In a nutshell
- The Van Gogh Museum is one of the most visited museums in Amsterdam — and one of the greatest art museums in the world. Here’s everything you need to plan your visit.
- Expect to see not only Van Gogh’s most iconic works like Sunflowers and The Potato Eaters, but also lesser-known pieces that might just blow you away.
- Tickets are only available online — not at the door! Book through the official museum shop, GetYourGuide, or Tiqets — prices are around 27 euros. Book at least two weeks ahead.
- We loved every minute of it. Read our full honest review, audio guide tips, and practical advice below.
What You Need to Know About the Van Gogh Museum
- Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch painter of Post-Impressionism and lived in Amsterdam from 1877 to 1878.
- The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is not only one of the city’s top museums, but also one of the most important art museums in the entire world.
- Nowhere else will you find such a large collection of Van Gogh’s works.
- Descendants of Vincent Van Gogh were actively involved in building the museum.
- During his lifetime, Van Gogh and his art received little recognition. Nearly 150 years after his death, 1.5 million people visit the Van Gogh Museum every year to see his works.
What Can You See at the Van Gogh Museum?
Before we walk you through buying tickets and share tips for your visit, here’s a quick overview of the exhibition:
- All portraits and self-portraits
- Works from Nuenen (1880 – 1885)
- Works from Antwerp (1886)
- Works from Paris (1886 – 1888)
- Works from Arles (1888 – 1889)
- Works from Saint-Rémy (1889 – 1890)
- Works by artist friends (e.g. Paul Gauguin)
- Furniture
- Interactive tools & timelines
Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam Tickets & Prices
For the Van Gogh Museum there is only one ticket option: a standard admission ticket with a timed entry slot. With it you can see the entire exhibition. Refreshingly straightforward.
You can also book an audio guide in advance. We’ll tell you more about that in a moment.
How Much Does Admission to the Van Gogh Museum Cost?
Ticket prices are around 27 euros, depending on where you book.
Children and teens up to age 17 get in free. There are no discounts for seniors or people with disabilities. However, personal assistants are admitted free of charge.
Where Do You Buy Your Van Gogh Museum Ticket?
Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam tickets can be booked through three reputable providers:
Through GetYourGuide and Tiqets, tickets tend to sell out further in advance. We’d recommend booking your Van Gogh Museum ticket about two weeks before your visit.
The official museum online shop sometimes has tickets available on shorter notice — sometimes even for the same day.
Our Experience Buying Tickets
We booked our ticket through the official online shop and ran into problems with the payment processing. Our payment kept getting declined — even when we tried a different card.
We didn’t figure out what was wrong until a few hours later. We had selected both the ticket and the audio guide. The audio guide was causing a glitch in the booking process. As soon as we removed it from our cart, the order went through.
Frustrating — but at least we had our ticket. Hopefully our tip saves you the same headache.
With your confirmation email and ticket, you also get a separate opportunity to book the audio guide online in advance. But even then, we had no luck. Payment was declined again.
So we had to hope there would be an audio guide available for us on-site.
As a backup, we went ahead and downloaded the Van Gogh Museum app. More on that in a moment.
Are There Guided Tours of the Van Gogh Museum?
Yes. You can book guided tours of the Van Gogh Museum. At 70 to 160 euros per person for about two hours, though, they’re genuinely pricey.
If you’d still like to check out the options, you can find them here:
Van Gogh Museum Semi-Private Tour in English
Is the Van Gogh Museum Available as a Combo Ticket?
Yes. There’s a combo ticket for the Van Gogh Museum combined with a canal cruise in Amsterdam. The combo ticket costs around 40 euros. It’s not a huge saving compared to buying two separate tickets, though.
Combo Ticket: Van Gogh Museum + Canal Cruise
Is the Van Gogh Museum Included in a City Pass?
Unfortunately, the Van Gogh Museum is — just like the Anne Frank House — not included in any Amsterdam city pass.
We have more info on Amsterdam city passes here:
Van Gogh Museum Audio Guide & App
As mentioned above, the Van Gogh Museum offers an audio guide in 12 languages. You can either book it online through the museum shop and pick it up on arrival, or rent one on-site. The price is around 4 euros.
Our tip: If you book your ticket through GetYourGuide, you can easily add the audio guide to your booking.
We weren’t able to book the audio guide through the official website. So we planned to rent one on-site — but struck out again. There weren’t enough audio guides for all visitors, and guests with an online booking were given priority.
It felt like one thing after another. But we wouldn’t be us if we didn’t have a solution ready!
So we — a little reluctantly — pulled out our phones and opened the Van Gogh Museum app we’d downloaded as a backup. And it was actually really useful!
The app is available for free for iOS and for Android. Note that it’s only available in English.
The home screen features several sections. We focused on the five sections covering Van Gogh’s different bodies of work — Works from Nuenen, Works from Antwerp, and so on. These are arranged in exactly the same order as in the museum, which makes it super easy to follow along.
Each section covers the most important works, with a short explanatory text for each. Really interesting — and definitely better than going in without any context at all.
Visiting the Van Gogh Museum: Tips & Info
Here’s everything you need to know to make the most of your visit to the Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum.
Where Is the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam?
The Van Gogh Museum is located on the Museumplein, behind the Rijksmuseum, in the southern part of Amsterdam’s city center.
The exact address is: Museumplein 6, 1071 DJ Amsterdam
How Do You Get to the Van Gogh Museum?
In Amsterdam, you can get to just about everything on foot. The walk to the Museumplein — and therefore to the Van Gogh Museum — through the Rijksmuseum’s passageway is one we always find particularly lovely. Don’t skip it if you can help it.
If walking long distances isn’t an option, the Museumplein tram stop is right near the museum — just a short walk from the entrance.
More about getting around Amsterdam by public transit:
Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam Hours
The Van Gogh Museum is open daily from 9 AM to 6 PM. On Fridays it stays open until 9 PM.
Best Time to Visit the Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum is busy year-round. The quietest time is in the morning between 9 and 10 AM — so if you want a bit more breathing room, book that first slot.
Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam Wait Times
Because tickets always include a timed entry slot, there are never long lines outside. We waited less than five minutes.
You also won’t have to wait long at the restrooms, the café, the lockers, or the elevators.
The longest waits inside are at the audio guide counter and the museum shop checkouts — but even there you’re looking at no more than ten minutes.
Is There a Coat Check at the Van Gogh Museum?
In the foyer there’s an area with free lockers in three sizes. Here’s how they work:
Walk up to an available touchscreen in front of the lockers, select your language, and choose the locker size you need.
Then set a code and a small icon so no one else can open your locker. Make sure you remember both!
The touchscreen will display your locker number and your locker will be ready to use. Put your stuff in, close it, and you’re good to go.
How Crowded Is the Van Gogh Museum?
The Van Gogh Museum gets a lot of visitors and it’s rare to have a painting all to yourself. But because the museum is so large, the crowds spread out pretty well. Some rooms do get more packed than others, though.
One nice thing: visitors naturally form a line along the wall displaying the paintings, so everyone gets a proper turn in front of each piece.
How Much Time Should You Plan for the Van Gogh Museum?
Set aside at least two hours for the Van Gogh Museum.
We spent two hours including a quick stop at the café and the shops, and honestly it felt a little rushed. We could easily have stayed for three hours.
Is There a Museum Shop?
There isn’t just one Van Gogh Museum shop — there are four. One outside on the Museumplein and three inside the museum.
All four shops carry the usual small souvenirs, plus toys for kids, posters, books, and other interesting items. There’s even Van Gogh perfume — and it actually smells really good.
Can You Eat at the Van Gogh Museum?
Yes — food and drinks are well taken care of, in more ways than one.
There’s a restaurant on the first level serving salads, soups, fries, burgers, and baked goods, plus a small café in the foyer.
We stopped by the café and couldn’t resist trying the Van Gogh Cookie. So glad we did — super chocolatey with sunflower seeds, a nod to Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers painting.
Our Experience at the Van Gogh Museum
We visited on a Tuesday at noon. It was already fairly busy at that point, but it was the earliest slot we could still get for that day — and the wait to get in was barely anything.
The museum building itself has a very modern, open design that really lets the artworks shine. And inside the Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum, one highlight follows another without pause.
We were in awe from the very first room.
That room is called “Face to Face with Van Gogh” and features a large collection of portraits and self-portraits. It’s a wonderful way to start — getting to look the artist in the eye right at the beginning.
The remaining rooms and floors are organized by period, from his early work in Nuenen and Antwerp through to Paris and Arles. Every room has its own standout piece.
These definitely include “The Potato Eaters,” “Fifteen Sunflowers,” and “Almond Blossom” — works that virtually every art lover will recognize.
Personally, though, the lesser-known paintings captivated us even more than the famous ones — which genuinely surprised us. Visiting the Van Gogh Museum actually introduced us to works we’d never seen before.
Alongside Van Gogh’s paintings, the museum also displays works by his artist friends and artists who inspired him.
We let our inner art nerds loose here and found it genuinely exciting to look for traces of influence — how might these artists have shaped Van Gogh’s style?
For anyone who’s less into that kind of deep-dive, there are also interactive tools and timelines with background information on Van Gogh’s life and work.
Not a single corner of the museum is dull.
So Is the Van Gogh Museum Worth It, or Not?
Absolutely! 100% worth it. We’d even say the Van Gogh Museum ranks among the best attractions in Amsterdam.
Even if you don’t usually consider yourself an art person, it’s hard not to be moved by the sheer significance of this collection.
Are nearly 30 euros justified? It is pricey, no question. But you’re standing in front of world-famous masterpieces — so it’s fair. And if you want to save a little, skip the audio guide and use the free app like we did.
And while we’re on the subject of saving money: a budget hotel in Amsterdam is also a great way to free up more cash for sightseeing and museums. That’s our approach too.
Is there anything we missed or didn’t like? Honestly, no. The museum has everything you could wish for. If we’re nitpicking, we’re doing so from a very high baseline.
Namely: not all of Van Gogh’s works hang here, of course — which is understandable. But we really would have loved to see The Starry Night, which hangs at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Would we go back? Yes. Even if you could tick this off as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, we’d go again and give ourselves a full three hours. There’s always something new to discover in a painting.
And on top of that, the Van Gogh Museum is a perfect activity for a rainy day in Amsterdam.
So here’s our simple advice: book a ticket to the Van Gogh Museum, see it for yourself, and find your favorite Van Gogh painting.
