When you step into the Gallery of Honour, you’re entering the heart of the museum. Here you’ll find the most celebrated works of the Dutch Golden Age, including The Night Watch, The Milkmaid, and Frans Hals’ group portraits.
Quick Information
RECOMMENDED DURATION
4 hours
Timings
09:00–17:00
VISITORS PER YEAR
2500000
TICKETS
From $29.02
NUMBER OF ENTRANCES
2
EXPECTED WAIT TIME - STANDARD
1-2 hours (Peak), 30-60 mins (Off Peak)
EXPECTED WAIT TIME - SKIP THE LINE
0-30 mins (Peak), 0-30 mins (Off Peak)
Why is the Rijksmuseum a must-visit attraction?
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is one of the world’s most celebrated museums, the Netherlands’ national museum, and a must-visit for anyone interested in art, history, or culture. It houses over 8,000 works across 80 galleries, including masterpieces like The Night Watch by Rembrandt and The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer, alongside works by Frans Hals and Jan Steen.
Beyond artworks, what makes the museum truly special is its rich display of decorative arts, historical objects, delftware, and maritime items that reflect the Netherlands’ cultural heritage. The collection spans roughly from about 1200 to the present and also includes a host of temporary exhibitions, each with its own story to tell. Together, these treasures provide an immersive experience, showing how art, trade, and daily life evolved over nearly a thousand years.
What to see at the Rijksmuseum?
Gallery of Honour
Night Watch Gallery
The Night Watch Gallery was built specifically for Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. Walk in and take your time studying its size and incredible detail, with panels nearby explaining its history, its restoration, and why it’s so important in Dutch art.
Dutch Golden Age galleries
These sections let you explore everyday life and civic pride in the 17th-century Netherlands. This section displays some of the most diverse landscapes, portraits, and genre paintings that show daily routines and public events, giving you a real sense of the period.
Decorative Arts and Delftware
Step into a world of furniture, silver, glass, and ceramics, including iconic Delftware pottery. These objects show how art and craftsmanship were part of everyday Dutch life, from elegant private homes to official and ceremonial spaces.
Historical Exhibits
Historical artifacts at the Rijksmuseum often tell the story of Dutch life, politics, and culture over centuries. These areas house costumes, household items, manuscripts, and weapons that give a tangible look at how society evolved.
Maritime Collections
The Rijksmuseum’s maritime section showcases ship models, maps, and navigational tools. These exhibits highlight the Netherlands’ history of exploration, naval power, and trade networks during the Golden Age.
Asian Pavilion
The museum also houses a separate gallery dedicated to Asian art. Here, you’ll see Chinese porcelain, Japanese folding screens, Indian textiles, and Southeast Asian sculptures, offering a look at the art that traveled to Europe and the cultural connections it represents.
Rijksmuseum Gardens
If you want a break from the galleries, the landscaped gardens are open mainly in summer. With sculptures, fountains, and seasonal flowers, it’s a peaceful spot to relax and reflect on what you’ve seen inside.
Highlights of the Rijksmuseum
Paintings
The Rijksmuseum has one of the richest painting collections in the world, especially from the Dutch Golden Age. These paintings include narrative, historical, and genre scenes spanning several centuries and often have famous names attached to them.
Brief history of the Rijksmuseum
- 1798: The Dutch government decides to establish a national museum to preserve important artworks and historical objects and to promote national identity.
- 1800: The National Art Gallery opens in The Hague, displaying around 200 paintings and historical objects drawn from the Stadtholders’ collections and other national holdings.
- 1808: King Louis Napoleon, ruler of the Kingdom of Holland, moves the national collection to Amsterdam and installs it in the Royal Palace on Dam Square. The collection is joined with key city-owned works, including Rembrandt’s The Night Watch.
- 1809: The Royal Museum officially opens to the public on the upper floor of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.
- 1817–1818: After the Napoleonic period, King Willem I relocates the museum and the national print collection to a 17th-century city palace in Amsterdam. Around this period, the institution becomes formally known as the Rijksmuseum.
- 1876: Architect Pierre Cuypers is selected to design a new, purpose-built national museum. His design combines Neo-Gothic and Renaissance Revival styles and reflects a strong national historical vision.
- 1885: The new Rijksmuseum building opens to the public, bringing together Amsterdam’s major collection of older paintings with national holdings of decorative arts and historical objects.
- 1904–1950s: The museum undergoes multiple expansions and internal reorganizations, including the creation of additional galleries and the continued development of the Asian Art collection.
- 2003–2013: A major ten-year renovation restores the building to Cuypers’ original architectural concept while modernizing the museum. The collection is reorganized chronologically, integrating art, history, and applied arts into a single narrative.
Who built the Rijksmuseum?
The Rijksmuseum was designed by Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers, one of the Netherlands’ most influential 19th-century architects. Cuypers won the commission in 1876 and oversaw the building’s construction until it opened in 1885. He is best known for blending Gothic and Renaissance styles in a monumental design that reflects Dutch artistic heritage. Apart from the Rijksmuseum, Cuypers also designed Amsterdam Central Station and many churches across the Netherlands, shaping the country’s architectural identity in the late 1800s.
Architecture of the Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum’s architecture is a striking mix of Neo-Gothic and Renaissance Revival styles, conceived by Pierre Cuypers and completed in 1885. The design combines Gothic elements like pointed arches and detailed brickwork with Renaissance symmetry and ornamentation, creating a grand and historically resonant museum building. Cuypers’ layout includes two main courtyards with atriums, a central axis leading visitors through galleries, and rich decorative programs that echo the art inside.
During the extensive 2003–2013 restoration, Spanish architects Cruz y Ortiz and designers like Jean-Michel Wilmotte preserved and enhanced Cuypers’ vision, merging original ornamentation with modern museum functionality. Today, the Rijksmuseum stands as both a masterpiece of 19th-century architecture and a functional space for one of the world’s great art collections.
Frequently asked questions about the Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum is famous for masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and other Dutch masters, including The Night Watch and The Milkmaid, as well as its unmatched Dutch Golden Age collection.
The Rijksmuseum was founded in 1798 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, making it over 225 years old and one of Europe’s oldest national museums.
Yes, you can purchase Rijksmuseum tickets online to enjoy the best discounts and opt for combo offers.
You’ll find the Rijksmuseum on Museumplein at Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX Amsterdam, in the city’s southern district near several major museums.
You can visit the Rijksmuseum daily from 9 am to 5 pm throughout the year. Opening times may vary slightly on public holidays.
The Night Watch is part of the permanent collection and is normally on display, though its exact location may change during conservation or gallery updates.
Inside, you can see paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, ship models, weapons, textiles, and historical objects that trace Dutch history and global connections.
Around 8,000 artworks are displayed at any time, covering paintings, applied arts, arms, maritime objects, prints, drawings, and sculptures.
You should plan to spend at least two to three hours to see the highlights. If you want to explore in depth, half a day works best.
The best time to visit is early in the morning on a weekday, when galleries are quieter and major artworks are easier to enjoy
Yes, you can easily combine the Rijksmuseum with nearby museums like the Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, or a walk around Museumplein.
The Rijksmuseum is wheelchair accessible and provides sign language and tactile guided tours. Service dogs are also allowed. The Rijksmuseum also has accessible restrooms, Wi-Fi access, and cloakroom facilities available. Inside, you can also dine at the cafe or restaurant, or shop at the gift shop.
Yes, the Rijksmuseum has a cafe and a restaurant. The cafe is open on all days from 9 am to 6 pm. However, the Rijks restaurant is only open from Wednesday to Sunday during lunch hours and from Tuesday to Sunday during dinner hours.
You can take photos at the Rijksmuseum only using hand-held equipment. Tripods, props, and additional lighting is strictly prohibited. However, photography professionals are free to take photos or videos for domestic or international audiences provided their applications have been approved by the museum.
