Types, Sellers & Practical Information

Looking for some useful information about the Rijksmuseum tickets? Well, here is exactly where you’ll find it!

The huge Rijksmuseum is one of the most important and famous art museums in the whole world, and its tickets are available only online, so they get booked quite fast (remember to buy yours at least 2 weeks in advance!).

To help you understand everything about the Rijksmuseum and its tickets, I have already collected some important information after thorough research. Learn about the ticket types, guided tours, combo packages, city passes, opening hours, facilities, museum structure, and much more, so you can get there fully prepared!

Are you ready to dive deep into the Rijksmuseum?

Let’s jump in!

If you are in a hurry

If you are here just to get your tickets, here are the best links to do so:

Why buy in advance?

The Rijksmuseum is one of the most famous art museums not only in Amsterdam but in the whole world, attracting more than 2 million visitors every year.

In order to visit it, you can only book your ticket online for a specific date and time slot, and there is only a limited number of tickets per admission time to regulate the visitors’ number.

This means you should book your ticket at least 2 weeks in advance if you want to make sure you find a spot at your desired time!

If you don’t find availability on the official website, or you are unsure about your travel plans and you want to have a better cancellation policy, you can book a ticket through other retailers like Headout (€22.50) or Tiqets (€23.50).

Book Your Tickets Online

Different types of tickets

Depending on your interests and travel plans, there are many different ways of visiting the Rijksmuseum: with a normal entrance ticket, a guided tour, a combo package etc. Let’s see them all together:

1. Normal entry ticket

If you want to visit the museum at your own pace, the normal entry ticket is the best option, giving you access to 400 artworks by some of the most famous Dutch artists (like Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Jan Steen and Vermeer), as well as many temporary exhibitions.

The Rijksmuseum is so huge that it has a road inside of it (it is the only museum in the whole world to have that). The reason why the museum hosts a road is that the building was originally a historical gate into the city!

In terms of tickets, as of 2022, you can buy tickets for the museum only online, for a specific date and fixed time slot, but once in the building, you can stay there as long as you like until 5 PM. Take into consideration that you will need at least 3 hours if you want to visit most of it!

You can either book your ticket through the official website or through other retailers like Headout and Tiqets if you’re not sure about your travel plans and you want to have a better cancellation policy as the tickets on the official website are non-refundable!

With the general entrance ticket, you have the option to rent an audio guide on-site for an extra €5 (for a total of €27.50 per person), which will guide you through the countless artworks and tell you some interesting details. Given the fact that the museum is huge, the audio guide can be extremely helpful!

Alternatively, you can also download the free museum app for special tours and smart routes. Check out section #2 of the important information to learn more about them!

Ticket conditions:

• Admission for children under 18 years old is free, but you still need to book an online ticket for your desired visiting time
• Tickets don’t include access to the Vermeer exhibition
• Tickets are non-refundable

PRICE: €22.50

2. Tours

The Rijksmuseum is massive and hosts so many artworks and exhibitions that you might want to be guided through them by an expert guide.

For this reason, I grouped all the best tours available, so let’s check them out together!

2.1 Best of the Rijksmuseum Tour

If you are planning to visit the Rijksmuseum with a group of friends, colleagues, or with your family, and you want to have a guided explanation of all the masterpieces you will see, you should book the best of the Rijksmuseum guided tour.

You can choose to have the tour with an English, Dutch, French, or German-speaking guide, who will guide you through the most important highlights of the museum, like Night Watch, the Jewish Bride, the Asian temple guards, and Breitner.

This is a private tour, and it is limited to a maximum of 15 participants. The final price per person will depend on the number of people joining it, but it’s €90 for the whole group.

The tour lasts 1 hour and is available only at the following time slots:

• Wednesday and Friday: 2 – 3.30 PM / 3 – 4.30 PM
• Saturday and Sunday: 10.30 – 11.30 AM / 2.15 – 3.30 PM / 3.30- 4.30 PM

The good thing about the private tour is that it is partly customizable, meaning that the guide will take your own choices and preferences into account (if you have any). If you are joining the family tour, you can have it tailored specifically for children!

My tip? Check the museum collection online in advance, and let your guide know what you want to focus on before the start of the tour!

FUN FACT: Today, the museum hosts an art collection of 1 million objects, but only 8,000 of them are on display for visitors.

NOTE: If you want to have a private tour, you need to book your entrance tickets (at no extra cost) separately after you have booked the private tour, or you won’t have access to the museum. Just select the “I already have a ticket/voucher” at the moment of booking your ticket.

If you don’t find availability on the official website, you can book a guided tour on GetYourGuide, and if you want to avoid the lines at the entrance, check out this skip-the-line Rijksmuseum Amsterdam – exclusive guided museum tour!

2.2 Guided tour for people with a visual impairment

The Rijksmuseum offers specific tours for people with a visual impairment with specially trained guides who will guide them through the museum highlights and help picture the objects by activating non-visual senses.

The tour lasts 1.5 hours and is limited to a maximum of 8 people for a final price of €30 per group, and is available every day (in English or Dutch) at the following hours:

• 10 – 11.30 AM
• 3 – 4.30 PM

NOTE: Just as with the “Best of Rijksmuseum” private tour, you need to book your entrance tickets (at no extra cost) separately after you have booked the tour. Just select the “I already have a ticket/voucher” at the moment of booking your ticket.

PRICE: €30

3. Combo tickets

If you don’t have much time in Amsterdam and you want to make the best out of it, why not combine the Rijksmuseum with other cool attractions and activities in the city?

If you agree with me, check out the following combo tours, all offering great value for the money:

FUN FACT: The Rijksmuseum was built on some 8,000 wooden piles because of the swampy soil in Amsterdam, and they are still supporting the building today!

4. City Passes

If you are staying in Amsterdam for a few days and you want to make the most out of your time there, you could consider buying one of the following city passes: I amsterdam Card or Amsterdam Museumkaart.

Both give you access to the Rijksmuseum and other must-see Amsterdam attractions and activities for a discounted price, but which one of the 2 will be better for you depends on your travel plans: the length of your stay, personal interests, itinerary, etc.

Let’s check them out separately:

4.1 I Amsterdam Card

The I amsterdam City Card gives you access to more than 70 attractions, museums, and activities in the city, a canal cruise, and the whole city public transport system (metro, tram, bus, ferry, and even bike rental for 1 day) for free!

The I amsterdam City Card is available for the following periods and prices:

• 24 hours: €60
• 48 hours: €85
• 72 hours: €100
• 96 hours: €115
• 120 hours: €125

This card is for sure worth it if you’re staying in Amsterdam for a short period and you want to visit as many attractions as possible, but you need to plan your time strategically in advance.

Let’s see an example of how to use the card and get the value of the card completely back during a 2-day itinerary:

+ Amsterdam GVB Card for 2 days that gives you access to the whole transport system for €15.

€20 + €18.50 + €20 + €20 + €18 + €18 + €15 = €129.50

€129.50 – €85 = you save €44.50!

P.S. You can either order the card online and activate it by downloading the app or buy the physical card at the I Amsterdam Store at Amsterdam Central Station. In this case, it will activate when you first use it.

4.2 Amsterdam Museumkaart

The Amsterdam Museumkaart offers great value if you are a resident of the Netherlands, a frequent visitor of the country, or you’re going to Amsterdam for a minimum of 3 days vacation and you want to explore the attractions both in the city and its surroundings.

In fact, for only €60, the Dutch Museum Card gives you access to more than 450 Dutch museums and exhibitions for a whole year (check out this list to see which ones), including, of course, the Rijksmuseum.

You can either buy the card online with a Dutch bank account or at one of the museums included in this list. In the last case, they will give you a temporary Netherlands Museum Pass that you can use right away, and then you’ll have to register it online as soon as possible to receive the standard pass within 5 working days.

Check out a 3-day itinerary to make the best of your museum card (you can also do this in 2 days, but I personally think that it is better not to rush)!

€16 + €18 + €20 + €12 + €23 + €10 = €99

You save €30 with the card in just 3 days (€99 – €60 = €30)

Important things you should know about Rijksmuseum

In this section, you will find some essential information you should know before visiting the attraction, so you can get there fully prepared!

1. Best time to visit the Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is open every day from 9 AM to 5 PM, with the last admission allowed at 4 PM. The peak season for the museum is during summertime, from April to August, when it welcomes most of its visitors.

If you’re visiting the attraction during this time and you still want to avoid the big tourist crowds, the best time to visit the Rijksmuseum is early in the morning (before 11 AM), or after 3 PM.

PRO TIP: If you visit the museum early in the morning, you should immediately check out the Gallery of Honour, where the famous Rembrandt’s “Night Watch” is exhibited.

The “Night Watch”, the star of the Rijksmuseum collection, was originally larger than it is today. 10 years after it was made, they transferred it to Amsterdam’s City Hall, but the wall on which they wanted to put it was too small, so they cut the picture a bit to fit it in!

This is one of the most popular parts of the Rijksmuseum, and during the rest of the day, you could find long queues to access it – check out section #3 below to know more about it!

2. Audio guide and museum app

If you buy the general entrance ticket but still want to have a deeper insight into all the incredible artworks you’ll see, you can either buy an audio guide on-site or download the museum app.

The audio guide can be borrowed on-site with the headphones and the receiver for €5 extra (so it will be a total of €25), while the museum app is available for both Android (on Google Play) and Apple (on the App Store) for free.

NOTE: If you choose to download the app, don’t forget to bring your headphones with you. Smartphones can only be used with headphones in the museum and not through loudspeakers.

Both the audio guide and the app will give you a detailed guided tour of the museum with many interesting stories and background information about the masterpieces and artists exposed on-site, so it is definitely a good alternative to a guided tour.

3. What to expect from the Rijksmuseum

The huge Rijksmuseum, literally meaning the “State Museum”, is one of the most visited cultural attractions in Amsterdam and a real wonder for art enthusiasts.

In fact, here you will find a big collection of Dutch Art from the Middle Ages to contemporary times from world-famous artists, among which Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Vermeer, and many more.

The museum is so big that you could lose yourself in it, and you probably won’t have time or willingness to check out every single part of it. That’s why below I mentioned some must-sees that you should not miss during your visit:

• The Gallery of Honour, where you’ll find masterpieces of Vermeer, Rembrandt, Jan Steen, and Frans Hals. Getting curious? Have a preview of it with the Best of the Gallery of Honour virtual tour!
• The Cuypers Library, located on the 2nd floor
• The Night Watch Gallery, where Rembrandt’s masterpiece is hosted
• The Milkmaid and the Night Watch paintings
• The doll’s houses, model ships, and armory collection
• The Wealth of Silverware

The Cuypers Library hosts the oldest and biggest collection of art history books in the Netherlands and is also the most extensive art library in the country!

Apart from that, in the museum, you will find many interesting exhibitions that change throughout the year. To stay updated, check out this page on the official website!

4. How to get to Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is located in the Museumplein district, in the center of Amsterdam (precisely at 📍 Museumstraat 1, 1071 CJ).

There are 2 main entrances to the museum, one of which is specially made for wheelchair visitors, and they are both accessible through a road open only to pedestrians and cyclists and cannot be reached directly by car.

But if you’re not eager to walk or cycle, let’s see in detail all the possible ways of transport to get to the Rijksmuseum:

• Car: whether you have your own or a rented car, there is free parking on many roads just near the museum, like Johannes Vermeerstraat, Honthorststraat, Pieter de Hoochstraat, and Jan Luijkenstraat, all walking distance from the attraction. If you need disabled parking, you can find it in the Johannes Vermeerstraat and Jan Luijkenstraat streets or in the Q-Park Museumplein parking.

• Taxi: If you get a taxi or an uber to reach the museum, they will drop you off at the “Kiss & Ride” point (located at the corner of the Jan Luijkenstraat and the Stadhouderskade), literally a few steps from the museum entrance.
• Public transport: the closest bus stop to the Rijksmuseum is Spiegelgracht, located a few steps from it (but unfortunately, it has not yet been adapted for visitors on wheelchairs).

5. What to bring (and not) to Rijksmuseum

Let’s see what you are allowed and not allowed to bring with you to the museum:

BRING:

✅ Tickets (either printed or on your phone)
✅ ID
✅ Camera: You can take pictures in the museum but without flash
✅ Headphones: In case you download the free app
✅ Small handbags
✅ Assistance dogs

DON’T BRING:

❌ Backpacks or oversized handbags
❌ Tripods and selfie sticks
❌ Food

6. Facilities inside/nearby Rijksmuseum

• Toilets: There are regular and adapted toilets for disabled visitors located In the atrium
• Baby changing facilities: Located in the toilets
• Cloakrooms: In the atrium
• Wheelchair-accessible entrance: Make sure you complete the Fast Lane Declaration before you get there to avoid the queue
• Lifts: Located on all floors
• Changing rooms: With a mobile lift, a bed, and a sink (ask for their location at the info desk!)
• Information desk: In the atrium
• Free Wi-Fi: Throughout the whole building
• Museum shop: Located in the atrium (alternatively there’s a Gift Shop online)
• The Café: In the atrium
• The Rijksmuseum Restaurant: In the Philips Wing

FAQs about Rijksmuseum tickets

Conclusion

Congratulations! You made it to the end of this extensive travel guide about the Rijksmuseum tickets. We saw a lot of useful information, from ticket types to guided tours, combo packages, city passes, opening hours, facilities, museum structure, and much more.

Have you decided if you are visiting the museum with a normal entrance ticket, a guided tour, or a combo package?

Whatever option you will choose, make sure you book it at least 2 weeks in advance: remember that you can buy them only online, and there is a limited capacity of tickets for the time slot!

I hope you enjoyed my post and you found it helpful, or if you still have any questions for me, please don’t hesitate to share them in the comments below. I will answer you as soon as possible.

Have an amazing visit!

Elena

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