Amsterdam museums: A guide to all the serious ones and all the weird ones

Amsterdam is a museum city, even though a lot of its most popular "museums" run more on novelty value than on art or history. That's the fun of it. There are so many different kinds that you can mix a morning of Rembrandts with an afternoon in a torture museum and never feel like you're seeing the same thing twice.

A few of the places below aren't really museums at all, but they're close enough that we've included them so you can sort out your list in one place. A lot has changed since the first version of this guide: the Rijksmuseum and Stedelijk have long since reopened, the Hermitage cut its Russian ties and became the H'ART Museum, the Tropenmuseum is now the Wereldmuseum, the film museum moved across the water, and a few favorites have closed for good. This version reflects Amsterdam as of September 2026.

Skip to whatever interests you, including straight down to the weird ones:

• Art museums
• History museums
• Science, world culture and film
• Small and specialist museums
• Photography museums
• Football
• Beer
• Novelty attractions
• Sex-related museums
• Drug-related museums

Before you go: tickets and passes

The big museums now run on timed tickets. The Rijksmuseum, for example, requires everyone to book a start time, including pass holders, and the Anne Frank House sells tickets only online. Book the famous ones before you leave home, especially in summer.

If you'll visit several museums, two passes are worth pricing:

• The Museumkaart costs €75 a year for adults as of 2026 and covers around 500 Dutch museums. If you buy it at a museum desk, you get a temporary card valid for five visits within 31 days until you register it. For a short trip, five big museums can easily cover the cost.
• The I amsterdam City Card bundles many museums with public transport and a canal cruise. Our I amsterdam City Card page explains how it works.

Also worth knowing: several of the biggest museums are free for under-18s, including the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. The Stedelijk is free for under-19s.

Art museums

Rijksmuseum

This is Amsterdam's answer to the Louvre: huge and all-encompassing, with Rembrandt's The Night Watch as its most famous piece and room after room of Dutch Golden Age masters. It spent a decade mostly closed for renovation and fully reopened in April 2013, and it's been one of Europe's great museums ever since. An adult ticket is €25 as of 2026, it's open daily from 9:00 to 17:00 at Museumstraat 1, and you must book a start time. Give it at least half a day.
>>more information on the Rijksmuseum

Van Gogh Museum

Internationally, this one is even more famous than the Rijksmuseum, thanks to the name recognition of the troubled painter whose work fills most of it. Along with the largest collection of Van Goghs anywhere, it shows work by his contemporaries. It's on Museumplein, and it's popular enough that you should buy tickets online well in advance. Adults pay €25 as of 2026.
>>more information on the Van Gogh Museum

Rembrandt House Museum

The house on Jodenbreestraat where Rembrandt lived, worked and sold his paintings in the mid-1600s. It's fairly small but very well done, with period furnishings, his studio and a large collection of his etchings. It's central, but you'd walk right past it if you weren't looking. This is the best museum for anyone who wants a bit of culture mixed in with their Amsterdam party. It also runs small exhibitions, such as "Experimentation" from 1 November 2026 to 3 January 2027.
>>more information on the Rembrandt House

Stedelijk Museum

Amsterdam's top museum of modern and contemporary art, on Museumplein next to the Van Gogh. It reopened in September 2012 after a long renovation, with the white extension locals call "the bathtub." Expect everything from Mondrian and Malevich to current artists, and a program that already runs into 2027.
>>more information on the Stedelijk Museum

H'ART Museum

This is the former Hermitage Amsterdam, in the 17th-century Amstelhof building on the Amstel river at Amstel 51. It cut its ties with the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, and became the H'ART Museum in September 2023. It now puts on big exhibitions with international partners. Coming up: "Chez Matisse," with masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, from 3 October 2026 to 14 February 2027. The building has a fine inner courtyard and a grand cafe.

Moco Museum

A private museum of modern and street art in Villa Alsberg on Museumplein, best known for its permanent Banksy collection plus rotating shows of big contemporary names. It's the easiest art museum to fit in if the Rijksmuseum feels like homework.

History museums

Anne Frank House

The house where the Frank family and four others hid for two years during World War II, and where Anne wrote her diary. You see the Secret Annex itself, plus exhibits that tell the whole story for those who haven't read the book. Tickets are sold only online, for a set time slot, and none at the door, so this is the one to book first.
>>more information on the Anne Frank House

National Holocaust Museum and the Jewish Cultural Quarter

Opened by King Willem-Alexander in March 2024 at Plantage Middenlaan 27, the National Holocaust Museum tells the story of the persecution of Jews in the Netherlands. It's part of the Jewish Cultural Quarter, along with the Jewish Museum, the Portuguese Synagogue and the Hollandsche Schouwburg, and one ticket option covers all of them. Open daily 10:00 to 17:00. If you're visiting the Anne Frank House, this fills in the bigger picture.

Dutch Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum)

In the leafy Plantage district at Plantage Kerklaan 61, near the zoo, the Verzetsmuseum covers life in the Netherlands under Nazi occupation and the people who resisted. It's more vivid and visually engaging than you might expect, and it's an easy pairing with the Holocaust Museum a few minutes away.

Amsterdam Museum

The city's history museum (called the Amsterdam Historical Museum in older guides) is closed for a major renovation of its building off Kalverstraat, with reopening planned for 2030. In the meantime it runs Amsterdam in Motion, which opened in October 2025 at Westergas (Pazzanistraat 19-23). The centerpiece is a 200-square-meter multimedia scale model of the city with about 30,500 hand-placed buildings. The museum also runs Huis Willet-Holthuysen, a furnished canal house on the Herengracht.

Our Lord in the Attic (Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder)

A 17th-century canal house at Oudezijds Voorburgwal 38-40 with a complete Catholic church hidden in its attic, from the era when Catholics couldn't worship openly. It's one of the most surprising places in the city, right on the edge of the Red Light District. The attic church still holds mass on the first Sunday of most months.

Oude Kerk (Old Church)

Amsterdam's oldest church, in the middle of the Red Light District at Oudekerksplein 23. It's more church than museum, and the interior is plain rather than grand, but these days the Oude Kerk puts on contemporary art exhibitions inside, and you can climb the tower (tower visits run until 31 October in 2026).

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)

The "New Church" on Dam Square is nearly as old as the Old Church, and much grander inside. Dutch monarchs are inaugurated here, and the building hosts rotating exhibitions, most of which have nothing to do with religion. If the current show appeals to you, it's worth a visit.

Het Scheepvaartmuseum (National Maritime Museum)

Housed in a former naval storehouse at Kattenburgerplein 1, the maritime museum covers the Dutch seafaring story that made Amsterdam rich. There's a replica East India Company ship moored outside that kids love.

Science, world culture and film

NEMO Science Museum

The big green building across the water from Centraal Station is the Netherlands' largest science museum, with five floors of hands-on exhibits. Like science centers everywhere, it's aimed mostly at kids and teens, and the sloping roof terrace has a great view over the harbor. It's generally open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:30, with extra Mondays in school holidays. See the NEMO website and our list of things to do with kids.

Wereldmuseum Amsterdam (formerly the Tropenmuseum)

The old Tropenmuseum became the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam in 2023. It's still in the grand building at Linnaeusstraat 2 in Oost, a bit out of the way, and still worth the trip, with lively exhibitions on cultures from around the world. Open Tuesday to Sunday.

Eye Filmmuseum

The film museum left Vondelpark in 2012 for the striking white Eye building on the IJ waterfront in Amsterdam-Noord (IJpromenade 1), a short free ferry ride from behind Centraal Station. It covers international cinema history, runs daily screenings and holds major exhibitions. Up next: Ulrich Seidl, from 19 September 2026 to 31 January 2027. Even if you skip the exhibition, the terrace bar is a great spot to watch the ferries.

Micropia

Next to Artis zoo at Plantage Kerklaan 38-40, Micropia is a museum devoted to microbes. It sounds niche, and it is, but it's cleverly done and a good rainy-day pick with kids.

Small and specialist museums

Amsterdam Tulip Museum

A small museum at Prinsengracht 116, a short walk from the Anne Frank House, covering the tulip's history from Central Asia to the Dutch "tulip mania." If you love tulips, it's worth half an hour, and the history of the tulip trade is interesting even if you don't. The gift shop sells bulbs.

Houseboat Museum

A privately run museum aboard a 1914 barge at Prinsengracht 296K. Thousands of Amsterdammers still live on the water, and this shows you what that's like. It's charming and more interesting than it sounds. Hours change with the season, and it's closed on King's Day and during the Canal Parade, so check the museum's site first. For the real thing, see our guide to houseboats in Amsterdam.

Diamond Museum (temporarily closed)

The Diamond Museum on Museumplein is closed for relocation and renovation, with no reopening date announced as of September 2026. In the meantime a temporary exhibition on four centuries of diamond history runs at Paulus Potterstraat 6, open daily 9:00 to 17:00. It was always partly a way to get you into the diamond shop, and it still is.

Closed: the Museum of Bags and Purses

Older guides rave about the Tassenmuseum Hendrikje, a collection of thousands of handbags in a Herengracht canal house. It closed for good in 2020, the first Dutch museum to shut permanently because of the pandemic. The collection lives on as the Ivo Collection.

Photography museums

Foam

Foam occupies a canal house at Keizersgracht 609 and runs several exhibitions at once, from big-name photographers to its annual Foam Talent show of emerging artists. It's easy to miss from the street, but the setting is almost worth the ticket if you've never been inside a canal house. Check opening times on the site before you go.

Huis Marseille

The city's other photography museum, at Keizersgracht 401 in a 17th-century canal house, isn't far from Foam. Huis Marseille leans more toward art photography, so it suits people who want more than pretty pictures. The house itself is lovely inside.

Football

Johan Cruijff ArenA stadium tour

Ajax fans should take the stadium tour at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in Zuidoost, which takes you through the players' tunnel, the dressing rooms and the club's history exhibits. There are no regular tours on Ajax home match days, and when concerts take over the stadium in summer, the tour changes. If you're not already a fan, it's probably not worth the trip out. If you are, it's mandatory.
>>more on the ArenA and how to get there

Beer

Heineken Experience

What used to be a simple tour of a disused brewery, famous for the free-flowing samples at the end, has grown into a big, slick commercial for a beer brand that already dominates the city. The Heineken Experience is in Heineken's old brewery at Stadhouderskade 78, open to visitors since 1991, and it stays very popular despite the corporate feel and the price. If you like Heineken, you'll go anyway.
>>more information on the Heineken Experience

The Vodka Museum on Damrak that the old version of this page recommended has closed.

Novelty attractions

Madame Tussauds

Is a wax museum really a museum? Nobody seems to care, because this branch of the London-born chain, on Dam Square at Dam 20, is one of the most popular tickets in Amsterdam. It's expensive and usually crowded, but the figures are uncanny up close the first time, and the lineup keeps changing. Recent additions include a figure of Neytiri from Avatar. See Madame Tussauds Amsterdam.

The Amsterdam Dungeon

Run by the same company as Madame Tussauds, the Dungeon at Rokin 78 isn't a museum at all. It's a theatrical walk-through where actors act out the darker episodes of Dutch history, with special effects and plenty of audience participation. It's aimed at older kids, teens and anyone into the macabre, and it marked its 20th anniversary in 2025. See The Amsterdam Dungeon.

Torture Museum

A small private museum at Singel 449, open since 1988, that mostly survives on foot traffic. It displays devices from the history of torture, but it's small and not much fun, so skip it unless you're really into this stuff. See the Torture Museum.

Sex-related museums

Sexmuseum Amsterdam (Venustempel)

On busy Damrak at number 18, a few minutes from Centraal Station, so you'll walk past it whether you like it or not. It opened in 1985 and bills itself as the oldest sex museum in the world. Most "sex museums" in most cities are silly and disappointing, but this one is bigger and far more interesting than the Erotic Museum a few blocks away. See the Sexmuseum.

Erotic Museum

At Oudezijds Achterburgwal 54 in the Red Light District. Unlike the Sexmuseum, this is the typical silly "sex museum" you find in most big tourist cities, with displays that are more goofy than sexy. Unless you're a completist, skip it and visit the other one.

Prostitution Information Center

Not a museum, but worth considering if you want to understand the Red Light District. The PIC, at Enge Kerksteeg 3 right by the Oude Kerk, was founded by a former sex worker and exists to answer visitors' questions about the trade. It's not embarrassing or strange inside. Keep in mind that the district has changed a lot: guided tours past the windows have been banned since 2020, and smoking cannabis on its streets has been banned since 2023, with a €100 fine.

Drug-related museums

Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum

This museum at Oudezijds Achterburgwal 148 in the Red Light District doesn't aim for slick, but it does a good job of showing cannabis culture and history, including a garden of live cannabis plants. It was founded in 1987 by cannabis entrepreneur Ben Dronkers and draws on a collection of over 9,000 items. If you're a serious smoker, it's worth a visit. If you're only an occasional one, you can skip it. See the Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum.
>>more information on the Hash, Marijuana, and Hemp Museum

Coffeeshops are tolerated, not legal, and only for adults 18 and over. Read our coffeeshop guide before you visit one.

How to choose

With two or three days, most people should do the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh (both if art is your thing), the Anne Frank House, and one of the smaller places that you can't get anywhere else: Our Lord in the Attic, the Houseboat Museum or the Sexmuseum, depending on your mood. When you've had enough of museums altogether, try our list of things to do when you're museum'd out, or plan around Museum Night, when dozens of museums stay open late.

Now that you know you're coming: see our tips on flights to Schiphol, Amsterdam hotels and Amsterdam hostels.