The Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is a Netherlands national museum dedicated to arts and history in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square very close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Sedelijk Museum and the Concertgebouw.

The museum was founded in The Hague in 1800 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808 where it was first located in the Royal Palace and later in the Trippenhuis. The current main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened its doors in 1885. On April 13, 2013, after a ten-year renovation which cost €375 million, the main building was reopened. In 2013, it was the most visited museum in the Netherlands with a record of 2.2 million visitors.

The museum has on display 8,000 objects of art and history, from their total collection on 1 million objects from the years 1200-2000 among which are some masterpieces by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer.

I visited the Rijksmuseum on Monday the 13th of October and really enjoyed my experience. I had pre-purchased my ticket online and the hostel printed it for me. The museum is not part of the I amsterdam card but I believe it to be worth the full price of admission in order to see the beautiful works on display such as the Night Watch by Rembrandt and the Milkmaid by Vermeer.

The museum is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. The museum is free to those 18 and under but for adults it costs €17.50. The busiest hours are 11am-2pm. It's best to plan your visit around these times to avoid the crowds.