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The 10 best museums in Amsterdam

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Amsterdam has a large cultural offer. On the spot, you will clearly not have time to get bored… On the contrary. Between the restaurants, coffee shops and other activities, you should have time to fully immerse yourself in the local customs.

As such, we invite you to discover our selection of the 10 best museums in Amsterdam. Museums of various sizes, offering works of art, paintings and sculptures of great masters, to leave the Netherlands with a lot of memories.

1. RIJKSMUSEUM

The Rijksmuseum is one of the most famous museums in Amsterdam. It is specifically dedicated to :

  • art and history lovers
  • lovers of old sculptures
  • antique furniture and crafts

Quite large, it also has its “gallery of honor” in which paintings of great masters are exhibited, including the famous “Night Watch” by Rembrandt.

2. THE HOUSE OF ANNE FRANK

The Anne Frank House is probably the most famous museum in Amsterdam. As you enter the house, you will discover more about Anne Frank, the places where she and her family hid when Holland was under the Nazi rule.

The very places where this young girl wrote her famous diary. A dark museum, reminding us of the horrors suffered and experienced during the Second World War by millions of people.

3. STEDELIJK MUSEUM

The Stedelijk Museum is the largest Dutch museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art and design. It opened its doors in 1895 and quickly established itself as one of Amsterdam’s major cultural centers. On the program? Works by major artists, spanning more than 150 years.

Koons, Cézanne, Chagall, Picasso or Warhol and Matisse, the collections are simply exceptional. A fascinating, poignant museum, which requires several hours of visit to be fully appreciated.

4. JEWISH MUSEUM

The Jewish Museum in Amsterdam is a modern museum about Judaism. It is housed in no less than four synagogues. The ideal place to trace the history of the Jewish community in the Netherlands! A museum with 3 permanent exhibitions and a space for youngsters where they can enjoy one or two additional temporary exhibitions.

5. MUSEUM OF THE HOUSE OF REMBRANDT

Rembrandt, the symbol of Dutch art, has his own museum in his former home. A house faithful to the lifestyle of the artist…

One would almost have the impression that he was about to return home, to rest or to paint, so much the furniture and the arrangements retranscribe to perfection his way of life.

A museum in which you will see his reception room for clients, his living room as well as his bedroom and his precious cabinet of curiosities. The highlight of the show is his painting studio, where he created his many masterpieces.

6. TROPENMUSEUM

The Tropenmuseum is a rather special museum. It celebrates life and death, mourning, prayer and decoration. In short, a museum in its own right in a very culturally oriented Amsterdam.

A museum in which there are permanent exhibitions as well as temporary exhibitions, also in the same tone, which can be about colonization or healing practices of certain peoples.

7. VAN GOGH MUSEUM

The Van Gogh Museum is a true institution. In 2019 alone, 2.1 million visitors came to the museum, placing it at the top of the list of most visited museums in the Netherlands. It must be said that the Van Gogh Museum gives pride of place to one of the most famous and tormented painters in history.

You will find no less than 200 paintings (The Potato Eaters, The Wheat Field with Crows and the Sunflowers series) as well as drawings, letters and other sketches. A museum in which you will want to spend many, many hours.

8. VAN LOON MUSEUM

The Van Loon museum is dedicated to a well-known family, the Van Loon family. Never heard of them? One of the members co-founded the Dutch East India Company.

A world-famous company, very famous and above all very important, especially for its economic impact on the world at that time. A museum that has taken place in a house that is still inhabited by the Van Loon family. In the summer, Cocteau’s operas are performed in the canal-side garden.

9. NEMO SCIENCE MUSEUM

The NEMO museum is a museum that focuses on science! 5 floors to learn more about the world around us, UV rays? The solar system, etc… A museum for children, which is very didactic.

Thus, the youngest will be able to participate in small experiments! What to plunge them into a universe that they do not necessarily master and which could well open new horizons to them!

10. NXT MUSEUM

The Nxt Museum is a museum that offers immersive and multisensory exhibitions. Rich and varied thought-provoking experiences that offer a new perspective on the world.

Visitors can interact physically, conceptually and emotionally with the work on display. A gigantic museum, with more than 1,000 square meters of exhibition space in which you will also find a bar and a restaurant with a large terrace.