Updated 19 September 2026
Nowhere in the Netherlands are so many famous paintings gathered so close together as around Museumplein in Amsterdam-Zuid. The Rijksmuseum closes off the square to the north, while the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum stand on Paulus Potterstraat. Together they draw millions of visitors a year, which means that planning makes the difference between a relaxed afternoon and an afternoon spent queuing.
Rijksmuseum
Since 1885 the Rijksmuseum has occupied the building designed by architect Pierre Cuypers, a brick palace with towers, tile panels and a passage through which cyclists ride straight under the museum. The collection is older than the building: in 1808 the museum moved to Amsterdam on the orders of Louis Napoleon and was housed in the Royal Palace on Dam Square together with the city's own art collection. That collection included Rembrandt's Night Watch.
Between 2003 and 2013 the main building was closed for a thorough restoration and rebuilding. During those years the seventeenth-century highlights were shown in the Philips Wing. On 13 April 2013 Queen Beatrix reopened the renewed museum. Since then, visitors walk through a layout that tells Dutch history chronologically, with paintings, furniture, silver, ship models and prints side by side.
The Gallery of Honour, with work by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals and Jan Steen, is the busiest part of the building. Early in the morning or after three in the afternoon there is usually more room. The Asian art galleries, the twentieth century department and the library are quieter and often skipped.
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum opened on 2 June 1973. The main building was designed by Gerrit Rietveld, who died in 1964 before construction started; his partners completed the design from his sketches. In 1999 an exhibition wing by the Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa was added, an oval volume partly below ground level.
The collection holds more than two hundred paintings, five hundred drawings and seven hundred letters by Vincent van Gogh, along with work by his contemporaries and his collection of Japanese prints. The letters make the museum special: they show how Van Gogh wrote about colour, technique and his own doubts, and they are used in the galleries next to the paintings. The chronological layout, from the dark years in Nuenen to the last months in Auvers-sur-Oise, makes the museum easy to follow, even on a first visit.
Stedelijk Museum
The Stedelijk Museum was founded in 1874 and moved into its own building on Paulus Potterstraat in 1895. It is the city's museum for modern and contemporary art and design. After a long renovation it reopened on 23 September 2012 with a new wing by Benthem Crouwel Architects. The smooth white extension facing Museumplein was soon nicknamed the bathtub.
The collection runs from Malevich, Mondrian and the Cobra painters to installations, video and graphic design. The attention to design, from posters to furniture, sets the Stedelijk apart from its two neighbours. Anyone interested in Dutch design will find a large part of its history here, a subject explored further in the section on design and media art.
Moco and the rest of the square
The square is also home to the Moco Museum, a private museum of modern and contemporary art aimed explicitly at a young and broad audience. The Concertgebouw stands on the south side, and in summer the lawn itself is a place to sit for a while between two museums.
Practical matters
The three major museums sell tickets for fixed time slots, bought online in advance. On busy summer days and during school holidays the morning slots at the Van Gogh Museum tend to sell out first. The Museumkaart gives access to most Dutch museums, but a time slot is still required at these three.
Two museums in one day is quite manageable; three is too much for most visitors. A sensible order is the Rijksmuseum in the morning, lunch nearby and then the Van Gogh Museum or the Stedelijk. Trams 2 and 12 stop at Museumplein, and from Centraal Station the walk through the canal ring takes about half an hour.
With time to spare after Museumplein, the museums in the old centre, such as the Rembrandt House and the H'ART Museum on the Amstel, are the next step. They are described in the article on museums in the city centre.