Museumplein at a glance
Museumplein stretches between the back of the Rijksmuseum, to the north-east, and the Concertgebouw, to the south-west. The Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk line its western side; Moco occupies a villa on Honthorststraat, right next to the Van Gogh. In the middle, the lawn is a picnic spot in summer and a meeting point all year round. An underground car park, Q-Park Museumplein (Van Baerlestraat 33b), lies beneath the square, but a car is of little use here.
Everything is within walking distance: about five minutes from the Rijksmuseum to the Van Gogh Museum, and ten to the Vondelpark entrance. The area is quieter in the evening once the museums close, except on concert nights.
The four museums on the square
Rijksmuseum: the Golden Age masters
The national museum of the Netherlands occupies Pierre Cuypers' neo-Gothic building, opened in 1885, with a public passageway through it used by cyclists. The Gallery of Honour gathers the Golden Age masterpieces: Rembrandt's The Night Watch, Vermeer's The Milkmaid, works by Frans Hals and Jan Steen. The rest of the museum covers eight centuries of Dutch art and history, from ship models to dolls' houses.
It is open every day from 9am to 5pm, public holidays included. An adult ticket costs €25; entry is free for under-18s and for holders of the Museumkaart and the I amsterdam City Card. Everyone, card holders included, must book an entry time online. Payment is by card only. All the details are in our Rijksmuseum guide.
Van Gogh Museum: the largest collection of the painter's work
The Van Gogh Museum, opened in 1973 in a building by Gerrit Rietveld, holds more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings and 700 letters by Vincent van Gogh. You follow his career from the dark peasant scenes of Brabant to Sunflowers, Almond Blossom and Wheatfield with Crows. The oval temporary-exhibition wing, linked by a glass hall, was added in 1999.
An adult ticket costs €25, entry is free for under-18s, and the adult audio tour costs €3.75. Every ticket is valid for a specific date and time: book your slot online, several days ahead in high season. The Museumkaart gives free entry with a booked slot, but the museum is not included in the I amsterdam City Card. It opens at 9am every day; closing time varies by month (5pm or 6pm), with late opening until 9pm on most Fridays. See our Van Gogh Museum guide.
Stedelijk Museum: modern art, design and Kusama
The Stedelijk, recognisable by its white extension nicknamed "the bathtub", is the city's museum of modern and contemporary art: Malevich, Mondrian, Matisse, De Kooning, the CoBrA movement and a large design section. It is open every day from 10am to 6pm.
An adult ticket usually costs €22.50, with free entry for minors and Museumkaart holders. From 11 September 2026 to 17 January 2027, the major Yayoi Kusama retrospective raises the adult ticket to €32.50 (€17.50 for students, free up to age 18); Museumkaart holders pay €10. The ticket shows your entry time for the exhibition; the rest of the museum can be visited freely that day. More information in the Stedelijk Museum guide.
Moco Museum: Banksy and contemporary art
Moco (Modern Contemporary) occupies Villa Alsberg, a 1904 house at Honthorststraat 20. It shows works by Banksy and by pop and contemporary artists, over two floors and a garden. A visit takes about an hour. The villa has many stairs and no lift.
Adult tickets start at €19.95 online (€17.95 for ages 7-17 and students, free up to age 6); the price varies with the time slot. The I amsterdam City Card gives free entry; the Museumkaart only gives a discount. The museum opens at 9am every day and closes later on Fridays and Saturdays. Under-16s must be accompanied by an adult. See the Moco Museum guide.
Museum comparison table
| Museum | Adult price | Suggested time | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rijksmuseum | €25 | 2.5 to 3 hours | Entry time required, even with a card |
| Van Gogh Museum | €25 | 1.5 to 2 hours | Online slot required, book early |
| Stedelijk Museum | €22.50 (€32.50 during the Kusama exhibition) | 1.5 to 2 hours | Entry time for the Kusama exhibition |
| Moco Museum | from €19.95 | 1 hour | Recommended, price varies by slot |
Prices noted in October 2026. All four museums are free for under-18s, except Moco (youth rate from age 7).
Tickets, City Card or Museumkaart?
You have three options, depending on your plans:
- Single tickets: the simplest choice if you only visit one or two museums. Buy them on the official websites; resellers add fees.
- I amsterdam City Card: from €67 for 24 hours in its Total Experience version, it includes the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk, Moco, more than 70 museums and attractions, a canal cruise and GVB trams, buses, metros and ferries. The Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House are not part of it.
- Museumkaart: the annual Dutch museum card costs €75 for an adult in 2026. It covers the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh and the Stedelijk. Bought on the spot by a visitor, it is first issued as a temporary card, valid for 31 days and a maximum of 5 visits.
With the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh and the Stedelijk, the Museumkaart costs about as much as three single tickets; it pays off from a fourth visit to another museum that accepts it. The City Card becomes worthwhile if you add transport and a cruise on the same day.
How much time do you need?
Allow half a day for one major museum and a stroll around the square, a full day for two museums. Doing the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh on the same day is possible if you start at the Rijksmuseum at 9am and book the Van Gogh for early afternoon. More than two museums a day is tiring. To spread the visits over a longer stay, follow our Amsterdam in 3 days itinerary.
The quietest times are opening time and late afternoon. On rainy days the museums fill up fast: book as soon as the weather turns, or see our ideas for a rainy day.
Around the square: Concertgebouw, Vondelpark and P.C. Hooftstraat
The Concertgebouw and its Wednesday concerts
Opened in 1888, the Concertgebouw (Concertgebouwplein 10) is home to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and known for its acoustics. From September to June it hosts free 30-minute concerts, usually on Wednesdays at 12:30pm: public rehearsals by the orchestra, young soloists, chamber music. You need a free ticket, bookable online up to one week ahead, with a maximum of two per person.
The Vondelpark
Ten minutes' walk north-west of the square, the Vondelpark is the city's main park: ponds, lawns, cycle paths and cafés. It is the ideal break between two museums, and the place for a picnic if the weather allows.
P.C. Hooftstraat
Between the Rijksmuseum and the Vondelpark, P.C. Hooftstraat gathers the big international fashion houses on a street of brick houses. It is more for window-shopping than bargains; more affordable shops are in the centre.
Where to eat near Museumplein
Each museum has its café, handy but busy at lunchtime. At the Rijksmuseum, the café is reserved for ticket holders until 5pm and open to everyone between 5pm and 6pm. The RIJKS restaurant, on the museum site, serves lunch from Wednesday to Sunday and dinner from Tuesday to Sunday, by reservation.
For a more varied and cheaper meal, walk ten to fifteen minutes east to the De Pijp district, with its cafés, international restaurants and the Albert Cuyp market: see our De Pijp guide. In good weather, the Vondelpark cafés are another option.
Getting to Museumplein
- Tram: from Centraal Station, trams 2 and 24 run via Dam and Leidseplein and then serve the Rijksmuseum and Museumplein, in about fifteen minutes. Trams 5 and 12 also serve the area (Museumplein and Van Baerlestraat stops). Since 29 March 2026, tram 12 no longer runs to Centraal Station.
- Metro: line 52, Vijzelgracht station, less than ten minutes' walk from the Rijksmuseum.
- Bike: bike racks surround the square; do not park outside the marked areas.
- Car: not recommended; if needed, use Q-Park Museumplein or the P+R park-and-ride sites on the outskirts, then the tram.
Addresses: Rijksmuseum, Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX Amsterdam; Van Gogh Museum, Museumplein 6, 1071 DJ Amsterdam; Stedelijk Museum, Museumplein 10, 1071 DJ Amsterdam; Moco Museum, Honthorststraat 20, 1071 DE Amsterdam.
Further reading
Start with the Rijksmuseum guide to prepare the longest visit, then fit the area into our Amsterdam in 3 days itinerary. If rain turns up during your stay, Museumplein remains the best fallback: our ideas for a rainy day complete this guide.
