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The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

No. 30 Top 100 Most Visited Art Museums 2025 · 2,300,000 visitors in 2025

Rijksmuseum

Amsterdam, Netherlands · City guide: Amsterdam

The Netherlands' national museum: The Night Watch, Vermeer's The Milkmaid and the Dutch Golden Age.

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Photo: Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Overview

The Rijksmuseum is No. 30 in The Art Newspaper's survey of the world's most visited art museums, with 2,300,000 visitors in 2025, down 8% on 2024. The national museum of the Netherlands tells 800 years of Dutch art and history, with the world's finest collection of Dutch Golden Age painting.

Its building on the Museumplein, designed by Pierre Cuypers, opened in 1885 and reopened in 2013 after a ten-year renovation. A cycle path runs right through the passage under the building.

The Gallery of Honour in the Rijksmuseum
The Gallery of Honour in the Rijksmuseum. Photo: Marco Almbauer, Public domain, source

Best time to visit

Arrive at opening time or visit late in the afternoon to avoid the crowds in front of The Night Watch.

Highlights & collections

  • 1

    The Night Watch

    Rembrandt's huge group portrait of a civic militia company, the museum's most famous work.

  • 2

    The Milkmaid

    Johannes Vermeer's quiet masterpiece of a woman pouring milk.

  • 3

    Gallery of Honour

    A long hall of Golden Age masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals and Jan Steen.

  • 4

    Cuypers Library

    The museum's ornate 19th-century research library, viewable from a gallery.

  • 5

    Dolls' houses

    Lavish 17th-century dolls' houses that are miniature copies of wealthy Amsterdam homes.

Getting there

The Rijksmuseum is on Museumstraat, at the edge of the Museumplein. Trams 2 and 12 stop at Rijksmuseum, and it is about a 20-minute walk from Amsterdam Centraal.

Visiting tips

Tickets & hours
Buy timed tickets online in advance. The gardens are free. Check the official website for prices and hours.
Time needed
Two to four hours.
Currency
Euro (EUR). Cards, including contactless, are accepted almost everywhere.
Visa & entry
The Netherlands is in the Schengen Area. Many visitors, including citizens of the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) now records non-EU travellers' entries and exits at the border, and the ETIAS travel authorisation is due to follow. Check the official EU site travel-europe.europa.eu and your own government's travel advice before you go.

Official information: Rijksmuseum (official website). Check opening hours, prices and entry rules there before you go.

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