We arrived in Amsterdam at 9:30 AM yesterday and somehow immediately launched into a museum marathon. We arrived exhausted and underfed, but completely in love with this city.
Our first stop was the Rijksmuseum, where we learned an important travel lesson: buy tickets only through the official website. I accidentally bought ours through a very convincing “.org” site and paid almost double. Apparently, this is a thing here because many of the major museums sell out in advance. Consider yourselves warned.
The museum itself absolutely lived up to the hype. The Rijksmuseum is basically the crown jewel of Dutch art and history, filled with masterpieces from the Dutch Golden Age, including Rembrandt’s The Night Watch and Vermeer’s The Milkmaid. Josephine especially loved the Rembrandts. Honestly, standing in front of The Night Watch is one of those moments where you understand why certain paintings become world-famous. It’s enormous, dramatic, chaotic, and somehow still feels modern almost 400 years later. They’re even restoring it publicly right now through something called “Operation Night Watch,” so you can actually watch conservators working on it behind glass while you walk through the gallery.
We also visited the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam’s modern and contemporary art museum. It was definitely more abstract and experimental — the kind of place where some people are inspired and others stare at an installation thinking, “Wait, is this the art?” Josephine was not fully sold. I thought it was fascinating.
Lunch on day one was sandwiches from Cora. Josephine hated them. We would still recommend it.
Today we somehow squeezed in four more museums.
Our Lord in the Attic may have been the biggest surprise of the trip so far. From the outside it just looks like a narrow canal house, but hidden inside is an entire secret Catholic Church built into the attic during a time when Catholics weren’t allowed to worship publicly. It was way cooler than expected and one of those places that makes Amsterdam’s history feel incredibly alive.
The Maritime Museum was also fantastic, especially with kids. The replica Dutch East India Company ship alone is worth visiting — you can climb all over it and immediately understand how terrifying long-distance sea travel must have been centuries ago. The museum also had a ton of hands-on exhibits and activities for children.
Then we went to the science museum, NEMO, which was incredible. Easily one of the best science museums we’ve visited. We spent hours doing experiments, testing engineering concepts, and playing with all sorts of real-world investigations. It’s basically designed to let kids touch everything, which makes it way more fun than the average “look but don’t touch” museum experience.
And finally, the Van Gogh Museum. Incredible. Seeing the sunflower paintings in person was surreal. You never realize how textured and vibrant they are until you’re standing a few feet away from them. The museum does an amazing job walking you through Van Gogh’s life chronologically, so by the end it feels less like you visited an art museum and more like you spent a few hours inside someone’s mind.
Sadly, day two also featured another disappointing lunch — this time a hot dog from a stand outside the train station. Amsterdam may not be winning us over on quick meals.
But the weather has been perfect, the people have been unbelievably friendly, and the city somehow manages to feel historic, relaxed, and alive all at once. We absolutely love Amsterdam.
