We're starting our European month-long trip at the end of March. The number one sight we don't want to miss is the Anne Frank House but I won't be able to sign up for that, based on the newly revised rules, until 6 weeks before our arrival. I know
demand is super high for this site and I only have 5 days available to choose from for scheduling. My dilemma is that we also want to visit the 2 museums noted in the subject but they too appear to be in high demand and my concern is that they will be unavailable even on the following Monday or Tuesday if we wait unitl 6 weeks before our arrival. Is that a valid concern? How do others insure being able to see all 3 sites even in early April before the summer season?
Posted by
San Francisco
184 posts
If you can squeeze it in too, don’t miss the Dutch Resistance Museum. We thought it helped put the Anne Frank story in clearer perspective and was extremely interesting.
Posted by
The Netherlands
1307 posts
I hope I can put your worries at ease. The Van Gogh museum won’t sell out 6 weeks in advance and if you have 5 days, you will definitely be able to book a time slot for the Anne Frank house. The Rijksmuseum doesn’t usually sell out at all, but in April there is the special once in a lifetime Vermeer exhibit so things are different.
If I were you I would do the following;
Buy your tickets for the Van Gogh museum and Rijksmuseum now. Schedule to visit each museum on a separate day and pick one of the earliest available time slots. Make sure to book your time slot for the Vermeer exhibit, not for the rest of the museum. Your ticket to the Vermeer exhibit allows you to visit the rest of the museum afterwards. But if you’ve only bought a ticket for the museum, without the Vermeer supplement, you can’t visit the exhibit.
Buy your tickets here; https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/vermeer
Buy your tickets for the Anne Frank house as soon as they become available. The Anne Frank house is open until much later than both other museums; every day from 9 am till 10 pm. If you make sure to log on as soon as tickets become available, you should be able to get tickets. If the website of the Anne Frank house is too busy, you will be put in a virtual queue. Sometimes the website shows a message to those in the queue that tickets are sold out. Please ignore this message and continue to stay in the virtual queue until it’s your time to buy the tickets.
With regards to the resistance museum mentioned by the previous poster; it has recently reopened after major renovations. As soon as it opened there has been much controversy about the new exhibit. I haven’t visited the new museum myself yet. Until I do, I don’t feel comfortable to say anything about it. So I’m neither recommending nor discouraging a visit.
Posted by
The Netherlands
1307 posts
I indeed meant to write can’t. I’ve edited my post. Thanks!
Posted by
Oregon
365 posts
I don’t think you’ll have any problems. I would go ahead and book the other 2 museums (personally would do same day since they’re so close to each other- but depends on how much you enjoy art museums and how long you visit…) as those are prioritizes for you.
Posted by
Paris
9576 posts
To the OP. It's pretty easy to tell these days - when you go to buy tickets on the Rijksmuseum site, it asks you whether you want the Vermeer exhibition or just the regular museum.
Posted by
OP
Vancouver WA
5 posts
Thank you so much to all of the thoughtful inputs (especially "Dutch Traveller"!). I've posted once before about this trip and similar to this time, received many helpful (and enocuraging) comments. This Rick Steves Travel Forum is simply the best!