Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands, at Museumstraat 1 on the south side of Amsterdam's Museumplein, immediately next to the Van Gogh Museum. It puts roughly 8,000 objects on permanent display and uses them to tell 800 years of Dutch art and history, from the Middle Ages through to Mondrian. Two parts of the site cost nothing and are worth knowing about before you buy anything. And the gardens that wrap around the museum are free to enter. Daily 09:00–17:00. Open every day of the year, including all public holidays; there are no regular closure days. A start time must be booked.

The Gallery of Honour is the spine of the second floor: an extended corridor with masterpieces of the seventeenth century set into side alcoves, cast-iron beams inscribed with the names of the painters of the age, and the coats of arms of the eleven provinces and their capitals above. At its end is the Night Watch Gallery. Around that spine, Vermeer's Milkmaid, Frans Hals, Jan Steen's Merry Family, Jan Asselijn's Threatened Swan and Rembrandt's portrait of Marten Soolmans. Open every day of the year, including all public holidays; there are no regular closure days. A start time must be booked.

The museum does not publish a recommended visit length, but it gives two useful markers. Its own advice to visitors who are short of time is that the highlights can be seen in about an hour, and the guided highlights tour it runs daily, The Best of the Rijksmuseum, is timetabled at one hour and costs 7.50 euro per person on top of admission, for ages sixteen and over. Take those as the floor rather than the target. Standard adult admission is €25. Admission is free for visitors aged 18 and under.

The Rijksmuseum opens every day of the year from 09:00 to 17:00, including all public holidays. There is no weekly closing day, and there is no midday break. On crowding the museum is specific: it is usually quieter before 11:00 and after 15:30, and the relatively quiet days are Tuesday and Wednesday. Daily 09:00–17:00. The entire museum is accessible to wheelchair and mobility-scooter users. The step-free entrance has a lift and is on the left when facing away from Museumplein; security staff operate the lift. Lifts serve all floors. Wheelchair-accessible restrooms with low sinks are available.

Admission is 25 euro for an adult and free for anyone aged eighteen or under. It is also free for Friends of the Rijksmuseum and for holders of the Museumkaart, the I amsterdam City Card, ICOM, the Amsterdamse Stadspas, Vereniging Rembrandt, KOG, VVAK and the VriendenLoterij VIP-KAART. Both figures are printed here rather than averaged. Standard adult admission is €25. Admission is free for visitors aged 18 and under. The entire museum is accessible to wheelchair and mobility-scooter users. The step-free entrance has a lift and is on the left when facing away from Museumplein; security staff operate the lift.

The address is Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX Amsterdam, telephone +31 20 6747 000. No car is needed and the museum advises against one, pointing to high parking fees and heavy traffic in the centre. Public transport is what it recommends. The address is Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX Amsterdam. Metro line 52 runs from Amsterdam Zuid and Amsterdam Central to Vijzelgracht, followed by a walk of under 10 minutes. From P+R ArenA, take the metro to Weesperplein and tram 7 to Spiegelgracht. From P+R Zeeburg, take tram 26 to Rietlandpark, change to tram 7 and alight at Spiegelgracht. Cars cannot reach the entrance; the designated drop-off point is about 100 metres away at Jan Luijkenstraat and Stadhouderskade.

The bag rule catches people out. Only handbags up to A4 size may be carried into the galleries; backpacks and oversized handbags are not allowed, and umbrellas and larger bags go into the free supervised cloakroom. If you need to bring a bag in for medical reasons, the information desk issues a label for security. The entire museum is accessible to wheelchair and mobility-scooter users. Lifts serve all floors. Wheelchair-accessible restrooms with low sinks are available. Wheelchairs, walking frames, walking sticks, strollers and folding chairs can be borrowed at the information desk.

Photography is allowed inside for visitors, with two conditions the museum states directly: no flash, and consideration for the people around you. Sketching is allowed too, in pencil and on paper only. What the museum's English visitor pages do not say is anything about tripods, monopods or commercial and press shoots, so if you need any of those, ask the information desk or the press office rather than assuming. Wheelchair-accessible restrooms with low sinks are available. Wheelchairs, walking frames, walking sticks, strollers and folding chairs can be borrowed at the information desk.