Top 5 most popular museums in Amsterdam (+ get tickets)
Most are closed on Mondays; open Easter Monday
Save money: free entrance, or combine with bus/boat tour

The Netherlands has more museums per square mile than any other country in the world. And 92 of them are in Amsterdam.

Table of Contents hide
1 5 Most Popular Museums in Amsterdam
2 Free or Discounted
3 Most Museums Don’t Do Mondays
4 Museums

They range from the fascinating Biblical Museum to the titillating Sex Museum and from the huge Rijksmuseum to the much smaller, but no less interesting Hash & Marijuana Museum.

Eye Film Institute

The Eye Film Museum houses an internationally renowned film collection that covers the entire history of cinema. Movies are shown here as well — almost all subtitled in English.

Mind you, some travel guides mention that Amsterdam has 40+ museums; others 50 — and yet others a much higher number.

The difference is explained by the fact that some only count the major ones. Others also include much smaller operations, such as the Pipes Museum or the Torture Museum. Oh, and don’t forget such wonderful niche collections as the Museum of Bags and Purses (‘One of the 10 best museums in Europe that you’ve probably never heard of,’ according to The Guardian.)

A few tourist guides even fall for the clever tricks of shops that market themselves as ‘museums.’ (Do yourself a favor: don’t visit tourist traps like the Cheese Museum or the Tulip Museum.)

Five of the six most-visited museums in the Netherlands are located in Amsterdam:

If you plan on visiting museums in Amsterdam, avoid long lines by buying your tickets ahead of time.

Book Amsterdam museum tickets

Most tickets bought ahead of time allow you to skip the lines.

All but seven museums in Amsterdam are privately owned, and nearly all charge an entrance fee.

In a time of dwindling government subsidies, many museums have developed commercial activities, are attracting non-tourist visitors with temporary exhibits, or have accepted financial aid from sponsors.

Free or Discounted

If you love museums and plan to visit at least 4 or 5 of them during your stay in Amsterdam, the I amsterdam card is a great deal.

So are combination bus/boat tour + museum tickets:

Avoid the lines: Buy your tickets ahead of time

Most Museums Don’t Do Mondays

With the exception of the Rijksmuseum (the Netherlands’ National Museum, which carries nearly 1 million works of art – including Rembrandt’s famous Nightwatch), the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum (literally, Municipal Museum, but in fact the National Museum of Modern Art) most museums are closed on Mondays.

Nearly all museums are open on Easter Monday.

Museums