The 5 Unmissable Art Museums in the Netherlands
· by Federico Cassani · Updated
The five Dutch art museums we would not skip are the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Mauritshuis and Panorama Mesdag in The Hague, and the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. The two Amsterdam museums are the busiest in the country, with about 2.3 million and 1.9 million visitors in 2025. The other three are smaller, quieter and an hour or less from Amsterdam by train, and together the five cover Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh and a 360-degree painting you stand inside.
Come rain or shine, a museum fits into almost every trip to the Netherlands. Here is what each of these five is best for, and what to know before you go.
| Museum | City | Best for | Open |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rijksmuseum | Amsterdam | Rembrandt, Vermeer and Dutch history | Daily 09:00 to 17:00 |
| Van Gogh Museum | Amsterdam | The world’s largest collection of Van Gogh’s work | Timed tickets online |
| Mauritshuis | The Hague | Girl with a Pearl Earring and Golden Age masterpieces | Monday 13:00 to 18:00, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00 |
| Panorama Mesdag | The Hague | A 360-degree painting of Scheveningen in 1881 | Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00 |
| Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen | Rotterdam | Looking inside a working art storage | Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00 |
1. Why is the Rijksmuseum the one museum to see?
Because no other museum tells the story of Dutch art and history as well. The national museum was founded in 1800, first opened in The Hague, and moved into its present building in Amsterdam, designed by Pierre Cuypers, in 1885. Inside are the great Dutch masters, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Frans Hals among them, alongside ship models, Delftware, dolls’ houses and objects from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The long restoration of Rembrandt’s Night Watch is still in progress. It was the most visited museum in the Netherlands in 2025, with about 2.3 million visitors.
An adult ticket costs €25 (€26.50 from 2027), and visitors aged 18 and under go free. The museum is open every day from 09:00 to 17:00, including public holidays.
2. What will you see at the Van Gogh Museum?
The world’s largest collection of Vincent van Gogh’s work, hung so that you follow his life from the dark early paintings to the bright work of his last years in France. The highlights include The Potato Eaters (1885), The Bedroom (1888) and Sunflowers (1889), and the letters to his brother Theo explain much of what you see. With about 1.9 million visitors in 2025 it is the second most visited museum in the country, so book a timed ticket online; an adult ticket costs about €25.
3. Why travel to The Hague for the Mauritshuis?
Because it is the best small museum in the Netherlands: about two hours is enough, and almost every painting is a masterpiece. The 17th-century house beside the Binnenhof was built for Johan Maurits, governor of the Dutch colony in Brazil, and the collection began as that of stadtholder William V. It holds Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, Fabritius’s The Goldfinch, Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp and Paulus Potter’s The Bull.
This winter the museum is in the middle of an exchange with the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid. Girl with a Pearl Earring has been back on view since 5 October 2026, but Vermeer’s View of Delft is in Madrid until 10 January 2027, and the Mauritshuis shows 25 works from the Thyssen collection until 17 January 2027. If one painting is your reason to go, check its page on the museum’s website first. Visitors under 19 go free.
4. What makes Panorama Mesdag unique?
You stand on a dune in the middle of a circular painting and look out over the sea, the beach and the fishing village of Scheveningen as they were in 1881. Hendrik Willem Mesdag painted it, and the trick still works: within a minute you forget the edge of the canvas. The museum also shows paintings by Mesdag and his wife, Sientje Mesdag-van Houten. It is about 15 minutes’ walk from the Mauritshuis and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00, so the two fit into one day in The Hague.
5. What is the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen?
The world’s first publicly accessible art storage facility, in the museum’s own words. The mirrored, bowl-shaped building in Rotterdam’s Museumpark keeps more than 155,000 objects in fourteen storage compartments, and you walk past racks of paintings and look into the restoration studios rather than through a curated exhibition. The roof terrace, almost 40 metres up, has one of the best views of the city. The Depot is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 17:00, and you can only get in with an online ticket for a time slot (up to €20). The main museum building next door is closed for renovation and is not expected to reopen before 2029.
Sources: Rijksmuseum, Mauritshuis, Panorama Mesdag, Boijmans Van Beuningen, visitor figures from The Art Newspaper (March 2026), checked October 2026.
How do you plan these museums into one trip?
Give Amsterdam’s two museums separate half days; doing both on one day is tiring. The Mauritshuis and Panorama Mesdag fit together into one day in The Hague, and the Depot fits into an afternoon in Rotterdam, after the plan in our post on what to do in Rotterdam in one day. Most of the busy museums work with time slots, so book online, even with a museum pass.
If you plan four or more paid museums, the Museumkaart usually pays for itself. Our post on the Dutch museum card does the sums. For the cities themselves, see our destination pages for Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam.
Frequently asked questions
Which museum should I choose if I only have time for one?
The Rijksmuseum, for its range: Rembrandt, Vermeer and the whole of Dutch history in one building. If Van Gogh is the reason for your trip, choose the Van Gogh Museum instead. If you want masterpieces without the crowds, go to the Mauritshuis.
Do I need to book a time slot?
For the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Mauritshuis, yes: book online, also with a Museumkaart. The Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen only admits visitors with an online ticket for a time slot.
Which of these museums are open on Mondays?
The Rijksmuseum is open every day, and the Mauritshuis opens at 13:00 on Mondays. Panorama Mesdag and the Depot are closed on Mondays.
Where can I see paintings by Vermeer?
In the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Mauritshuis in The Hague. Girl with a Pearl Earring is on view in the Mauritshuis; View of Delft is in Madrid until 10 January 2027 and returns to The Hague after that.
Is the Museumkaart valid at these museums?
The Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Mauritshuis all accept it, with a time slot booked online. Read our post on the Museumkaart for what it costs and when it pays for itself.
