Don’t miss out on the opportunity to visit this museum before the 2009 while it is undergoing the biggest rebuilding, renovation, and modernization program in its history. You may want to ask me, why to hurry here at the time when many masterpieces are stored out of sight. The answer is very simple. There are many great must see museums in Amsterdam and many of them display great must see paintings. Unless you have a special interest in the 17th century masters, you should get more than satisfied with over 400 painting by such a famous painters as Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Vermeer, or Rembrandt that are on display in the Philips Wing during the restoration. Believe me you will see the best and a lot more, 400 paintings is still a lot. The museum also has a collection of wooden and ceramic art that contains some real jewelry.
The 17th century represents Dutch Golden Age, the collection you can admire here is very impressive and so is the way it has been gathered. From the late 16th century, the Netherlands was a republic and therefore there was no royal house that amassed an international collection, such as in Spain (Philips II) or Russia (Catharine the Great) The Rijksmuseum collection is based on private collections of Art buyers; citizens who made purchases mostly in their home country, and not so much abroad.
Museum is kids friendly. Children can take part in museum searches and there is also a Sesame Street audio tour for pre-school children.
At the moment there is no place for refreshments but you can walk to a Café Cobra where you will receive a 15% discount on any item on the menu by showing your Rijksmuseum ticket.
If you are less then 18 years old, you can get in for free, otherwise you will pay €10. Some discounts are applicable and all tickets can be purchased in advance on the Internet.
The Rijksmuseum is open every day from 9am to 6pm, on Fridays also from 6pm to 10pm. Closed 1 January. The museum ticket counter closes 30 minutes before the closing time.