In a nutshell
- The Royal Palace is one of the oldest and most famous places to visit in Amsterdam.
- You can buy tickets for the Royal Palace tour online or on site. Often just spontaneously.
- Because the Royal Palace is still actively used by the Dutch royal family, it is closed to visitors during royal events. Otherwise, you can visit it all year round.
- We took a look at the palace ourselves and think that the visit is really worth it. You find all of our tips and experiences in the article.
What You Need to Know about the Royal Palace Amsterdam
- The Royal Palace is located in the center of Amsterdam on the so-called Dam Square. This is where Amsterdam as a city began.
- The palace has several names: Royal Palace, Paleis op de Dam and Koninklijk Paleis.
- The building was constructed around 350 years ago as a town hall. All the splendor was intended to show how rich and advanced Amsterdam was.
- Louis Bonaparte – Napoleon’s little brother – first turned the building into a palace in 1808. And it has been owned by the royal family ever since.
- The Dutch king does not reign from here. The Royal Palace is now a reception palace for important state visits.

What to See in the Royal Palace Amsterdam?
The Royal Palace is super beautiful to look at from the outside alone. But even more impressive highlights await you inside:
- Citizens’ Hall with large Atlas statue
- Throne room
- Royal apartments
- Tribunal Hall
- Collection of Empire furniture
- Historic galleries
- Sculptures and busts

Royal Palace Amsterdam Tickets & Prices
There is only one ticket option for the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. A normal entrance ticket that allows you to enter the palace and see all the rooms open to visitors.
The ticket does not have a fixed time slot. You can visit the palace when it suits you on the day you choose.
The audio guide is also included in the ticket. We’ll explain more about this in a moment.
How much does admission to the Royal Palace Amsterdam cost?
The ticket price for all providers is around 13 euros for adults.
Students pay 9 euros with the appropriate ID and children and young people under the age of 18 can enter free of charge.
Where do you buy your ticket for the Royal Palace Amsterdam?
You can buy your Amsterdam Royal Palace ticket either online in advance or directly at the palace. There are no price differences and tickets are always available – even spontaneously.
Tickets are available online from the following providers:
Are combined tickets available for the Royal Palace Amsterdam?
Yes, you can combine your visit to the Royal Palace with a canal cruise through Amsterdam or a visit to the Rembrandthuis.
Book Royal Palace canal cruise combo ticket
Book Royal Palace Rembrandthuis combination ticket
Unfortunately, this is not a saving. The combined tickets cost just as much as the individual tickets together. Having both in one is simply a bit more practical.
Is Royal Palace included in the I Amsterdam Card?
Unfortunately, the Royal Palace – just like the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House – is not included in the I Amsterdam Card.
Are there guided tours of the Royal Palace Amsterdam?
Guided tours of the Royal Palace Amsterdam are only available for groups of 10 people or more. You can book the tour directly via the Royal Palace website.
Alternatively, you can take a city tour of Amsterdam’s highlights. The Royal Palace will also be shown and explained to you. Only from the outside, but it’s worth it.
Royal Palace Amsterdam Audioguide
As mentioned above, the ticket for the palace also includes an audio guide in the language of your choice.
You can pick this up in the Royal Palace behind the ticket office.
And you should definitely do this. There are no information boards with text in the palace.

How long is the tour of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam?
The tour on the audio guide takes 75-minutes. You can also get individual information on the highlights.
There is a sign in front of each room with a headphone symbol and a number. This makes it easy to find the right audio for the room in the audio guide. You can also easily recognize it from the pictures.
Visiting the Royal Palace Amsterdam: Tips & Info
So that you are optimally prepared, we would now like to give you some information and tips for your visit to the Royal Palace Amsterdam.
Where is the Royal Palace in Amsterdam?
The Royal Palace is located in the center of Amsterdam on Dam Square. This is a large square just a 10-minute walk from Amsterdam Central Station.
The exact address is: Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 147, 1012 RJ Amsterdam
To the Royal Palace Amsterdam on GoogleMaps
How do you get to the Royal Palace Amsterdam?
Like pretty much everything in the center of Amsterdam, the Royal Palace is best reached on foot. The palace is centrally located on Dam Square and is accessible from all sides.
If you are coming from a more distant part of the city, the suburban trains stop directly at Dam, at the Dam stop of the same name.
Who lives in the Royal Palace Amsterdam?
Nobody lives in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. Nevertheless, the palace is still used by the Dutch royal family for representational purposes.
For example, heads of state from other countries are received here. Official photos of the royal family are also taken in the palace. For example, the wedding pictures of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima.
Royal Palace Amsterdam opening hours
The Royal Palace Amsterdam is open all year round and daily from 10 am to 5 pm. In the high season from July to September it is even open daily until 6 pm.
Please note: the palace is closed to visitors during events organized by the royal family. You can find detailed information on this in the Royal Palace calendar.
Best time to visit the Royal Palace Amsterdam
The best time to visit the Royal Palace in Amsterdam is between the end of August and the beginning of April during the week. The best time is in the morning, mid-morning or early afternoon.
If you catch a rainy day in Amsterdam, a visit is a great way to escape the bad weather.
Read more about the weather in Amsterdam
You should avoid visiting the palace on Saturdays. This is when it is really crowded and the visit is less relaxed.

How crowded is the Royal Palace?
Again, if you’re not in the palace on a busy Saturday, then it’s not very crowded and everything runs very smoothly. We were there on a Monday afternoon and were rarely in the room with more than 5 other people.
Royal Palace Amsterdam waiting times
If you are not in the palace on a Saturday afternoon, there are hardly any waiting times. During our visit, we didn’t have to wait at the entrance or at the counter for the audio guides. Everything went very smoothly.
How much time should you plan for the Royal Palace Amsterdam?
You should plan around 1 to 2 hours for the tour of the Royal Palace. The large audio guide lasts 75 minutes. This will help you to find your way around without getting stressed.
Is the Royal Palace Amsterdam barrier-free?
The Paleis op de Dam is easily accessible and has facilities for wheelchair users and visitors with special needs.
Is there a checkroom in the Royal Palace Amsterdam?
Yes, there is a large checkroom in the Royal Palace Amsterdam. You will even be asked to leave jackets and bags there at the entrance. You can also leave baby carriages and large luggage here.
The checkroom is guarded and free of charge. You will be given a small chip that you can use to collect your belongings after your visit.

Is there a museum store?
Yes, the Royal Palace Amsterdam also has a small museum store. You can buy all your souvenirs here.
However, the prices really blew us away. Compared to other souvenir stores and stores in Amsterdam museums, this one is really expensive. So we left the souvenirs behind.

Can you eat at the royal palace?
No, the Royal Palace Amsterdam does not have a restaurant or café and you are not allowed to eat inside. But there are some great restaurants and cafés near the Royal Palace.
Our tip for a restaurant near the Royal Palace: Majestic. They serve fries, pasta, meat and vegetarian dishes, among other things. And outside you have a great view of Dam Square.
Our Experience at the Royal Palace: Is it Worth it?
We went to the Royal Palace on a Monday afternoon. This really was the best time to visit. No queues far and wide.
We were able to go straight in, show our online ticket, hand in our bags and jackets and pick up our audio guide. A matter of 5 minutes.
The tour begins with a short movie in the foyer. In our opinion, however, you can safely skip it. Later on, we didn’t have the feeling that we would have missed anything without the movie.
The first room is the biggest highlight: the Citizens’ Hall . A huge, light-flooded hall with a marble floor, sculptures, ceiling paintings and lots of splendor. Here you can also see the famous Atlas statue with the globe.
The hall is even more impressive in real life than in pictures. When we stood there and looked around, we had a real sense of awe. Amazing!

The Citizens’ Hall is the center of the palace. All the other corridors and rooms branch off from here.
This was an advantage for us. Every now and then we got a bit lost because there are so many red rooms and marble corridors. But every time we just kept walking, knowing that we’d end up back in the Citizens’ Hall anyway, hehe.
The other rooms couldn’t compete with the Citizens’ Hall in terms of beauty – if we set the bar high enough – but there was no lack of history anywhere.
And that’s exactly why the audio guide is so useful. It provides a wealth of information and stories about the rooms, the furnishings and how they were used.
Our personal highlight was the Tribunal. The historic courtroom where death sentences were passed in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The atmosphere here was completely different to the rest of the palace. Our imaginations really ran wild and we could picture the scenes vividly.
A narrow, high room where you stand in front of a crushing Wall of Weeping Statues . A long staircase for the tribunal, a dock and a window high above through which the plaintiffs looked down.
The audio guide also tells you a moving story about a trial that took place here. So once again, thumbs up for the audio guide.

And is the Royal Palace worth it now or not?
Yes, the Paleis op de Dam in Amsterdam is well worth a visit. Before we entered the tribunal, our opinion was: “Very pretty. Well worth a look. And really good value for money.”
After the Tribunal, we said: “What an important piece of the city’s history. Wow! Not just pomp and pageantry and royals, but real history. Captured and made accessible for us.”
So if you are planning a trip to Amsterdam and have enough time – we know how many sights the city has to offer – then be sure to visit the Paleis op de Dam.
These were our tips and our experience for the Royal Palace Amsterdam
Do you have any tips or comments for the Paleis op de Dam? Then write us a comment. We look forward to hearing from you!