We are so lucky with the variety of museums in The Netherlands. So if you’re planning a trip, you’ve got a lot of choices. Here’s a list of THE BEST MUSEUM IN THE NETHERLANDS. I’m a huge fan of spending some spare time in museums, and so is the rest of the team at Instagrambloggers.nl, so we made you a great selection.
Museum Voorlinden | Wassenaar (near The Hague)
We’ve written a lot about this one and visited it many times. It never fails to surprise us and even the permit collection is always worth a revisit. The lighting is amazing and you can walk around in the beautiful gardens afterwards.
Teylers Museum | Haarlem
Teylers Museum is the best-preserved 18th-century public knowledge institution for the arts and sciences in the world. It has been open to the public since 1784, welcoming all those who are eager to look at objects of interest in the visual arts and the sciences. It is a unique place with a remarkable atmosphere, and a visit is bound to be an unforgettable experience. Buy your tickets online.
Kunsmuseum | The Hague
One of the Gemeentemuseum’s most prized exhibits is the magnificent Art Deco building itself. Designed by architect H.P. Berlage, it is striking for its distinctive yellow brickwork and its spacious interior, natural light, and modern colour scheme. Berlage himself believed this would be his greatest ever work. However, it was also his last, and he never saw his masterpiece completed, as he died a year before the building was finished. Eighty years later, we can say that Berlage certainly fulfilled his promise. The building is still highly popular with visitors, artists and architects, and ranks among the most beautiful and most modern museum buildings in Europe. Buy your tickets online.
De Pont | Tilburg
De Pont is housed in the southern Dutch city of Tilburg, in a former wool spinning mill that has been transformed by Benthem Crouwel Architects into a space where contemporary art can be seen at its best. The vast, light main area of the monumental old factory and the intimate ‘wool-storage rooms’ constitute a beautiful environment for the many works of art that De Pont has collected since its opening to the public in September 1992. The acquisition policy aims at accentuating not the breadth but rather the depth of collecting, for which roughly three large exhibitions per year serve as the breeding ground. The additional program of smaller solo presentations in the project space is not directly related to the collection.
Gemeentemuseum | Breda
Stedelijk Museum Breda is the museum for the city’s heritage and history and for contemporary visual culture. It was created by a merger of Breda’s Museum and the Museum of the Image (MOTI). The history of Stedelijk Museum Breda dates back to 1903 when the first city museum was established. Since that time, it has built up a rich and varied collection, focussing on developments in and around the city. There are sub-collections on themes like religion, the army and industry. The museum also has an extensive visual arts collection and collections of graphic design and digital visual culture.
Kunsthal | Rotterdam
The Kunsthal in Rotterdam is one of the icons of modern architecture and is visited every year by large numbers of architecture lovers from all over the world. We personally love the auditorium; the characteristic upward-sloping hall with its colourful Gispen chairs.
Boijmans van Beuningen | Rotterdam
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is a multifaceted museum in the heart of the Netherland’s harbour city, Rotterdam. It is the only museum in the Netherlands that offers the visitor a comprehensive survey of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Bonnefantenmuseum | Maastricht
The Bonnefantenmuseum, designed by Italian architect Aldo Rossi, is a splendid addition to the skyline of Maastricht. Featuring the famous Treppenstraße (monumental stairs) that leads to the exhibition rooms, its undisputed highlight is the cupola; the distinctive tower on the banks of the Maas.
Maastricht is perfect to spend a whole weekend. Read our tips here.
Stedelijk Museum | Amsterdam
Highlights in art and design from 1880 to now. Buy your tickets online.
FOAM | Amsterdam
The Nederlands Fotomuseum collects and safeguards the photographic heritage of the Netherlands both of today and of the future and makes it accessible to the public. The goal is always to make the photography relevant to today’s context. We collect and display photography that reflects the world we live in to enrich people’s lives with visual stories that matter.
Van Gogh Museum | Amsterdam
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is one of the most popular museums in the world, attracting visitors from every corner of the globe. Naturally, this is in large part due to it housing the largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh – more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings and 700 of his letters. Having originally opened on Museumplein in 1973, the Van Gogh Museum has been expanded and modernised over the years, ensuring it’s a truly cutting-edge exhibition and visitor space. Buy your tickets online.
Scheepvaartmuseum | Amsterdam
The Scheepvaartmuseum is a Dutch museum about shipping at Kattenburgerplein 1 in Amsterdam. It is located in the building of the former ’s Lands Zeemagazijn and contains the second-largest maritime collection in the world. It specializes in the maritime history of the Netherlands. Make sure to visit the VR experience located in the ship behind the museum. Buy your tickets online.
NEMO | Amsterdam
NEMO Science Museum is a science and technology museum in Amsterdam. NEMO’s motto is Hands On! or Forbidden to stay off. And that’s why we like it! In summer you can enjoy drinks on the perfect roof terrace with an awesome view over the city! Buy your tickets online.
Hermitage | Amsterdam
Hermitage Amsterdam is a museum where you can see several art exhibitions from various museum collections. There is always an exhibition from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, with over three million objects one of the world’s largest museums. Buy your tickets online.
Curious about the Hermitage in St Petersburg? Read our blog about it.
Huis Marseille | Amsterdam
Huis Marseille Museum for Photography is a photography museum on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam, located in a monumental canal house dating from 1665. It is the first museum in the Netherlands that focuses specifically on photography as an art form. Since 1999 there has been a new exhibition every three months.
Oude Kerk | Amsterdam
The Oude Kerk is the oldest existing building in Amsterdam and is located on Oudekerksplein in the Amsterdam-Centrum district. The church was dedicated to St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, by Guy van Avesnes, the Bishop of Utrecht.
Het Grachtenhuis | Amsterdam
The Canal House is a museum on the Herengracht in Amsterdam dedicated to the 17th-century Amsterdam canals. The museum tells the history of the canals through an interactive and multimedia exhibition.
Rijksmuseum | Amsterdam
Centraal Museum | Utrecht
The Centraal Museum is located in the city of Utrecht. The Centraal Museum has an extensive collection of ancient and modern art, and the Miffy Museum and the Rietveld Schröder House are also part of the Centraal Museum.
CODA | Apeldoorn
CODA is a cultural centre in the Dutch city of Apeldoorn that houses a public library, archives and museums. The design is by the Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger. CODA is an acronym derived from Cultuur Onder Dak Apeldoorn.
Zuiderzeemuseum | Enkhuizen
The Zuiderzee Museum is a cultural history museum in the Dutch city of Enkhuizen, where the culture and maritime history of the former Zuiderzee are portrayed. The museum has been around since 1948. It was expanded in 1983 with a large outdoor museum where villages and buildings were rebuilt.
Kroller Muller Museum | Otterlo
The Kröller-Müller Museum is a museum of modern art, located in De Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Dutch province of Gelderland. The museum and the adjacent sculpture park, together with around 25 hectares, enjoy international fame.
De Fundatie | Zwolle
Zwolle is the perfect place for a weekend trip. Read about all our tips here.
