Waiting times at the main attractions in Amsterdam 2024

Waiting times in Amsterdam | More and more tourists are coming to Amsterdam every year. With the boom in low-cost airlines and the ever-growing number of cruise ships, the number of guests is constantly increasing and the flow of visitors continues unabated.

In contrast to Paris, Rome, or even Barcelona, Amsterdam is a more miniature metropolis and, for this reason alone, has fewer sights than the French capital, the ancient centre of Italy, or the Catalan Mediterranean metropolis.

This is not the only reason there are always huge crowds of tourists in front of Amsterdam’s main sights. Amsterdam is a must-see destination for city travellers with its world-famous museums, beautiful canals, beautiful parks, and the hip Jordaan district. Unfortunately, much of it is overrun by visitors, and you waste a lot of unnecessary time in the long queues in front of the top attractions instead of strolling around the Jordaan district in the 9 straatjes and tasting delicious poffertjes or Bitterballen in the typical eateries.

✅ Of course, you should take advantage of your trip to Amsterdam. That’s why I’ll explain how you can avoid waiting times better to plan your stay in this unique canal city.

Waiting times at the 5 most visited sights in Amsterdam

Waiting times at the Anne Frank House

The Anne Frank House is a museum in memory of the Jewish girl Anne Frank, who wrote her world-famous diary here during the Second World War. It houses the secret hiding place behind the bookshelf where the Frank family tried to protect themselves from persecution by the National Socialists. The museum shows the life of Anne Frank in a world of persecution and racial discrimination. The original diary is on display here, along with other notes and manuscripts by Anne Frank.

Around 1.2 million people visit the building every year. In the past, waiting times to gain access have often been more than 2 or 3 hours, even in the heat of summer and the cold of winter. An often appalling situation for visitors and residents of neighbouring buildings.

The museum has, therefore, changed its ticket sales system in 2018. Tickets will no longer be sold on-site. Visits are only possible with pre-purchased online tickets. Tickets are offered approximately one month in advance via the museum’s website. You choose an available time slot to enter the building and are then given immediate access to the exhibition rooms without any waiting time. The length of stay in the Anne Frank House is unlimited.

Here is the link to the corresponding ticket page of the Anne Frank House Amsterdam. Otherwise, you can find all the essential information in my article Anne Frank House admission prices.

Tickets cost €16.00 for adults, young people aged 10 to 17 pay €7.00, and children up to 9 income €1.00.

✅ If you were unable to purchase a ticket and would still like to know more about Anne Frank and life in her surroundings at the time, you can join a 2-hour Anne Frank history tour, which is also available in German. The tour does not include admission to the Anne Frank House.

Waiting times at the Van Gogh Museum

The breathtaking Van Gogh Museum is dedicated to one of the Netherlands’ most famous painters. It exhibits the world’s most extensive collection of his paintings and drawings. The Van Gogh Museum attracts around 1.6 million visitors a year.

The exhibition building is open to visitors all year round, daily from 09:00. Closing times depend on the time of year, varying between 17:00 in January, February, November, and December, 18:00 from March to June, and in September and October, as well as extended opening hours until 19:00 in the summer months of July and August, and between Christmas and New Year.

Traditionally, the museum is always open on Fridays until 9 p.m. all year round. This closing time also applies on Saturdays in July and August and at the end of December. The exact opening hours for the public holidays at the end of the year can also be found on the Van Gogh Museum opening hours page.

According to the museum, the average time spent in the Van Gogh Museum is 1 hour and 15 minutes. However, many visitors stay in the exhibition for over 2 hours. The time with the highest number of visitors is between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

Towards the evening, however, the best time is probably 17:00, although you should try to take advantage of the long Friday admission times. Nevertheless, there is always a lot going on, but the queues may be shorter for those who arrive without tickets.

In principle, the Van Gogh Museum only offers online tickets, with a predetermined time slot for access without waiting times. You choose a date and time in advance when you want to start your visit, receive confirmation by email, and can show your ticket at the entrance in printed form or on your smartphone.

This is the only way to avoid waiting times. Please consider the problem of queues, as online ticket holders always have priority entry! An hour or two of your stay in Amsterdam is often quickly lost. It’s best to get an online ticket right here.

✅ Further information on admission prices can be found on the Van Gogh Museum admission prices page.

Waiting times at the Rijksmuseum

With over 8,000 exhibits, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is the largest museum in the Netherlands. Over 2 million visitors come to admire the masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and many other artists from the 17th century, the heyday of Dutch painting. The world-famous paintings The Night Watch by Rembrandt and The Milkmaid by Jan Vermeer hang here.

To cope with the rush of visitors, the museum already grants access all year round. The daily opening hours are from 9:00 to 17:00, including weekends and public holidays.

The fewest visitors come from Monday to Thursday at 9:00 am and around 3:00 pm when opening. There are always long queues at the ticket counters, especially on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. However, online ticket holders can avoid the lines at the ticket offices as they always enjoy priority entry.

Online tickets for the Rijksmuseum are usually so-called open tickets, meaning that they can be used after purchase on any day and at any time during opening hours. If you are planning to visit the Rijksmuseum during your trip to Amsterdam, you should get a ticket in advance. Currently, however, only tickets with a time slot are on sale!

Waiting times of over 1 or 2 hours are otherwise not uncommon here either. Online tickets are not more expensive than tickets on-site and have a validity of one year.

Persons under the age of 18 have free admission to the museum. However, they must still book a ticket and show it at the entrance. Obtaining this ticket is free of charge but must also be done online in advance. With a pre-purchased access card, you can bypass the queue and go directly to the entrance for e-ticket holders.

✅ Under the heading Rijksmuseum, you will find all the information about the Rijksmuseum, including opening hours and admission prices.

Waiting times for the canal cruises

Amsterdam has 165 canals, of which about 80 kilometres are navigable waterways. The Dutch capital is famous for its city canals. I don’t know any Amsterdam visitor who has never taken a canal trip to experience the city of Amsterdam from the water.

There are countless canal cruises, from the classic 1-hour tour, a hip pizza boat trip including drinks, to romantic evening tours by candlelight. In principle, the range of canal cruises can keep up with tourist demand. Reservations are not possible for day trips. Only the annoying wait at ticket counters can be avoided by purchasing a ticket in advance. Of course, there may be delays when boarding the boat, as the capacity of the canal boats is understandably limited.

Most canal cruises start at one of the landing stages directly in front of the central station. The frequency of the day tours is high. However, I still recommend buying a ticket in advance, as every minute of unnecessary queuing is time wasted to discover many more exciting things about this unique city.

The tours are an experience in any weather, but on a warm summer’s day at the weekend with numerous day-trippers, places in the boats can become scarce. There are no restrictions on the date or time of use for tickets purchased in advance. You can find all tickets & offers under the heading Canal Cruises.

Waiting times at the Heineken Experience

An admission ticket to the former Heineken brewery buys you an interactive tour through the history of the beer giant. At the end of the time, which should last between 1.5 and 2 hours, there is a beer tasting for adults and soft drinks for under 18s.

✅ On December 24 and 31, the Heineken Experience closes at 16:00. Last admission is at 14:00.

However, waiting times for visitors without pre-purchased online tickets not only mean queues at the ticket counters but also a time buffer to get access before the last admission. You should, therefore, arrive very early to experience the Heineken Experience safely.

Here, too, the best solution to avoid unnecessary waiting times is to get tickets online with a fixed date and time to enter the museum. It is also best to book your tickets directly here.

Persons under 18 may only take a tour in the presence of an accompanying adult. The tasting of Heineken beer following the interactive experience is only permitted for people over 18. Persons under 18 will receive a soft drink or water instead.

Where else do you have to wait in Amsterdam?

In my list of the most highly recommended online tickets for attractions in Amsterdam, visits to Madame Tussauds Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Dungeon are at the top. Due to their central location in the city centre, waiting times can sometimes be a surprise on a rainy day.

Children, in particular, are less likely to enjoy waiting unnecessarily. Tickets purchased in advance can be used freely regardless of date and time and allow priority access. Tickets are also available under Madame Tussauds and Dungeon.

✅ Tip: It’s best to book the combined ticket for Madame Tussauds & Dungeon immediately!

Reduce waiting times in Amsterdam – Tips and advice

With a ticket for the Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour, you can get from one attraction to another quickly. In combination with a pre-booked online ticket for the respective attraction, it is much quicker than waiting for the next streetcar and queuing at the ticket office for a ticket.

If you want to save even more time and money, it is best to buy a suitable combination ticket in advance on the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour pages.

Canal cruises and many attractions can also be booked as a combination. This also saves time, as you don’t have to buy each admission separately. Find out more under the heading Canal Cruises in Tickets & Offers.

Above all, you can travel through Amsterdam on a pedal boat without any stress or waiting times. This gives you a different perspective of the canals. More for the experienced. Tickets.

Amsterdam City Cards can also save you time. With these discount cards, you can buy access to at least two of the city’s top attractions with priority entry in advance. This is a slightly more expensive but quicker solution, as you have already booked several admissions in advance without queuing. Find out more in Amsterdam Passes.

✅ Central parking spaces can be found under Parking in Amsterdam or directly via Mobypark.

Waiting times at the Keukenhof in Lisse

Keukenhof is very busy during the main flowering period of the famous Dutch tulips in mid/late April. During this year’s opening period from March 23 to May 14, 2023, well over 1,000,000 visitors from all over the world flock to the world-famous gardens just outside Amsterdam.

Important: To avoid the long queues at the box office, pre-booked tickets are typically almost indispensable here too. For this reason, tickets are currently only being sold online. However, waiting times could arise not only when purchasing tickets on-site but also due to possible traffic jams on the access routes. You can find out how best to avoid all this in my articles on Keukenhof in the Top Attractions section of this blog.

Conclusion on waiting times in Amsterdam

I hope I have helped you with this article and given you a good overview of the problem of waiting times. Remember that Amsterdam is one of Europe’s tourist destinations, and the city is entirely overcrowded with visitors in summer.

✅ A summary of online tickets, from the most urgently recommended to the less urgently recommended and others, can be found again in detail in the separate article, Amsterdam Online Tickets.

*All prices quoted are always subject to change. In principle, the current fee of the respective provider applies.