The Rijksmuseum holds a million objects, The Night Watch and Vermeer's Milkmaid, in a Gothic-Renaissance palace by Pierre Cuypers that reopened in 2013 after almost ten years of renovation. Around it on Museumplein stand the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk and the Concertgebouw. Here is the guide.
In this story · 5 sections
The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands, on Museumplein in Amsterdam. Its collection of one million objects, dating from 1200 to 2000, includes Rembrandt's The Night Watch, Vermeer's The Milkmaid and works by Frans Hals, with about 8,000 on display. In 2023 the museum had 2,702,824 visitors. Around the same square stand the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Royal Concertgebouw.
Rijksmuseum
Museum · Museumplein
- Address
- Museumstraat 1, Amsterdam
- Objects
- 1 million (about 8,000 on display)
- Visitors 2023
- 2,702,824
- 1800
- Opens in The Hague
- 1808
- Moves to Amsterdam
- 1885
- Cuypers' building opens
- 2003–2013
- Renovation by Cruz y Ortiz
Rembrandt, Vermeer and Frans Hals in Pierre Cuypers' building from 1885.
01From The Hague to Pierre Cuypers' palace
The government decided to found a national museum on 19 November 1798, and the National Art Gallery opened in The Hague on 31 May 1800. In 1808 it moved to Amsterdam, first to the Royal Palace on Dam Square and then, in 1817, to the Trippenhuis. Its permanent home, designed by Pierre Cuypers, opened on 13 July 1885. The central passage under the building is also used as a cycle tunnel – one of the few museums in the world you can ride through.
02The ten-year renovation and the 2013 reopening
The main building closed on 7 December 2003 for a renovation designed by the Spanish architects Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz. It took almost ten years and cost €375 million, and Queen Beatrix reopened the museum on 13 April 2013. A new sculpture garden with three pavilions and works by Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti and Louise Bourgeois was announced in January 2026, with opening planned for autumn 2026.
03The Night Watch, The Milkmaid and Frans Hals
The museum's first floor is built around the Gallery of Honour, and at the end of the Hall of Fame hangs Rembrandt's The Night Watch of 1642 in its own room. Vermeer's The Milkmaid, painted around 1657–58, is among the collection's most famous works; the Rijksmuseum's 2023 Vermeer exhibition brought together 28 of the 37 known paintings by the artist. Frans Hals is represented by works including Portrait of a Young Couple (1622) and The Meagre Company, completed with Pieter Codde.
04Museumplein – Van Gogh, the Stedelijk and the Concertgebouw
Behind the Rijksmuseum, Museumplein is lined with the city's other great cultural institutions: the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam for modern and contemporary art and design, and the Royal Concertgebouw concert hall. Together they make Amsterdam's museum quarter, a short walk south of the canal ring.
05How to plan a day on Museumplein
Book timed tickets for the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum in advance, start with the Rijksmuseum when it opens and head straight for the Night Watch Room, and keep the afternoon for the Van Gogh Museum or the Stedelijk. End with a concert at the Concertgebouw. Read Metro Mode's Amsterdam guide (in Swedish), browse Metro Mode Travel, and find more city guides among metromode.co's destinations.
