Hello, I have just discovered this forum and have found your posts to be incredibly helpful! My question is about museum reservations in Amsterdam. How far in advance for a November trip do you recommend my making reservations? The list of potential museums is: Rijskmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House (I have this one in my calendar for exactly when they open for reservations), National Maritime Museum, Museum of the Canals, and Moco Museum. Thank you in advance!
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14731 posts
For the Van Gogh, in looking at their website right now it looks like they are completely booked for the next 2 weeks. Looking randomly at the next week after that it looks like there is some availability. Looking at 4 weeks out it looks pretty open. With a quick look, I don't see that there is any kind of a special exhibition in November so a month looks good to me for booking. They will send you a link to print or download your ticket. Definitely go mobile although they do not have an app.
For the Rijksmuseum it looks like they are plenty open for tomorrow so I'd book that in the last week. This last year they had the huge Vermeer exhibition which required a special reservation and those sold out really quickly but nothing special looks like it's planned. I'd download the Rijksmuseum app and book your ticket there. Easy to access on your mobile device for entry.
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/tickets/options
It's been a number of years since I went to the Maritime Museum, before advanced ticketing was a "thing". I didn't go thru their ticketing website because they require input of name, address, etc before you can get to the dates. I'd look if I were you but I'm betting you can book pretty close to the time for this one as well.
I've not been to your last 2 museums but I'll bet they can be booked at the last minute. Perhaps someone will know if you even need to book them.
Posted by
Middletown, RI
1227 posts
My too sense...
Anne Frank: As soon as you can (or sooner).
Rijsmuseum: It depends on if there is an exhibit. If so and it is popular (i.e., the recent Vermeer exhibit), right away. Otherwise, once you have your schedule roughed out is fine.
Museum of Canals: Waltz right in when you want.
Van Gogh: I have no experience.
Posted by
OP
USA
4 posts
My thanks to all who provided information. It is very much appreciated!
Posted by
The Netherlands
1587 posts
You can’t compare November to July/August in terms of how far in advance you need to book museums. Amsterdam in November will be far less crowded than in the spring and summer months. In November you won’t need to prebook the Rijksmuseum at all. You may need to prebook the Van Goghmuseum, but you can keep an eye on the availability of tickets as your visit gets closer. The Anne Frank house does need to be prebooked well in advance. Due to the nature of the museum, a small hiding place, the capacity is limited which makes it busy no matter the time of year.
The Maritime museum doesn’t need to be prebooked.
I can’t comment on the Moco museum other than that it’s rather controversial. It’s basically an art gallery disguised as a museum. A lot of the art is for sale if you’re willing to pay the price, which is an absolute no-no for museums.
Posted by
OP
USA
4 posts
To Dutch_traveler:
Thank you a lot for the additional info. I had wondered if November would be as you mentioned, less of a need to pre-book. We will follow your advice and appreciate it especially because we prefer not to be so scheduled. Also did not know about the Moco and appreciate knowing that as well. Thanks!
Posted by
Mandeville, LA, USA
564 posts
Unless I am doing something wrong, the Anne Frank House website shows that the museum has every day a number of openings, including today and tomorrow. I was surprised by this because of the stories of how crowded Europe is at the moment and the stories that tickets for the museum can be difficult to buy.