Free time in Amsterdam
We are scheduled to have an afternoon at the Rijksmuseum after lunch. Will there be time to visit the Van Gogh Museum afterwards? Would it be too much to head over to the Anne Frank House after that? Or possibly return to it in the evening? Would love to be able to do both but time seems short. Also, need to book tickets sooner rather than later. Opinions please!
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To answer your question, you would need to find out what times the museums are open. You will have to check if there is timed ticketing.
The Anne Frank house tickets sells out almost immediate after they go on sale online. I’m sure they are timed tickets. You would certainly have to do that on a different day. Good luck in your organization.
Tickets must be booked in advance and entries are timed. My opinion is that visiting three (3) museums in an afternoon is far too ambitious. Good luck with all the logistics, including transportation.
From your description I'm assuming you're on the northbound version of this cruise which has morning sailing into Amsterdam, lunch then either a canal cruise & museum visit or a longer excursion outside the city. If you look at the excursion details from the website itinerary, the museum option is 4 hours so you aren't done until 5- ish. The Van Gogh closes at 6 and they might not let you in if you arrive too close to closing. You could bail early from the Rijkmuseum tour but would miss stuff and need to work out transport back to the ship. Anne Frank House isn't close by though it doesn't close til 10. Again you'd need to figure out transport.
Andrea, As mentioned above doing all three may be really difficult. The first question should be, will I ever be back in Amsterdam. If yes then it is an easier to choose since you will be going back. If no, then you will need to make a decision very soon since the Anne Frank tickets for this April will be on sale very soon.
For Anne Frank tickets you need to book online through their website. Tickets typically go on sale Tuesdays at 10 AM. This is AMSTERDAM time not US time. You need to be online then. However occasionally I have seen tickets go on sale a day or two early. Starting today check every day at your time that corresponds to 10AM AMSTERDAM time. Just to hedge your bet try 9 AM as well.
Transportation from the museum area, both the Van Gogh and Rijks is simple. Grab tram 2 or 12 just outside either museum heading towards central station. Tap in with your credit card, and then tap out with your credit card at Dam station. !0 minute walk to the Anne Frank house across three canals. You can either walk back to the ship or take the the same tram to Centraal station where the boat dock is close by either to the right or the left.
The canal cruise is ok but it is on the larger boats and I found the smaller boats such as Amsterdam Boat Adventures a better tour. Your choice on museums. You will need advance tickets to the Van Gogh museum.
If you are never going to go back to Amsterdam I would skip the museums(you will already seen some great works of art and you can see Van Gogh's elsewhere but you will never see the Anne Frank house or take a canal tour, I am not a huge museum person,) get tickets to the Anne Frank House, take a small boat canal tour, walk through the canal district, eat apple pie at Winkel 33 or a brown pub, and see the House in the Attic.
Ditto to what Ben said. Excellent advice.
Double ditto.
As an alternative to trying to visit so many museums in an afternoon, I agree with the Lord in the Attic suggestion. Taking a tour of a canal houseboat is also fun, informative and only costs ~ €10. Strolling through the Nine Little Streets is another option. Enjoy.