The Solo Scale:

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Located in the Museum Quarter in Amsterdam, you can find a modern art museum, the Van Gogh museum, and most notable for your location, you can find the Rijksmuseum. Accessible by multiple trams, it’s easy to access this gorgeous building. Here, you’ll find many Dutch masterpieces, with a particular focus on Rembrandts.

In addition, the museum itself is a work of art, with an incredible grand hall lined with stained glass that you might expect to see in a church instead of a museum. Some of the most impressive parts of the museum are also the least busy as they’re at the back end of the museum, so a lot of people head back to the main staircase to navigate up the floors. Don’t miss out on these and make sure you get a chance to see the incredible architecture.

In terms of how much time you need to devote to a visit, it can vary. It’s not the largest museum like the Louvre, but it is packed with plenty to see. You can go at it solo or with a guide. I wound up doing a combination of both. I spent just under an hour exploring a floor of the museum on my own and then returned for a guided half hour tour that focused on some of the highlights, including the Night Watch painting.

What surprised me is that the museum is actually a little smaller than I expected, which makes it a great visiting option if you really want to “conquer” and see it all. If you’re visiting in the summer, it may be a bit warmer than you anticipate. They try and keep it cool for the paintings, but other than that, the remaining rooms will be a bit toasty.

For my solo exploration, I stuck to the first floor, saving the main pieces for a guided tour that I had with a local guide. This took an hour, and focused on the Great Hall, followed by the Rembrandt pieces, and then the Night Watch at the end. As you might imagine, being the most famous work, the crowd around Night Watch is particularly heavy. During my visit, it was under a refurbishment behind glass, but they had two large recreations that you could see in detail. Wander just a little further, though, and the crowd will start to dissipate.

In general with guided art tours, you have to be really in sync with the pace your guide sets. For this, I found that there was a little too much time spent on each piece of art, but thanks to wireless tech, you can now wander through the rooms and see more items while the guide goes in-depth on the specifics of a single piece.

Once you’ve explored all the artwork, don’t leave the area just yet, because there’s more to see just outside.

Beyond the Museum

Once you’re done exploring the artwork and the architecture of the museum, you can venture onward. The Van Gogh museum is a short walk away. If you want to visit, make sure you purchase tickets in advance. That, or risk missing out on a visit. If you’re searching for a little greenery, you can spend some time in the Rijksmuseum gardens. There’s mainly hedges and wildflowers here, so it won’t take much time, but it’s a lovely bit of green space.

If you’re feeling hungry, there are multiple food options nearby. However, because you’re in the midst of a nexus of museums, they know they have a captive tourist audience. As a result, while there are places to get fries and sandwiches and desserts, they aren’t going to be cheap. That said, the portion sizes are pretty decent. The fries were so large in my order that I actually had some trouble getting through them.

There are also a couple of souvenir stands in this area, but these too are fairly generic and overpriced. You won’t find anything truly unique at these, and you’ll end up paying more than you want.

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Visiting the Rijksmuseum is typically on most tourists’ lists when they visit Amsterdam, but for good reason. It’s a great visit that won’t eat up too much of your time. Plus, you can see a great concentration of Rembrandts in one space. For more details and to plan your visit, check out the website here.

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