This is our ultimate guide to the Van Gogh Museum. It is one of Amsterdam’s most popular museums. We regularly visit it ourselves — particularly for the special exhibitions. They are included in the ticket price.
Lots of helpful information! Estimated reading time: 21 minutes
Plan Your Van Gogh Museum Visit
Table of Contents: Tickets, Tips, and Tours
- An Amsterdam must-see: Van Gogh Museum
- Van Gogh Museum Tickets
- FAQ: VAN GOGH MUSEUM FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- Alternative: Free Entrance with the I amsterdam City Card
- Van Gogh Museum: Opening Hours, Busiest Days, and Best Time To Visit
- Map: How to get to the Van Gogh Museum
- The Van Gogh Museum’s Permanent Collection
- Temporary Van Gogh Exhibitions
- Interactive Multimedia Audio Guide or Live Tour Guide?
- Number of Visitors (Take a guess before looking)
- Virtual Van Gogh Museum
- Van Gogh Museum’s Buildings
- Museum Director Emilie Gordenker
- Van Gogh Museum: Art or Commerce?
- Additional Practical Information
- Van Gogh Museum Ticket Options
- How do the Dutch pronounce Vincent van Gogh
- Hotels near the Van Gogh Museum
- On a Personal Note
An Amsterdam must-see: Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum is one of the most popular museums you can visit in Amsterdam. It houses the world’s largest collection of paintings by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890).
The museum also displays works by Van Gogh’s friends and contemporaries. This allows you to see his life and work in context – a helpful and memorable way to enjoy Van Gogh’s art.
In addition to the permanent collection, temporary exhibitions highlight the people, places and events that influenced Vincent van Gogh.
Article continues below ticket information
Van Gogh Museum Tickets
When you buy your ticket you have the option to include an Audio Guide. Highly recommended!
Timed entry tickets must be bought in advance. No ticket sales at the door.GetYourGuide, DutchAmsterdam’s trusted ticket partner, is authorized to sell Van Gogh Museum tickets.
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More information about your tickets:
- To visit the Van Gogh Museum you must book timed-entry tickets in advance. No tickets are sold at the entrance.
- You pick the date and time, subject to availability
- There is a limited number of tickets available for each day and starting time
- Choose the “with audio guide” option. It is well worth it.
- The museum accepts printed and mobile vouchers
- Your tickets give you access to both the permanent collection and the temporary exhibitions
FAQ: VAN GOGH MUSEUM FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Alternative: Free Entrance with the I amsterdam City Card
The Van Gogh Museum (the second most popular museum in the Netherlands) is a stone’s throw from the Rijksmuseum (the most popular museum in the country). It is also right next to the Stedelijk Museum.
See Also:
The Top 5 Museums in Amsterdam
If you’re planning to see all three museums, consider buying the I amsterdam City Card. It provides free entrance to 70+ museums, along with a host of other benefits — such as city-wide public transport by metro, tram, bus, and ferry.
Van Gogh Museum: Opening Hours, Busiest Days, and Best Time To Visit
| Dates | Opening Hours |
|---|---|
| January 9 – February 26, 2023 | Monday to Friday: 9 am to 5 pm Saturday & Sunday: 10 am to 6 pm |
| February 27 – November 5, 2023 | Daily from 9 am to 6 pm. |
| November 6 – December 15, 2023 | Monday to Friday: 9 am to 5 pm Saturday & Sunday: 10 am to 6 pm |
| December 16 – 31, 2023 | Daily from 9 am to 6 pm. Exceptions: – Dec. 24 – 26 (Christmas holidays): 9 am to 5 pm – Dec. 31: 9 am to 5 pm |
| Buy Your Van Gogh Museum Tickets (No tickets at the door!) |
- Busiest days:
- Friday (all day),
- Saturday 10:00 – 17:00 (10 a.m. – 5 p.m.), and
- Sunday 10:00 – 17:00 (10 a.m. – 5 p.m.)
- Busiest times: Every day between 11 am and 3+ pm.
- Best time to visit: Any day after 17:00 (5 p.m.).
Note: Though this popular museum is busy at times, the timed-entry ticket system ensures that you will have a perfect experience regardless of the day and time you visit.
Since the introduction of the new ticket system the Van Gogh Museum has received the highest visitor appreciation ratings ever.
Map: How to get to the Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum is on Museumplein in Amsterdam, between the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum.
The museum entrance is at Museumplein 6. (Dated travel guide books — and many ‘tourist information’ websites — list the old address, at Paulus Potterstraat 7.)
You’ll find the Van Gogh Museum at Museumplein (literally: Museum Square), in between the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum.
© OpenStreetMap contributors CC BY-SA via Wikimedia Maps
Get to the Van Gogh Museum by Tram
Buy your Public Transport Tickets here
Trams 2, 3, 5 and 12, 16 and 24 have stops near the museum. So does the Amsterdam Airport Express (Bus 397) that shuttles between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and the city.
The nearest stops are Van Baerlestraat (tram 2, 5 or 12) or Museumplein (tram: 3, 5 or 12, bus: 347 or 357).
From Amsterdam Central Station (Amsterdam Centraal Station)
- Tram 2 or 12
- Tram 11: change at Leidseplein to tram 2, 5 or 12
- Metro 52 (Noord/Zuid route) until De Pijp station, change to tram 3 (direction Zoutkeetsgracht) or tram 12 (direction Central station)
From Zuid WTC Station
- Tram 5 (direction Westergasfabriek)
From Amsterdam Amstel Station
- Tram 12
From Amsterdam Sloterdijk Station
- Tram 19, change at Leidseplein to tram 2, 5 or 12
From Muiderpoort Station
- Tram 3 (direction Zoutkeetsgracht)
Note: The trams are operated by GVB; the buses listed here are not.3 This means that holders of the I amsterdam City Card can travel to the Van Gogh Museum free of charge by tram, but not by bus. (This pass also provides free entrance to the museum.)4
Get there by Taxi
If you prefer to avoid the hustle and bustle of public transport, and you’ve heard nightmare stories about taxis in Amsterdam do what we do: use Uber instead.
The Van Gogh Museum’s Permanent Collection
The museum owns the largest collection of paintings by Van Gogh in the world. This includes some 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and more than 700 of Van Gogh’s letters.
Arranged by Themes instead of Chronologically
The collection is displayed thematically rather than chronologically. For instance:
- Van Gogh’s rural scenes,
- the artist among his friends, such as Paul Gauguin, Émile Bernard and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec,
- Van Gogh’s models,
- his painting techniques, and
- the painter’s mental decline
This allows visitors to see what inspired Van Gogh, and which artists in turn were inspired by him.
The galleries are laid out well, making the museum a joy to visit. (We know, since we come here on a regular basis.)
Will I get to see Van Gogh’s Sunflowers?
Van Gogh painted lots of sunflowers (and other flowers as well), including five versions of his best-known sunflowers painting.
One of these versions is in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The other versions are at the National Gallery in London, Neue Pinakothek in Munich, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Seiji Togo Memorial Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Museum of Art in Tokyo.
Van Gogh’s paintings of Sunflowers are among his most famous. He did them in Arles, in the south of France, in 1888 and 1889. Vincent painted a total of five large canvases with sunflowers in a vase, with three shades of yellow ‘and nothing else’. In this way, he demonstrated that it was possible to create an image with numerous variations of a single colour, without any loss of eloquence. The sunflower paintings had a special significance for Van Gogh: they communicated ‘gratitude’, he wrote. He hung the first two in the room of his friend, the painter Paul Gauguin, who came to live with him for a while in the Yellow House. Gauguin was impressed by the sunflowers, which he thought were ‘completely Vincent’. Van Gogh had already painted a new version during his friend’s stay and Gauguin later asked for one as a gift, which Vincent was reluctant to give him. He later produced two loose copies, however, one of which is now in the Van Gogh Museum.
In 2019 extensive research led the museum’s experts to the conclusion that the 130-year-old ‘Sunflowers’ painting, created in 1889, is stable but fragile. For this reason the painting will no longer travel.
Is “The Starry Night” by Van Gogh on display at the museum?
No, unfortunately not. The Starry Night is at The Museum of Modern Art — MoMA in New York. The Museum acquire the painting in 1941. After Vincent died, his brother Theo inherited his paintings. He died a short while later.
In order to establish Vincent’s recognition in the art world, Jo — Theo’s widow — strategically sold the paintings to influential art collectors or well-known museums. The Starry Night was sold to Georgette P. van Stolk, the secretary of the Rotterdam Art Society (“Rotterdamsche Kunstkring”). She sold the painting to French art dealer Paul Rosenberg, of Paris and New York. It was through Rosenberg that the Museum of Modern Art acquired the painting.
Temporary Van Gogh Exhibitions
Aside from the permanent collection, the museum also has special exhibitions focusing on various aspects of Van Gogh’s life and work.
Often these exhibitions feature works by his contemporaries — showing, for instance, how the painter was influenced by people, places, and events.
The current show is a good example:
Exhibition ‘Van Gogh in Auvers’
Exhibition ‘Van Gogh in Auvers’
May 12, 2023 — September 3, 2023
Access to this temporary exhibition is included with your Van Gogh Museum ticket.
Vincent van Gogh lived in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris, from 20 May 1890 until his death on 29 July of the same year. He was tremendously productive in these months and made several of his most renowned masterpieces, including Wheatfield with Crows, Doctor Paul Gachet, and The Church of Auvers-sur-Oise.
In the exhibition, you follow Van Gogh from his arrival in Auvers-sur-Oise, where he optimistically and ambitiously set to work. He was highly productive: he often created more than one painting a day, while freely experimenting with new approaches to colour, brushwork, formats and subjects.
Inspiring as his new surroundings were, feelings of failure, loneliness and melancholy gradually gained the upper hand, culminating in his decision to take his own life. He died on 29 July.
This exhibition is a collaboration with Musée d’Orsay in Paris, where it is on display from 3 October 2023 to 4 February 2024.
Access to the temporary, special exhibition Van Gogh in Auvers is included in the price of your regular Van Gogh Museum Ticket.
Interactive Multimedia Audio Guide or Live Tour Guide?
Option: Interactive Multimedia Audio Guide
The Van Gogh Museum has a professionally produced interactive multimedia audio tour guide available. The guide covers both the permanent collection and the special, temporary exhibitions. It is available in 11 languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese and Korean.
As frequent visitors to the museum we highly recommend this multimedia guide. It highlights many aspects and details you would otherwise miss. The tour provides insights into the life and work of Vincent van Gogh, and further helps you to view his work in context.
The small, lightweight guide hangs around your neck or is held in your hand. Either way, you can easily interact with the screen.
You can either follow the suggested route through the museum or visit only the sections of your choice. And you’re in control: you can go at your own pace, and skip paintings, sections, or entire floors if you wish.
You can order the Audio Guide along with your ticket. Select the “With audio guide” option. Pick up your guide inside the museum. (Note: Children under age 18 can use the multimedia guide free of charge).
Option: Live Tour Guide
Of course, the one drawback of a multimedia tour is that you cannot ask it questions. That is one reason many first-time visitors prefer to visit the Van Gogh Museum with a live tour guide.
If this is your first or only visit to the museum, we suggest your seriously consider using a guide.
Number of Visitors (Take a guess before looking)
The Van Gogh museum is one of Amsterdam’s most popular tourist attractions. In 2019 — the year before the COVID-19 pandemic started — it welcomed 2.10 million visitors.
That means the Van Gogh Museum is ranked as the second most-visited museum in the Netherlands.
Notably, nearly 90% of visitors rate their visit as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent.’ Small wonder that a study revealed Europeans rate the museum the most admired art gallery in Europe. 5
Virtual Van Gogh Museum
If you can’t visit the museum in person but would like to see its collection anyway, visit Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum via Google’s Art Project.
You’ll be able to ‘walk’ through the museum, zoom in on art objects, and get extra information about them.
Van Gogh Museum’s Buildings
The original building that houses the van Gogh Museum collection was designed by architect Gerrit Rietveld. It opened in 1973.
In 1999 an exhibition wing by the Japanese modernist architect Kisho Kurokawa was added, the design and placement of which many Amsterdammers didn’t like. The abstract design means that a tall, half-moon wall of ‘concrete’ is facing the grass of museumplein.
As for us, we think Van Gogh himself would not have been amused, to say the least. Your mileage may differ, as they say.
Inside: Café Le Tambourin
Ready for lunch? The Van Gogh Museum includes the pleasant Café Le Tambourin (€€ – €€€). The food is served cafeteria style, but is beautifully presented, and tasty. Many visitors express surprise to find such high quality, delicious food served at a museum restaurant.
Having your lunch here instead of at one of the eateries lining the Museumplein is an excellent choice.
Museum Shop
If we were to receive €1 for each tourist we spot carrying the distinctive, triangular Van Gogh poster package we’d be able to take more vacations.
The Museum Shop carries an extensive range of Van Gogh books, posters, trinkets, and gadgets. You can buy anything from key rings to eye glass cleaning cloths, and from fashion items to luggage — all sporting a variety of Van Gogh prints.
Oh, and the shop carries some 1,500 different books.
Tip: Instead of spending time and money in the museum’s shop, realize that there is a great collection of Van Gogh books, posters, paintings, and more at Amazon.com.
You will likely save money. Plus, you will not have to worry that your purchases get damaged in your luggage.
Museum Director Emilie Gordenker
Emilie Gordenker is the Director of the Van Gogh Museum. The Dutch-American art historian succeeded Alex Rüger on February 1, 2020. Rüger had been in charge for 13 years. He left in the summer of 2019 after his appointment as the new head of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
Rüger oversaw major renovations and a full redisplay of the collection. During his tenure, visitor numbers grew from 1.4 million to about 2.2 million a year. In 2018 and 2019, the Van Gogh Museum was Amsterdam’s second most visited museum.
Gordenker is the first female director of the museum. Her task is “to continue the successful course of the museum” but also “to broaden the programming and the public.”
Van Gogh Museum: Art or Commerce?
“Since the arrival of Emilie Gordenker as director, the battle for directions within the Van Gogh Museum is more visible than ever: will art or commerce win?” That’s the lede to an article in Amsterdam daily Het Parool regarding what it calls a “tribal struggle” within the museum.
The appointment of Gordenker, at the start of 2020, exposed the dividing lines between the two groups:
- The art historians on the one hand, interested in maintaining and building the museum’s international reputation as a knowledge institute
- The bean counters on the other hand, who want to make sure the museum stays as independent as possible from donors and state subsidies.
Thanks in no small part to the latter group, the museum is only 10 percent dependent on subsidies outside of corona times. The revenue potential (income from ticket sales, profit from commercial activities and donations) of 90 percent is unprecedented; the Ministry of Culture sets 19.5 percent of its own revenue as the lower limit. With equity of 44 million, the museum is in good shape.
One would think the two groups would play nice together. But the commercial branch thinks the museum spends money too easily. It is worried that Gordenker wants to make the Van Gogh Museum more dependent on donors and government subsidies.
Case in point for them is a biography about Jo Bonger, Van Gogh’s sister-in-law who became a key player in the growth of Vincent’s fame: Jo van Gogh-Bonger: The Woman who Made Vincent Famous. Published by the museum in 2019, the highly-praised tome was 10 years in the making. That means, at an annual salary of roughly 70,000 euros, biographer Hans Luijten was paid around 700.000 euros for a book that serves a small niche in the market. 1Luijten is a senior researcher at the museum.
On the art side there are complaints about an overgrown merchandise department with 1500 products:
[T]hey also have a frightening example: a dog blanket with a Van Gogh print. Could it be something less ordinary? Or, in 2016, rose gold and platinum watches with Van Gogh works on the dial for 100,000 euros each. How decadent do you want it?
The merchandisers point out that the proceeds allow the museum to do lots of “nice things.” But, as noted, they also suggest the money is at times spent too easily.
For instance,
Commercial employees believe that the museum branch hardly cares about the income stream. There is also incomprehension about the temporary exhibitions, which can be expensive due to insurance and transport costs of loan. “Just open the doors on Museumplein and the tourists will flood in,” says a former employee of the commercial branch. “The Americans want to see the Sunflowers and the Almond Blossom. They are not interested in what is shown outside the permanent collection.”
Unfortunately, delving deeper into this issue goes beyond the scope of this article. On our part we can assure you that you will thoroughly enjoy your visit to the museum. Van Gogh’s art speaks for itself. This brief behind-the-scenes look reminds us that the merchandising is, perhaps, a necessary “evil” that allows us to view those paintings in the first place.
As for the biography: after an extensive article in New York Times Magazine by Russell Shorto about ‘The Woman who made Van Gogh‘, conversations with film producers have commenced.
Additional Practical Information
Address
Museumplein 6
1071 DJ Amsterdam
See: How to get to the Van Gogh Museum
Website
Van Gogh Museum
Luggage / Cloakroom
Jackets and handbags are allowed in the museum, but rucksacks, umbrellas and larger backpacks must be placed in the cloakroom.
Note: They’re not referring to luggage-sized bags and packs.
There are no lockers at the museum, so do not bring your luggage! Leave it in your hotel, or at the luggage storage facility inside Amsterdam Central Station.
Wi-Fi
Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the museum, but please limit the use of your mobile phone.
Accessibility
The Van Gogh Museum provides excellent accessibility for visitors using a wheelchair or walking aid.
Both buildings include roomy elevators.
The museum has a disabled parking space as well as a dedicated drop off/pick up area.
There is a priority entrance, bypassing the queues. A companion will not have to purchase a ticket.6
Properly harnessed guide dogs are welcome.
Large print guides to the exhibit are available.
Photography / Filming
You cannot take photos or film videos within the museum, except in designated areas such as the ‘selfie wall.’
That said, journalists, bloggers and vloggers who wish to film or take photographs may request a press visit.
Van Gogh Museum Ticket Options
How do the Dutch pronounce Vincent van Gogh
The Dutch language isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. No problem. Most of us speak English. But if you want to impress us by trying to pronounce Van Gogh’s name in Dutch, have a try:
We have seen and heard Vincent van Gogh’s name misspelled as Van Goff, Van Goth, Vangogh, and Van Koch.
Hotels near the Van Gogh Museum
Amsterdam is a small and compact city with an excellent, fine-meshed public transportation system. This means that you do not necessarily have to look for a hotel near the Van Gogh Museum.
However, Museumplein is also home to the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum – and the world-famous Concertgebouw is just a stone’s throw away. Vondelpark and Amsterdam city center are also not far away.
On a Personal Note
I first visited the Van Gogh Museum in 1977, and I remember it like it was yesterday.
At the time I worked at a youth hostel in the center of Amsterdam, and I wondered why so many of our hippie guests — on their way to or from India — felt ‘compelled’ to see the museum.
That visit ignited my interest in impressionist and post-impressionist paintings — which turned into a lifelong love affair.
To this day I re-visit the museum on a regular basis, now accompanied by my lovely wife. We marvel again and again at Van Gogh’s wonderful paintings, ponder his life story, and continue to learn more about his place among the artists of his time.
It never gets boring — for the same reason you can enjoy your favorite songs, music, poems, and movies over and over.
At DutchAmsterdam we have heard similar comments from many tourists who have visited both the city and the museum multiple times.
They return not just for the special, temporary exhibitions, but also to reacquaint themselves — face to face — with their favorite paintings.
By the way, if you happen to see us there, say “Hi!” We’ll buy you a coffee or beer.
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This article was first published in June, 2007, and is updated when necessary. For instance, when there are special exhibitions on, in addition to the museum’s permanent collection.
The authors, Amsterdam locals Anton and Janet, regularly visit the Van Gogh Museum.
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Notes:
- The Van Gogh Museum has a professionally produced interactive multimedia audio tour guide available. The guide covers both the permanent collection and the special, temporary exhibitions. It is available in 11 languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese and Korean.
As frequent visitors to the museum we highly recommend this multimedia guide. It highlights many aspects and details you would otherwise miss. The tour provides insights into the life and work of Vincent van Gogh, and further helps you to view his work in context.
The small, lightweight guide hangs around your neck or is held in your hand. Either way, you can easily interact with the screen.
You can either follow the suggested route through the museum or visit only the sections of your choice. And you’re in control: you can go at your own pace, and skip paintings, sections, or entire floors if you wish.
You can order the Audio Guide along with your ticket. Select the “With audio guide” option. Pick up your guide inside the museum. (Note: Children under age 18 can use the multimedia guide free of charge). ↩ - Of course, the one drawback of a multimedia tour is that you cannot ask it questions. That is one reason many first-time visitors prefer to visit the Van Gogh Museum with a live tour guide.
If this is your first or only visit to the museum, we suggest your seriously consider using a guide. ↩ - The Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf (GVB) is the primary municipal transport service of Amsterdam. It is an independent corporation wholly owned by the city of Amsterdam. ↩
- Holders of the I amsterdam City Card get free entrance to the museum, but they must still reserve a timed-entry ticket. ↩
- The Louvre in Paris has the highest worldwide reputation with a score of 84.3. Worldwide, the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum take the second and third places respectively (scores 81.9 and 81.7). To compare: Rolex is the most reputable company in the world with a score of 80.38. Lego is at number 2 with a score of 79.46. Among European respondents, the Van Gogh Museum took first place in the reputation ranking, ahead of the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum. Source: Why People Love Art Museums (Downloads a PDF file), 2017, by professor Cees van Riel of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM). See also: Ranking The World’s Most Admired Art Museums, And What Big Business Can Learn From Them, by Cees van Riel, Forbes, October 30, 2017 ↩
- Note: the companion’s ticket is not available online. Please contact one of the hosts outside the museum once you’ve arrived. The host will take care of the rest. ↩
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