Best of Belgium and Holland in 11 Days April 12-15 Specifically Amsterdam Art Museums

Can you extend your time in Amsterdam, add a few days?

We have scheduled one extra day but have tentatively planned a day trip to Giethoorn. I am also wondering if anyone has done this trip and thought it was worth it?

Have you asked the RS office if the Vermeer exhibit in included with your tour ticket?

I found this on the museum website under FAQ:

I have booked a ticket with a start time for the permanent collection. Can I also use it to visit the temporary exhibition?
No, a ticket with a start time for visiting the permanent collection does not entitle you to visit the temporary exhibition. You will need to book a separate start time for the temporary exhibition (free of charge). To do this, in step 1 of the booking process please select ‘I already have a ticket/voucher’.

I went to website, scrolled down to "I already have......" as directed and it went to the date and time selection and didn't ask for information on the existing ticket. I didn't fill in name etc. but it seemed to be a last step. The total € showed zero.

In 2018 when I was on the tour, we visited the museum in the morning with a guide and it was done at about noon. We were each given our entrance ticket and it was valid for all day. In that case you would have the ticket on hand if asked for it again. (I actually left the museum and went back awhile later.) Check with RS office to try to verify if the procedure is done same way this year. Check with the museum to verify leaving and returning is still an option.

I think I spent a couple hours in the Van Gogh museum.

No, the Vermeer exhibition would not be included in the group ticket to the Rijksmuseum so yes, you'll just purchase a full ticket to the Vermeer and museum. I'm not sure when they changed it but the tickets to the museum are not good for re-admission. It was this way in 2019 when I was on this tour and again in 2022 when I was on a Road Scholar tour. Both times I just bought an extra admission time.

Do talk to the office on timing but when I did this tour the office suggested I do a ticket for a special exhibition in the Rijksmuseum for 1 or 130. You could do the Van Gogh for 3 or 330. Where is your last hotel?

Here is where you purchase the Vermeer exhibition ticket:

https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/vermeer

Last hotel is Hotel Espresso, who so far has ignored my emails asking for an additional night after the tour ends. Planning for this tour has not been nearly as easy as our 3 previous RS tours.

I wrote to the office on January 3rd with the same question about the Vermeer exhibit…..I have not heard back so I just now called the tour desk # and left a message. I am on the 04/22 - 05/02 tour.

Is a room available at Hotel Espresso on their website booking engine? I would just book directly.

It is close enough to the Van Gogh museum that it is only a 10 minute or so walk back to the hotel so no need to worry about getting back in time to leave again for the Farewell dinner, lol if you booked at 3 or 330. I do recommend you start on the top floor of the Van Gogh Museum where the "good stuff" is located and then work your way down. If your mind is in overload by then you can skip the lower floors. Not sure if there is a special exhibition this year or not...that is usually on the ground level where you start and is generally very worthwhile.

RS tours responded to my call earlier….here is what Laura said

HBH tours are scheduled for 2-hour guided visits to the Rijksmuseum at 9:00 on Day 10, so you could make an add-on reservation for the Vermeer special exhibition at 11:00 or later. It's not included in the tickets we've purchased, nor in the guided tour (and the museum is not offering guided tours of this exhibit). The rest of your afternoon is free, until we regroup for dinner around 6:00 p.m. (to be confirmed by your guide).

The special exhibit is scheduled to run February 10 to June 4, 2023. According to the Rijksmuseum's reply to us last week, the button for the supplement payment is not yet available at https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/tickets/articles. They hope to have this online later this week. This button will say ‘I already have a ticket/voucher’ and show a cost of 10 euros per person. There is a button like this already, but with a 0 euro cost, which will not be valid as a supplement ticket for the Vermeer exhibition. Please wait until you see the new button they've described to us.

Hope this helps.

I took this tour last year starting on March 30. I made a reservation for the Van Gogh museum at 1:30. We left the Rijksmuseum around 11:30. Our assistant tour guide took several of us to a market for fresh Stroopwaffles, then we walked back to the Van Gogh museum and had plenty of time before our entry time. Our tour hotel was Hotel Die Port van Cleve. They weren’t very good about emailing me about extending our time at the hotel. You’ll love this tour. Your dates will be perfect for seeing Keukenhof gardens at their best.

Chris, thank you so much for posting. That is great that there is to be just a 10E supplement for the Vermeer exhibition!

I checked the Vermeer exhibit website this morning and the option has been added to purchase a 10 euro ticket for the exhibit. HOWEVER, the site stipulates that the Vermeer exhibit has to be viewed first. Since the guided RS tour of the museum is at 9 am this is impossible. I have sent an email to RS to ask if the guide cannot work with the Rijksmuseum to see if something cannot be worked out. It is ridiculous to have to purchase a 30 euro ticket to see the Vermeer exhibit ?entire museum when we have already seen the museum. Tickets are selling quickly for our date and I don't want to be shut out.

This is what I received today from the museum. I am very disappointed. I am not going to spend an additional 30 euros just to see the Vermeer.

Dear Nancy,
 
Thank you for your email.
 
Tickets for Vermeer always start at Vermeer before you can visit the permanent collection. There will be a different entrance for this exhibition.
That is why we cannot change this order.

I am sorry for this inconvenience.
 
Kind regards,
 
Patrick Mulder
Reservations Department Rijksmuseum

Hi, all. Please trust that our Rijksmuseum guide will facilitate entry to the Vermeer exhibit for those who have bought 10-euro add-on tickets to see that after the group tour. While they won't tell you by email that you can "break the rules," the Vermeer exhibit has a separate entrance and it would make no sense for them not to honor your timed ticket. (They probably wouldn't let you back into the main collection a second time, but you'll probably be ready to move on, anyway.) Our guide is a museum employee in this case, not an "outside" guide as we might use in other cities or countries.

@Laura at RS - Will the Rijksmuseum guide be able to handle the different Vermeer entry times that the tour members might choose for their add-on visit? I suspect it would be more manageable for the guide if RS instructs everyone to choose the same Vermeer slot.