5 Museums to Explore in Amsterdam that You Shouldn't Miss

You could spend an eternity exploring the major works of art, the captivating history and the cutting-edge interactive exhibits on display in the museums of the Dutch capital. But if your stay in Amsterdam is limited and you're not sure where to start, we've put together our – naturally subjective – choice of the five best museums in Amsterdam, as well as a few others that are more than worth a visit if you have a little more time. If you're planning to take in several exhibitions, the I amsterdam City Card is a good investment – most of the city's museums and galleries are not free (and few are cheap), but the card gives you free admission to many of the biggest, along with a host of other benefits.

If we had to award the title for the number one museum in Amsterdam, it would have to go to the vast collection of classical art and history spanning 800 years on Museumsplein square, all housed in a magnificent building blending Dutch Renaissance and Gothic architecture. The undisputed star is Rembrandt's revolutionary "The Nightwatch", a landmark in the artistic depiction of movement and light, but there are also a host of other Dutch Golden Age works by masters including Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer and more. The Rijksmuseum's peerless exhibits also include Delft porcelain, sculptures, Asian art and historical artefacts. Among the must-sees are the 17th-century dolls' houses or the stunning Cuypers' Library with its soaring spiral staircase.

Good to know:

Museumstraat 1. Open daily 9 am to 5 pm. Tickets (adults €22.50, under 18 years free) with a pre-arranged start time should be booked online. Free entry (starting time reservation required) with the I amsterdam City Card. 

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Just steps away, Amsterdam's most important modern art museum, and one of the "big three" on Museumsplein, the Stedelijk Museum features 20th and 21st-century works by artists from Matisse and Van Gogh to Mondrian, Pollock and Warhol, partly housed in a striking new wing appropriately dubbed "the bathtub". 

A relative newcomer to Museumsplein is the Moco Museum, with contemporary artists including Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Damien Hirst.

For further insight into the master's life and work, visit the Rembrandt House, his home and studio from 1639 to 1658.

Home to the world's largest collection of the Post-Impressionist master's works, the Van Gogh Museum features over 200 landscape, portrait and still life paintings, as well as hundreds of his drawings. Iconic works such as his "Sunflowers", "Wheatfield with Crows" or his self-portraits are familiar from countless reproductions, but nothing can match the magic of seeing Vincent's daring brushstrokes "in the flesh". As you review his early drawings and read his letters, you gain a special insight into his artistic development and his breathtakingly creative but troubled life. The museum also hosts changing temporary exhibitions featuring artists who influenced Van Gogh and those whom he influenced. 

Good to know:

Museumplein 6. Open daily 9 am to 6 pm. Tickets (adults €20, under 18 years free) with a pre-arranged start time must be booked online. The museum is often booked out weeks ahead, so we advise buying your tickets well in advance.

Certainly the city's most sobering museum experience is a visit to the building at Prinsengracht 263. It was here that the 13-year-old German-born Jewish girl Anne Frank hid with her family from the Nazis in a tiny secret annex for over two years, recording her experiences in her poignant diary. Their hiding place was betrayed in 1944, and all were deported to concentration camps. Anne's father Otto was the only one to survive the Holocaust. The Anne Frank House tells the family's story through photos, quotes, videos and items including the original red-checked diary, in a cramped space still redolent with their confinement. 

Good to know:

Prinsengracht 267. Open daily 9 am to 10 pm. Tickets (Adults €16, 10-17 years €7, 0-9 years €1) with a pre-arranged start time must be booked online. The museum is usually booked out weeks ahead, so we advise buying your tickets early. The old part of the house is not accessible to visitors with restricted mobility due to the "Dutch leg-breaking staircase", as Anne described it.

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The Jewish Museum offers a compelling glimpse into Jewish life past and present in the Netherlands, in four exquisitely preserved monumental synagogues.

Interactive exhibits at the Resistance Museum palpably evoke the atmosphere under Nazi occupation during World War II. 

Het Scheepvaartmuseum, housed in an imposing waterfront storehouse dating from the 17th century, presents an immense collection of maritime paintings, model ships, navigational instruments and charts, a testament to the Netherlands' history as a great sea power. Among the highlights are tapestries by Willem van de Velde the Elder. Its interactive exhibits make Het Scheepvaartmuseum one of the best Amsterdam museums for families. You can also go aboard the replica Dutch East Indiaman sailing vessel moored outside and get a sense of what life was like on board.

Good to know:

Kattenburgerplein 1. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10 am to 5 pm. Tickets (adults €17.50, 4-17 years and students €8.50) can be purchased online or at the museum. Free entry with the I amsterdam City Card. 

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If you're in Amsterdam with kids, the hands-on displays at Nemo Science Museum, a few steps away, are a fun way to explore the mysteries of science and technology. (We adults find them fascinating too!) Head to the rooftop piazza of the ship-like Renzo Piano building on the harbour for great city views.

The spectacular angular white building housing the Eye Film Museum, on the banks of the IJ river and affording breathtaking skyline views, would be reason enough to visit. But inside there are lots of innovative interactive exhibits illuminating the way film works and intriguing displays of vintage cinema equipment. The museum is home to a vast library of Dutch and international movies, and features four intimate cinemas screening classic and arthouse films.

Good to know

IJpromenade 1. Take the free ferry that leaves Centraal station every few minutes. You can buy tickets for the exhibition (adults €12.50, students €10, under 18 years free) online or at the museum. Free entry with the I amsterdam City Card. Tickets to film screenings are extra.

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Your excursion across the river is also a great opportunity to also take in the immersive digital art and new media installations at the nearby Nxt Museum. 

Book a room at the stylish contemporary Tribe Amsterdam City to be in the midst of the Noord neighbourhood's booming underground culture scene.

This is just a taste of the memorable museum experiences Amsterdam offers. There's a whole lot more, including a host of quirky exhibitions, just waiting to fascinate you.