50 for adults; €10 for students; free for children under 18
Hours: Daily from 10:00-18:00
More information: https://www.stedelijk.nl/en
Now you know the top 5 most-visited museums in Amsterdam. In my three trips to the Dutch capital, I’ve managed to visit three. Can you guess which ones?
-Cathy
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Originally Published on November 10, 2018.
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