In a nutshell
- Anne Frank hid from the Nazis with her family in the Secret Annex at Prinsengracht 263 for two years. She also wrote her famous diary here.
- In our article we answer your questions about visiting the museum, buying tickets and tell you all you need to know about the Anne Frank House.
- We also share our personal experience with you, having visited the Anne Frank Museum several times.
What Can You See at the Anne Frank Museum?
The Anne Frank Huis in the Prinsengracht is the original building where Anne hid from the Nazis with her family, the van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer during the Second World War.
You can see this in the museum:
- Front building (former headquarters of Otto Frank’s company)
- Bookcase (door to the hiding place)
- Rear building (the hiding place)
- All rooms including Anne’s room (rooms are largely empty at Otto Frank’s request)
- Traces of the existence of the people in hiding (pictures and pencil drawings on the walls)
- Original diary of Anne Frank
- Anne Frank collection (exhibition of personal objects belonging to the family)
- Media room (interview with Otto Frank after his return)
- Museum store (for books, teaching materials etc.)
Anne Frank House Tickets
Tickets for the Anne Frank House are in high demand. To help you get your tickets, we answer all the important questions and give you tips:
#1 How much do Anne Frank House tickets cost?
Adults pay 16 euros for admission to the Anne Frank Huis. For children over 10 years you pay 7 euros. For children under 10 years only 1 euro.
Incidentally, this price makes the Anne Frank Museum one of the cheapest museums in Amsterdam. We think that’s great!
#2 Where can you buy tickets for the Anne Frank House?
You can buy tickets for the Anne Frank House via the official Anne Frank House website.
#3 How far in advance do you have to buy tickets for the Anne Frank House?
Book your tickets online 6 weeks in advance!
Because the rush for tickets for the Anne Frank House is so high, the museum has come up with a special booking system.
Every Tuesday at 10:00 am, all tickets for a visit six weeks later are put online and sold on the Anne Frank Huis website. The tickets usually sell out within a few hours.
#4 Can you also buy tickets on site on the same day?
It is not possible to buy tickets for the Anne Frank House spontaneously.
Because the demand is so high, tickets are only available via the online ticket store.
#5 Is there an alternative if the tickets are sold out?
The Anne Frank Huis is a very exclusive museum. Therefore, there is unfortunately no other way to buy tickets if the tickets on the official website are sold out.
The museum warns against invalid tickets that are in circulation. Even commercially offered tours do not include admission to the Anne Frank House!
Alternatively, you can take the Anne Frank walking tour of Amsterdam. You won’t get into the Anne Frank Huis, but you’ll still learn a lot and see other significant places.
#6 How does admission work?
Admission to the Anne Frank House is super easy.
Show your cell phone ticket to an employee at the entrance, which also shows the admission time slot you selected when booking.
The employee will either let you through directly or tell you which queue you have to wait in.
As soon as your time slot is up, you can enter the museum.
#7 Is the Anne Frank House barrier-free?
There are many stairs in the Anne Frank House. Therefore, the museum is not barrier-free.
FAQ about the Anne Frank Huis
#1 What is the Anne Frank House about?
The Anne Frank Huis is not just a normal museum, but the original building in which Anne Frank hid with 7 other people in the Secret Annex for over 2 years.
As a visitor, you go through the famous bookcase that hid the entrance to the Secret Annex and walk through the rooms where Anne Frank stayed and wrote her diary.
The museum tells a whole story about fear, solidarity, racial hatred, betrayal and the creation of the world’s most famous diary.
#2 Where is the Anne Frank House and how do you get there?
The Anne Frank House is located in the center of Amsterdam at Prinsengracht 263 and is within walking distance.
For orientation: From Central Station, it takes about 20 minutes to walk to the Anne Frank Huis. From the central Dam Square it takes just under 10 minutes.
#3 Can you park at the Anne Frank House?
We generally recommend that you explore Amsterdam on foot. This also applies to the centrally located area around the Anne Frank Huis.
Because the museum is one of the most popular sights on one of the city’s most famous canals, it is always packed here. Finding a parking space here is almost impossible.
Alternatively, you can park in one of the parking garages in Amsterdam. We recommend the Apcoa Parking Prins & Keizer on the Prinsengracht. Depending on the day of the week, the daily rate is between 20 and 55 euros.
#4 From what age is the Anne Frank House suitable?
Due to the subject matter of the museum, a visit to the Anne Frank House is only suitable for children aged 12 and over.
However, younger children are also permitted to enter. It is best to decide for yourself whether your child is ready for the visit.
#5 When is the best time to visit the Anne Frank House?
The best time to visit the Anne Frank Huis during the week is in the morning between 9 am and 11 am or in the evening between 7 pm and 10 pm.
If possible, avoid the peak times on Saturday afternoons.
#6 How much time do I need in the Anne Frank House?
Plan about 1 to 2 hours for your visit to the Anne Frank Huis.
How much time you actually need in the end is always very individual and depends on the number of visitors and your personal pace.
The time slot on your ticket only counts for admission! There is no maximum duration for the museum visit.
#7 Are there audio guides in English?
Yes, the museum provides every visitor with a free audio guide.
#8 Are there guided tours of the Anne Frank House?
No, there are no guided tours of the Anne Frank House. The museum attaches great importance to silence in the rooms and to visitors being able to walk through the museum at their own pace.
#9 Is the Anne Frank House included in the I Amsterdam City Card?
Unfortunately not. The Anne Frank House is not included in the popular I Amsterdam City Card, nor in any of the other city passes for Amsterdam.
Our Experience at the Anne Frank House
We always associate sightseeing with sunshine, laughter and lots of great souvenir photos.
The visit to the Anne Frank House is a big exception. And yet – or perhaps precisely because of this – we keep coming back to this place of “never forgetting”. To visit the museum, to pay our respects to those in hiding and to somehow express that we want to understand what we can never understand.
Every time we enter the hiding place in the rear building through the bookcase, it chokes us up. But in a way that we want to allow and have to allow.
We are confronted with a truth so authentic that it leaves us speechless.
With every step we take in the Anne Frank Huis, quotes from Anne’s diary pop into our heads. The book that everyone will want to read again or finally read for the first time after visiting the house.
And then suddenly the bells of the Westerkerk start ringing. The very church bells that accompanied Anne’s everyday life in hiding. The goosebump atmosphere is complete and the overall impression is etched in the memory forever.
The Anne Frank House is not a typical museum, but also a place of remembrance and an absolute must-do in Amsterdam.
And even if the subject matter is heavy fare and the Secret Annex depresses its visitors, it is Anne’s smile in the pictures that ensures that we always leave the house with a partially upbeat feeling.
And to soothe this little emotional chaos afterwards, we recommend a coffee at Café Kalkhoven opposite the Westerkerk. It’s just the right place to let what you’ve seen sink in and have a quiet chat.
Is there anything that is not so good in the Anne Frank House?
Unfortunately, the Anne Frank House attracts more and more visitors every year.
Of course, we understand that this is the result of high demand. And the high level of interest is really great!
Nevertheless, the very crowded rooms take away the strong emotion of the experience, because you do get annoyed by jostling people from time to time.
If you want to avoid this, you should visit the Anne Frank House early in the morning or late in the evening during the week.
The Story: Submerged
When the National Socialists came to power in Germany in 1933, it became life-threatening for Jews in their own country. The Frank family therefore decided to flee to the Netherlands.
In Amsterdam, the Franks initially lived a normal life and Anne’s father Otto Frank built up his own company with his spice trade.
In May 1940, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands. When Anne’s sister Margot received a notice in 1942 that she had to go to work in a German camp, the family acted immediately.
But escaping from the occupied Netherlands was impossible.
In order to escape deportation and murder, Otto Frank set up the hiding place in the rear building at Prinsengracht 263 with his business partner and a trusted employee.
On July 6, 1942, the four Franks went into hiding. the van Pels family followed 7 days later – Hermann van Pels worked in Otto Frank’s company. In November 1942, Fritz Pfeffer was the last to arrive, and from then on he shared a room with Anne, who wrote in her diary.
Only a hinged bookcase concealed the entrance and kept watch over the fates of the people in hiding.
8 people, locked up for 2 years in 75 square meters.
It was all over on August 4, 1944. The SS and police found the hiding place. Anne was arrested together with the other people in hiding and the helpers.
Anne’s last place of residence was the Bergen-Belsen camp. Here she died of typhus 6 months after her arrest.
Her diary entries were retrieved from the Secret Annex and kept safe by Miep Gies, a member of staff who was privy to them.
Only Otto Frank survived the war. On June 3, 1945 – ten months after his arrest – he was back in Amsterdam. Miep Gies gave him Anne’s diary.
Two years after the end of the war, the first edition of the book was published. At that time it was called “Het Achterhuis” (The Secret Annex).
Even More Anne Frank in Amsterdam
Other places in Amsterdam are also associated with Anne Frank:
Anne Frank statues
There are two Anne Frank statues in Amsterdam that are great to see on walks.
The more famous of the two sculptures is located on the corner of Westermarkt and Prinsengracht, very close to the Anne Frank House.
Many describe it as small, narrow and too minimalist. We think so: It is simply a wonderful experience to “meet Anne on the street” near the hiding place.
The second statue is located on Merwedeplein, south of the center of Amsterdam. This is where Anne lived with her family before they had to go into hiding in the Secret Annex.
Westerkerk
The bells of the Westerkerk were an important part of everyday life for the people in hiding.
And because the church is only a few meters away from the Anne Frank House, we recommend a detour there.
Although there is no memorial here, Anne and the church are closely linked through her diary entries.
Anne Frank tour through Amsterdam
Didn’t get tickets for the Anne Frank House? Then we recommend the Anne Frank walking tour of Amsterdam as an alternative.
On this 2-hour tour, you will visit the Jewish quarter, gain an insight into the former life and survival of the Jewish population and learn all about Anne Frank and her diary.
Book Anne Frank walking tour online
These were our tips for the Anne Frank House Amsterdam!
Do you have any tips or would you like to share your experience with us? Then write us a comment. We look forward to hearing from you!