No visit to Amsterdam is complete without checking out the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum. Even if you aren’t a big Van Gogh fan, you’re sure to become fascinated with the world’s largest collection of the legend’s paintings, drawings, and letters.
For those interested in Dutch history and culture, you have to explore Rijksmuseum, where you’ll also see a bit of Van Gogh, along with masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and other notable Dutch artists.
Why not explore both in one go, with one of these top Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum guided tours? These are expertly-organized, with knowledgeable guides who will show you around but also give you more of an insider perspective with facts you won’t learn about in school!
Be sure to see our reviews of Canal Cruises, Red Light District Tours and Dinner Cruises.
Best Tours of the Van Gogh Museum & Rijksmuseum
| Van Gogh Museum & Rijksmuseum: Timed Entrance & Guided Tour | Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum Tour with Expert Guide | Van Gogh Museum - Exclusive Guided Museum Tour (Reserved Entry Included!) | |
|---|---|---|---|
Best Combination Tour | Best Private Tour | Best Guided Tour | |
 | |||
 |  |  | |
| Departure: | Hobbemastraat 18, 1071 ZB Amsterdam | Hobbemastraat 18, 1071 ZB Amsterdam | Hobbemastraat 18, 1071 ZB Amsterdam |
| Start: | 10:00 AM | 10:00 AM, 1:30 PM | 10:00 AM, 1:30 PM |
| Duration: | 5 to 5.5 hours | 2 to 2.5 hours | 2.5 hours |
| Includes: | Van Gogh Museum skip-the-line ticket, Rijksmuseum skip-the-line ticket, Tour guide | Timed entry ticket to the Rijksmuseum permanent collection, Professional art historian/guide, Walking tour, Museum guided tour | Exclusive Guided Museum Tour (Reserved Entry Included!),Tour Guide Exclusively For You (Does NOT apply if you choose "SAVE! BOOK SEMI-PRIVATE" option), all entry fees |
Quick Answer: The 5 Best Rated Van Gogh & Rijksmuseum Tours For 2024
- Van Gogh Museum & Rijksmuseum: Timed Entrance & Guided Tour
- Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum Tour with Expert Guide
- Van Gogh Museum – Exclusive Guided Museum Tour (Reserved Entry Included!)
- Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum Tour including Entry Ticket
- Skip-the-line Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Guided Museum Tour – Semi-Private 8ppl Max
Van Gogh Museum & Rijksmuseum Tour Reviews
1. Van Gogh Museum & Rijksmuseum: Timed Entrance & Guided Tour
- Duration: 5 to 5.5 hours
- Departure: Hobbemastraat 18, 1071 ZB Amsterdam
- Departure Time: 10:00 AM
- Includes: Van Gogh Museum skip-the-line ticket, Rijksmuseum skip-the-line ticket, Tour guide
Listen, there are plenty of tours you can take through these two museums, but if you want one of the best in-depth options, we can’t recommend our first tour enough.
The Van Gogh Museum & Rijksmuseum: Timed Entrance & Guided Tour will show you some of the world’s most renowned pieces of art, as well as the history behind them and the Netherlands throughout the years.
As these are some of the most popular museums in the country, you can expect a long line, which you’ll get to skip today.
Meet up with your guide, who knows all about the museums and will start things off with a backstory of the area. Go through an exciting history lesson on art in general, as well as Dutch civilization and how it changed over the centuries.
We appreciated how chronological everything was, making the content much easier to consume and build upon as you go through each exhibition. You’ll get to see the most famous artwork throughout the Dutch Golden age, from some of the most well-known artists from the 18th and 19th centuries.
However, you won’t just cruise by them – rather, your guide will give background to each, including the techniques used, their cultural significance, and more interesting facts. Should you have any questions about anything, your small group size makes it easy to ask your guide.
The only thing that we weren’t completely satisfied with, was that the special Rembrandt exhibition at the Rijksmuseum wasn’t included, however, you can usually purchase tickets separately.
More Information & Tour Booking
100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience
Other Experiences You May Enjoy:
2. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum Tour with Expert Guide
- Duration: 2 to 2.5 hours
- Departure: Hobbemastraat 18, 1071 ZB Amsterdam
- Departure Time: 10:00 AM, 1:30 PM
- Includes: Timed entry ticket to the Rijksmuseum permanent collection, Professional art historian/guide, Walking tour, Museum guided tour
While the first tour is one of the most popular, there are some guests who need something shorter due to a busy schedule. If that sounds like you, you’re sure to love the Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum Tour with Expert Guide!
Learn about some of the most respected collections on the planet while learning a lot, seeing a lot, and having tons of fun! Clocking in at 2 to 2.5 hours and with various start times available, you’ll be able to practically choose the exact time that you’d like to have your tour.
We have to mention that this is definitely a tour geared more towards first-time visitors rather than those who want to know every detail, offering a good overview of all that the 2 museums have to offer.
You’ll spend a good amount of time walking through the Dutch Golden Age, along with some of its most timeless pieces and collections by Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh.
Holland has quite the interesting cultural and political background, which were greatly reflected in national artwork – learn about the history behind them all, as well as their significance.
As the tour is limited to a maximum of 10 adults, you’ll have time to explore around as you wish, and ask your guide any questions you may have. These major European art museums have to be seen to believed, and your guide will help give useful insight to the wonders they hold.
If you want to experience the Dutch Golden Age with an enthusiastic, expert guide, then this is certainly a fantastic option.
More Information & Tour Booking
100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience
3. Van Gogh Museum – Exclusive Guided Museum Tour (Reserved Entry Included!)
- Duration: 2.5 hours
- Departure: Hobbemastraat 18, 1071 ZB Amsterdam
- Departure Time: 10:00 AM, 1:30 PM
- Includes: Exclusive Guided Museum Tour (Reserved Entry Included!),Tour Guide Exclusively For You (Does NOT apply if you choose “SAVE! BOOK SEMI-PRIVATE” option), all entry fees
Just like the previous excursion, this tour is 2.5 hours full of venturing through the masterpiece-adorned halls of both iconic museums. The Van Gogh Museum – Exclusive Guided Museum Tour (Reserved Entry Included!) gives you more perspective into Van Gogh’s turbulent life and unique artistry, while also illuminating Dutch culture and art.
However, you’ll feel like the VIP you are with the personalized commentary and private guide to tailor your tour to your specific interests.
Meet outside the Cobra Cafe, where you’ll meet your friendly guide right across from the Rijksmuseum, where you’ll kick off your exclusive tour. Skip the massive lines and cruise right into the museum, so you can spend all your time actually inside!
At the start, you’ll encounter some of the world’s most renowned pieces, such as ‘The Milkmaid’ by Vermeer, ‘Self-Portrait’ by Van Gogh, ‘The Merry Family’ by Jan Steen, and ‘Night Watch’ by Rembrandt.
Long story short, this museum is the Gold Standard of Dutch art, with a wide array of national treasures that can seem intimidating without your helpful guide to escort you in a specially-curated tour.
We recommend everyone spend some time in the Great Hall, which is really a piece of art, itself! Enormous wall paintings, beautiful stained glass windows of Dutch artists, and the incredible ceilings.
Then, you’ll get insight into the maestro that is Van Gogh, learning more about the way his mind worked and the struggles he dealt with. You’ll also learn about his development as an artist, working through his very different earlier pieces to his last paintings. For some serious inspiration, we find this tour to be perfect!
More Information & Tour Booking
100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience
4. Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum Tour including Entry Ticket
- Duration: 2 to 2.5 hours
- Departure: Hobbemastraat 18, 1071 ZB Amsterdam
- Departure Time: 10:00 AM, 1:30 PM
- Includes: Timed entrance, Professional local tour guide, Entrance fee, Wheelchair tours only on request
Lasting around 2 to 2.5 hours, this crash course in the artist’s life, mind, and talent is a must while in the European capital! We found the guides for this tour to be some of the most knowledgeable and organized in the city, with excellent English skills and the ability to entertain a group.
Meet up with them and skip the line (which always seems to be there!) so you can head straight inside. The guides are great at answering questions and painting the artist’s story in a way that really makes sense and gives insight to his artwork.
Whether you already have a great appreciation for Van Gogh or are an absolute newbie, you’ll stay engaged and learn about his genius. The tour starts out with Van Gogh’s earliest work, which is notably darker than his later pieces, such as the vibrant French period and the paintings right before his death.
We also appreciated that their collection includes works by Gauguin, Monet, and other famous artists who were inspired by him.
Whether you’d like to come with a partner, with a group of friends, or the whole family, you need to consider this tour! It does have a cap of 8 participants, which means that you’ll get to see more, hear everything your guide says, and experience a tour with a personal touch.
You’d think that the guides knew Vincent, himself, as it seems like there’s pretty much nothing about the legendary artist that they don’t know!
More Information & Tour Booking
100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience
5. Skip-the-line Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Guided Museum Tour – Semi-Private 8ppl Max
- Duration: 2.5 hours
- Departure: Hobbemastraat 18, 1071 ZB Amsterdam
- Departure Time: 10:00 AM
- Includes: Skip-The-Line Semi-Private Museum Tour, Semi-Private” Means Group Size Is Never More Than 8 Guests Maximum, Professional Tour Guide, All Entrance Fees
If you thought you knew everything about Holland, we guarantee you’ll learn something new on this next tour. The Skip-the-Line Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Guided Museum Tour – Semi-Private 8ppl Max is another private, small-group tour where you’ll get personalized attention from your professional guide.
This is one of the most well-reputed museum in all of Europe, and having a friend who happens to be an expert on the subject will really elevate the museum experience.
As you could probably deduce from the name of the tour, you’ll get to skip the line here, too. I mean, we have the Dutch “Louvre” to see – we don’t have time for queuing!
Even if you don’t think you’re particularly interested in Dutch history over the centuries, trust us – you will be just as enthralled as the next person. Dutch culture is varied, rich, vibrant, and is perfectly captured in its period pieces from names like Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Van Gogh.
You’ll learn all about the wide array of various paintings and artifacts totalling to over 8,000 pieces – not to mention, you can browse around the beautiful 19th-century library holding art of a different kind.
We really found the 17th-century dollhouses, ceramics, and globes to be intriguing, aside from the obvious masterpieces by the majors. This museum is quite massive, and can be intimidating, but with your guide you’ll be able to tackle it with grace and confidence!
You’ll learn more than you could imagine in these couple of hours, with the guide going off pure knowledge and their specific group rather than a cookie-cutter script. Their knowledge about art, art history, and the capital city altogether really amplified our experience and will ensure we return soon!
More Information & Tour Booking
100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience
History of the Museums
Rijksmuseum – Founded in The Hague in 1798 and later moved to Amsterdam 10 years later, this national museum is dedicated specifically to Dutch art and history.
It took over a whopping 200 years to build the Rijksmuseum, and it wasn’t always as opulent as it is today. It had rather modest beginnings, and in the 17th-century, didn’t even hold paintings by Rembrandt, Steen, Vermeer, and other artists at the head of this era’s movement.
Moving into the 1800s, there were various rebuilds, renovations, and additions – the latest being in 2014, when they started reconstructing and moving around pieces of art.
Today, Rijksmuseum holds over an impressive 1 million objects (approx. 8,000 on display) that cover arts, history, and other types of crafts ranging from the years 1200 to 2000.
Van Gogh Museum – Opened in 1973, the Van Gogh Museum is comprised of 2 buildings with a progressive architecture style. The geometric space contrasts quite interestingly against the vivid and sometimes-delicate Van Gogh works.
Did you know that the original bulk of the museum’s collection was actually that of Theo Van Gogh – Vincent’s little brother? Later on, the collection was added on to with pieces the museum purchased and/or receieved through donation.
Today, it contains the largest collection of the artist’s paintings and drawings on the planet and is the most visited museum in the entire country.
Famous Works in the Rijksmuseum:
- ‘The Night Watch’ by Rembrandt, 1642
- ‘The Little Street’ Johannes Vermeer, 1658
- ‘The Milkmaid’ Johannes Vermeer, 1658
- ‘The Jewish Bride’, Rembrandt
- ‘Threatened Swan’, Jan Asselijn
- ‘The Battle of Waterloo’, Jan Willem Pieneman
Famous Works in the Van Gogh Museum:
- ‘The Potato Eaters’, Vincent van Gogh, 1885
- ‘Women on the Peat Moor’, 1883
- ‘Sunflowers’, 1889
- ‘Almond Blossom’, 1890
- ‘Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat’, 1887
- ‘Self-Portrait as a Painter’, 1887 – 1888
Artwork Seen
Museum Guides
Value
The Van Gogh Museum & Rijksmuseum: Timed Entrance & Guided Tour is our Editors Choice for the best guided tours of each museum.
