Amsterdam's major museums

Rijksmuseum

17th-century art

A must-visit for classical art lovers, this museum has an impressive collection from the 800-year time period between 1200–2000, with masterpieces by Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer on display. The building itself is a triumph of Dutch architecture, in an exquisite blend of Gothic and Renaissance styles, and it is the only museum in the world that you can cycle through.

Highlights

1. Rembrandt’s The Nightwatch
2. Cuypers Library, the most extensive and oldest art history library in the Netherlands, with a beautiful spiral staircase that begs to be photographed
3. A collection of dolls' houses that shows life in the 17th century

Rijksmuseum | Museumstraat 1 | Free with the I amsterdam City Card

Stedelijk Museum

Modern art

A stone’s throw from the Rijksmuseum, this modern art museum displays 90,000 works from the early 20th and 21st centuries. Expect pieces by Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, Gerrit Rietveld, Nola Hatterman, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Karel Appel, Andy Warhol and more. The 2012 renovation added a new wing that’s dubbed “the bathtub” by locals because it looks like a giant, shiny-white bathtub plopped smack in Museumplein.

Highlights

1. Composition No. IV With Red, Blue and Yellow by Piet Mondrian
2. Jacqueline Kennedy II by Andy Warhol
3. 700 pieces strong, the “Stedelijk Base” permanent exhibition brings together paintings, furniture, jewellery, sculptures, everyday objects, accessories, photography, drawings, installations, video art, posters, and interiors into one unique integrated experience

Stedelijk Museum | Museumplein 10 | Free with the I amsterdam City Card 

Van Gogh Museum

All things Vincent van Gogh 

Truly a must-visit for Van Gogh fans, here you’ll find the largest collection of his work in the world with 200 of his paintings, 400 drawings and 700 letters. In addition to the curation of Van Gogh’s masterpieces, there are also rotating exhibitions and works by his contemporaries including Monet and Pissarro and later artists who were inspired by Van Gogh, including Steven Aalders and Zeng Fanzhi. This sleek museum is also on Museumplein, alongside the Stedelijk and the Rijksmuseum, but don’t try to fit visit all three in a single day; there is simply too much to see. 

Highlights

1. The Potato Eaters, Vincent van Gogh
2. The Bedroom, Vincent van Gogh
3. Tulip Fields near The Hague, Claude Monet

Van Gogh Museum | Museumplein 6

Anne Frank House

A window into a life in hiding during World War II 

Step into the pages of The Diary of Anne Frank by exploring the house where 13-year-old Frank hid with her family for two years during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. Opened in 1960, this museum on Prinsengracht preserves the annex where they lived and showcases objects, photographs and historical documents from the time, piecing together a moving narrative of the events that took place.

Highlights

1. Anne Frank’s original red-checked diary 
2. Exploring the beautiful house on Prinsengracht and seeing the meticulously preserved annex where Anne lived
3. Hinged bookcase that led the way to the secret annex

Anne Frank House | Westermarkt 20

H'ART Museum

Russian and Dutch art and artefacts

After an eventful year, the Hermitage Amsterdam reopens as H'ART Museum in September 2023, with an intensive collaboration with the British Museum, Center Pompidou and Smithsonian American Art Museum. The upcoming programme anticipates some of the most significant blockbuster exhibitions, kicked off by a major exhibition of abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky by Center Pompidou in June 2024. We can't wait.

Highlights

1. The riverfront building itself, the Amstelhof, was built 1682 as a retirement home
2. The church hall and historically reconstructed rooms in The Amsterdam Wing
3. The tranquil courtyard garden with special events like open-air film screenings and farmer's markets

H'ART Museum | Amstel 51 | Free with the I amsterdam City Card

Amsterdam Museum

History of Amsterdam

Set in a former orphanage, this museum will give you an engaging overview of Amsterdam’s origin story. Its curation of art, household items, books, ancient artefacts, journals and reference papers, interactive displays and multimedia exhibits chronicles how this 1000-year-old trading city has maintained its culture of creativity and free-thinking through the millenia.  

Highlights

1. “The Little Orphanage” is an interactive exhibit for kids and families that shows what life was like in a 17th-century orphanage
2. The “World - City” permanent exhibition explores  Amsterdam’s relationship with the rest of the world
3. An aerial map of Amsterdam that dates back to the Middle Ages 

Amsterdam Museum | Kalverstraat 92 | Free with the I amsterdam City Card
*currently at a temporary location, Amsterdam Museum aan de Amstel, within the Hermitage

NEMO Science Museum

Kid-centric science and fun

NEMO Science Museum invites families to interact with science and technology in an informal and engaging setting. The five-story building itself is a landmark on the Oosterdok, jutting out of the water like the hull of a copper-green ship. The 19,000 artefacts show how technology has developed over the years, in an anthology of the first electrical home appliances and everything from the parlograph to the Walkman.

Highlights

1. The outdoor roof terrace atop the building where you’ll find a stunning view of Amsterdam, a lovely restaurant and the open-air “Energetica” exhibition with interactive sculptures and a cascading water feature
2. The Maker’s Space, open on Wednesdays and weekends, where you can make your own machines and creations
3. “Sensational Science” exhibition helps kids unravel the mysteries of everyday physics in action through fun experiments like blowing giant bubbles and making rainbows

NEMO Science Museum | Oosterdok 2 | Free with the I amsterdam City Card

National Maritime Museum

A walk through the Netherlands’ maritime history 

The Maritime Museum has endless entertainment for sea-faring families. On a swashbuckling tour of the East Indiaman Amsterdam ship, Rinus the Rat guides visitors through firing a cannon, scuttling through the hold and other hands-on activities that will give you an idea of what life was like aboard the real 18th-century ship all those years ago.  The museum collection of 400,000 maritime objects, including paintings, models of ships, navigation instruments, and maps of the world, is one of the largest in the world.  

Highlights

1. A life-size replica of the 1749 VOC East Indiaman ship, the Amsterdam, is docked directly in front of the museum for visitors to explore
2. “Maps & Marvels” shows how 17th-century Dutch sailors navigated the seas and how their travels impacted the Netherlands and the world at large 
3. In the main hall, the “Republic at Sea” exhibition displays more than 50 masterpieces that demonstrate the Netherlands’s history as a maritime nation

National Maritime Museum (Scheepvaartmuseum) | Kattenburgerplein 1 | Free with the I amsterdam City Card

Eye Filmmuseum

Archive of seminal Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands

A landmark on the IJ, Eye Filmmuseum is an architectural wonder designed to play with light, space, and movement in much the same way as film. Inside the slick, the multi-faceted white structure is an impressive complication of movie posts, project equipment, almost 40,000 films and other objects that reflect Dutch film culture. The four intimate cinemas onsite screen both blockbusters and limited-release art-house films that are hard to find elsewhere in the country. 

Highlights

1. The a panoramic cafe-restaurant has a jaw-dropping view over the IJ
2. An homage to film history, the permanent “Panorama” exhibition showcases film devices that were pivotal in the history of cinema
3. Daily movie screenings in four cosy cinemas

Eye Filmmuseum | IJpromenade 1 | Free with the I amsterdam City Card

FOAM

Photography

This stylish address on Keizersgracht is dedicated to photography. Using a mix of exhibitions, publications, debates and educational projects, its mission is to inform and involve the community in the world of contemporary photography, with displays organised by categories including documentary, art and fashion. You’ll find historic works by world-famous photographers hanging alongside modern shots by emerging artists.

Highlights

1. FOAM Magazine, which is published three times a year around a specific theme
2. Foam 3h, a programme focussed  on exhibiting the work of recently graduated artists and photographers
3. Free tours of the exhibitions led in English every Thursday evening at 19:30  

Foam | Keizersgracht 609 | Free with the I amsterdam City Card

Rembrandt House Museum

Rembrandt’s former home and studio

In this space that Rembrandt called home for 20 years, you’ll see exhibitions about the iconic Dutch master, his predecessors, contemporaries and pupils. The house itself has been carefully restored to its 17th-century glory, decorated with furniture and objects from that time. Walking through its rooms provides a rare glimpse into the life of the great artist.  

Rembrandt House highlights

1. The collection of more than 290 etchings by Rembrandt
2. Studios where Rembrandt painted some of his most famous pieces
3. Hands-on demonstrations and workshops where you can learn about the materials Rembrandt used to create art 

Rembrandt House Museum | Jodenbreestraat 4 | Free with the I amsterdam City Card

Wereldmuseum Amsterdam

World cultures

The architecture alone in this spectacular building makes it worth a visit. It took almost 10 years to build and was officially opened in 1926 by Queen Wilhelmina. The central atrium affords an expansive, light-drenched view of the museum’s various floors and exhibits. The permanent collection explores culture, where visitors can peruse beautiful artefacts from all over the world, each with its own story to tell.

Highlights

1. Wereldmuseum Amsterdam Junior, where kids can explore interactive exhibitions
2. The “Things That Matter” permanent exhibition considers themes that connect people across borders
3. “Afterlives of Slavery” permanent exhibition, bringing to light the history of slavery and its modern-day repercussions  

Wereldmuseum Amsterdam| Linnaeusstraat 2 | Free with the I amsterdam City Card