Two Days in Amsterdam: An Itinerary Built Around Your Museum Bookings

Two days in Amsterdam works best when you plan it around three timed tickets: the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. Spend day one on the canal ring with an Anne Frank House slot, and day two on Museumplein, where the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum stand side by side. The hard part is the Anne Frank House: tickets are sold online only, they go on sale six weeks ahead, and popular slots can be gone before you start planning. Book that first, then fit everything else around it.

This guide gives you the booking order, a realistic plan for each day, what the three tickets cost in 2026 and how to pay for the trams. Prices and opening hours come from each museum’s and GVB’s own websites, checked on 30 October 2026.

Book these three tickets first

For one adult, the three museums come to €66.50 at 2026 prices. Anne Frank House tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded and are only valid for the date and time printed on them, so pick your slot once your travel dates are fixed. The I amsterdam City Card gives no discount at the Anne Frank House.

The order to book in

1. Six weeks out, on a Tuesday at 10:00 Amsterdam time: book the Anne Frank House. This is the date your whole plan depends on.
2. Straight after: book the Van Gogh Museum, which sells all tickets online with a start time.
3. Then: book a Rijksmuseum start time. Buying at the door is possible only while slots remain, so do not count on it.

Day 1: the canal ring and the Anne Frank House

Spend day one on foot in the canal ring, timing your walk around your Anne Frank House slot. The museum is at Prinsengracht 263–267, but the entrance is around the corner at Westermarkt 20. The museum puts it at about 20 minutes on foot from Amsterdam Centraal; trams 13 and 17 stop at Westermarkt.

Morning: walk the canals

Start from Amsterdam Centraal and walk south-west into the canal ring. Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht run in parallel arcs, so you can follow one canal and cut across on the side streets without a fixed route. Aim to end up near the Westerkerk, whose tower stands beside the Anne Frank House.

Afternoon or evening: the Anne Frank House

The museum is open from 9:00 to 22:00 every day, so an evening slot leaves the whole day free. Some dates have shorter hours: in late 2026 the museum closes at 18:30 on 7 November and at 17:00 on 25 and 31 December. You can also book a visit with a 30-minute introductory programme in English, which covers Anne Frank’s story in the context of the Second World War.

If you could not get a slot

Tickets are sold only on the museum’s website, so there is no door queue to fall back on. If your dates are sold out, plan the day without it and spend the time on a longer canal walk or another museum. If you already hold a Dutch Museumkaart, your ticket costs €1, but you still have to book a time slot.

Day 2: Museumplein

The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum stand side by side on Museumplein. The Rijksmuseum says it is about a 20-minute walk from the Anne Frank House and about 10 minutes from the canals.

Morning: the Rijksmuseum

Book a morning start time: the Rijksmuseum closes at 17:00, while the Van Gogh Museum stays open later on Fridays. The collection includes Rembrandt’s The Night Watch and Vermeer’s The Milkmaid, and the Gallery of Honour brings together masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Frans Hals. If you are short on time, the museum offers a guided highlights tour, and its free app includes audio stories. The garden around the building is free to visit.

Afternoon or Friday evening: the Van Gogh Museum

Your ticket covers the permanent collection and the current exhibitions, with no extra exhibition fee. The museum’s hours change with the season, so check them for your dates:

• Until 31 October 2026: 9:00–18:00, Fridays until 21:00.
• 1 November 2026: 9:00–18:00.
• 2–30 November 2026: 9:00–17:00, Fridays until 21:00 except 27 November.
• 1–18 December 2026: 9:00–17:00, Fridays until 21:00.
• Christmas and New Year: 9:00–18:00 on 19–23 and 27–30 December; 9:00–17:00 on 24–26 and 31 December; 11:00–18:00 on 1 January 2027.

If one of your two days is a Friday, an evening Van Gogh slot avoids rushing between two big collections. Otherwise, book an early-afternoon slot so you have time after the Rijksmuseum.

Getting around: pay by card or buy a travel ticket?

You can do most of this plan on foot. For trams, buses and the metro, you have two main choices:

• Tap your own card: check in and out on GVB trams, buses and the metro with a contactless debit or credit card, phone or smartwatch. GVB caps the total at €10.50 a day (GVB Max), however much you travel. Always check in and out with the same card or device, or the fare will be calculated wrongly.
• Amsterdam Travel Ticket: unlimited travel in Amsterdam plus journeys to and from Schiphol Airport, for €20 (1 day), €27 (2 days) or €34 (3 days) in 2026.

If you land at Schiphol and will ride trams on both days, compare the two-day Amsterdam Travel Ticket with the price of your airport train plus up to €10.50 a day on GVB. If you mostly walk, paying by card is usually simpler.

Which plan suits you?

• First visit, two full days: canals and the Anne Frank House on day one, then the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum on day two.
• Visiting on a Friday: Rijksmuseum in the morning, a slower afternoon, then a Van Gogh slot on Friday evening.
• Travelling with children: the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum are free for under-18s and the Anne Frank House costs €1–€7, but every child still needs a booked slot.
• Only one big museum: pick the Rijksmuseum for Dutch art and history or the Van Gogh Museum for one artist in depth, and give the rest of the day to the canals.
• No Anne Frank House tickets: keep both Museumplein museums and add a longer canal walk or a third museum.

Official sources

• Anne Frank House: tickets, opening hours and location
• Rijksmuseum: visit, opening hours and prices
• Van Gogh Museum: tickets and ticket prices
• Van Gogh Museum: address and opening hours
• GVB: GVB Max daily cap
• GVB: checking in and out with OVpay
• GVB: Amsterdam Travel Ticket

Prices, booking rules and opening hours were checked on 30 October 2026 and can change. Check each museum’s website before you book.