Hello. I’m taking a guided tour of The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium in April (starting in Amsterdam) and have booked two pre-nights in Amsterdam. The guided portion of my trip includes a canal cruise, guided tour of the Rijksmuseum (but not the Vermeer exhibit) and Keukenhof. I’m trying to organize my pre-days and have a few questions.
Day 1
Arrive AMS 7:15am, customs, collect luggage, taxi to hotel- NH Amsterdam Center near Leidseplein
1) About how long will it take from arrival to hotel?
I have a ticket for the Van Gogh museum in the afternoon (1:30pm) so at a minimum I’d like to drop my bags, have lunch and head to the museum. If I arrive at the hotel early I may take the tram to Begijnhof and walk around a bit, maybe get some French fries from Vlaams Friethuis Vlaminck before taking the tram to the museum. I have no other real plans for arrival day.
Day 2
I have a ticket for the Vermeer exhibit at 9am. (I probably won’t visit the rest of the museum today as a tour is included in the guided portion of my trip.)
Visit Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder (church in the attic)
2) Should I purchase a ticket for this in advance? On the website you have to select a time which makes it a little harder to plan. It will be a Friday in April (14th), is walk-up usually possible or will there be lines?
After, walk to Central Station and take train to The Hague to visit the Mauritshuis (The Girl will be back there by then). Then train back to Amsterdam. Later in the week the guided part of my tour spends a day in Delft and The Hague but it doesn’t look like there is enough free time for the museum.
3) Should I purchase a ticket for the Mauritshuis in advance or is walk-up generally available? Again, I’m having trouble figuring out the timing if I pre-purchase.
Day 3
Get ticket for Anne Frank House for the morning as soon as available online.
4) The website says tickets are available on Tuesdays six weeks in advance, if I want to visit on April 15, that’s February 28th, not March 7th, right?
The Pancake Bakery for brunch.
The Resistance Museum and possibly the Rembrandt house or Van Loon afterwards.
I’d like to be back at the hotel by about 4pm as the tour group meets for orientation/dinner at the hotel at 6pm (no scheduled touring tonight).
5) I’d like to use the trams to get around, it looks like the #2 and #12 are close to my hotel. If/when I need to switch to #14 is it best to do so at Dam Square?
I try not to over schedule, does this itinerary look reasonable?
Thank-you!
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14716 posts
I'd guess you'll be at your hotel well before 10:15. I usually mentally think "3 hours" from stepping out of the airplane in any European city to plunking my bags down in the hotel lobby. If it's less than that then woo-hoo, lol!
Have you been to the Van Gogh Museum before? If not, I'd suggest you start on the top floor where the good stuff is and work your way down. You may get a sinking spell, lol part of the way thru and you'll want to see his great work first! There is a small cafe at the Van Gogh Museum although I've never eaten there.
Hopefully someone who'd been there recently can tell you about the tram lines. When I was there last May the area around Dam Square had a lot of utility work or something going on and the tram stops were moved around a bit. Will you have data on your phone? IF so I recommend you download CityMapper which was fairly accurate for navigating thru the dug up areas last spring.
I recommend for the Mauritshuis you download their app. You can book your ticket on it. Right now, looking on my laptop, I can buy tickets for tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. In looking at April 15 all ticketing times are open. I'd just keep an eye on how far out tickets are going and base it on that. I haven't been since before Covid (April 2019) and at that time I downloaded the Mauritshuis app in the lobby of the museum and purchased my ticket so I didn't have to stand in line. Be sure to look at my other favorite painter, Avercamp - of the icy Dutch canal scenes with jillions of people doing very common stuff, lol!!
Fun time! I'm there just a few days before you - same week. Fingers crossed we have sunshine!
And yes, I think your plan looks pretty reasonable. You can cut some things as you go if you need to but you'll have all your big basics locked in.
Posted by
The Netherlands
1587 posts
Normally museums like Our lord in the attic and the Mauritshuis don’t require tickets to be booked in advance. However this April, May and June things could be different for the Mauritshuis. The Vermeer exhibit is expected to attract huge crowds and it isn’t unthinkable that lots of people will also want to see the Girl with the Pearl Earring after she has returned to the Mauritshuis.
The Mauritshuis is a relatively small museum, so it can’t receive the visitor numbers that The Rijksmuseum can. I would keep a very close eye on the available tickets for your intended date and buy them in advance if you see availability drop.
Posted by
OP
289 posts
Thank-you both for your information. Hopefully I’ll get to the hotel earlier than I thought and may have time to visit, perhaps the attic church, before lunch and Van Gogh. Good tip about Van Gogh museum, will definitely start at top and work my way down. I see why the Mauritshuis might be busier this April as actually that’s exactly what I’m doing too so I will download app and watch ticket sales. Since it’s open until 6pm I may just buy a ticket for 4pm as I’d like to spend 1-2 hrs there, and be back to Amsterdam before dark. That would give me additional time in Amsterdam itself that morning/early afternoon. So much to think about…