molc54

I will be arriving in Amsterdam on Friday 4/14 from US. I, unfortunately, attempted to book online tickets for Anne Frank House too late. All our dates were sold out. I checked and it appears the museum is open until 10pm. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what time would be best to stand in line for tickets. I am kicking myself!! We will be in Amsterdam Friday through Monday afternoon.

Sunday is Easter Sunday and we would like to attend Catholic Mass. We will be staying at the Renaissance Hotel. Could someone recommend a Catholic Church near this area?

tonfromleiden

Visit instead the Jewish Historical Museum, a memorial of four centuries of Jewish presence in the city, including the impressive 17th-century Portuguese synagogue. In my view more rewarding than the Anne Frank Huis. This is their website: http://jck.nl/en
The St Nicolaas Church - across the station - has Easter services: http://www.nicolaas-parochie.nl/inde...menu=1&page=45

FuryFluffy

To queue for tickets, I suggest you arrive before opening time, it'll be good enough. I've just been to Amsterdam this weekend, and there was practically no queue at any houses/museums at the opening time. They get more crowded at noon.

northie

Begijnhofkapel is a Catholic Church - went to a mass there once in French with great singing from the French speaking Africans- very welcoming.
Website: Begijnhof
Email: [email protected]
NB there is another church. In the beguinage -English Reformed church.

tonfromleiden

I understand unreserved tickets for the Anne Frank Huis can only be bought from 15:30, which means an endless queue.

FuryFluffy

Oupps, tonfromleiden was right, unreserved tickets for the Anne Frank House can only be bought from 15:30, so I suggest that you queue a little bit before 15:30. Once the sell opens, the queue will only get longer, I guess. And Amsterdam can be very crowded in the evening.

menachem

Or skip the Anne Frank house, that monument to Dutch people selling jews to the Germans for 7.50 a head and visit the Jewish Historical Museum instead.

A monastic friend of mine much prefers De Krijtberg

http://krijtberg.nl/missen2/kerstmis-christmas-2016/

janisj

The Anne Frank House was very moving for me -- perhaps because the book had such an affect when I read it at 12 yo.

But queueing for 3 or 4 hours (possibly in the rain) . . . I'd never even consider it.

menachem

which is why I always recommend JHM. Because that has an exhibit of the exquisite work of Charlotte Salomon: Life? Or Theatre?

I used to know her stepmother, who lived well into her nineties, so that is my personal connection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlytljkojGo

Bette

We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel and attended mass at St. Francis Xavier. This is a Jesuit church close to the hotel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Krijtberg

http://krijtberg.nl/

menachem

Yes, De Krijtberg.

justineparis

I would never suggest skipping Anne Franks House.. ever.. The first time I visited it was in 1975 and it was a very different place to now, but as I was then myself a young girl who had read the diary.. of course it was still powerful to me.

We went this past year in May, took our 26 yr old stepdaughter.. who had NEVER even heard of Anne Frank !!!!!!!!!!! She tagged along dutifully but without enthusiasm..

She loved it.. is found it all fascinating and heartbreaking .

I think everyone should go once, listen to the taped commentaries, read the signs.. its so well done..


We had timed tickets for the morning ,, but there was a line for those without, the line however was not very long at all, maybe 20 people ?

janisj

>> the line however was not very long at all, maybe 20 people ?<<

That is remarkable -- the two times I've been there were hundreds in the queue. It literally stretched around the block and down the street.

But since they don't sell open tix until late afternoon and you were there in the AM, maybe those people were VERY early birds and had a long wait ahead of them.

hetismij2

As has already been stated the untimed tickets are now only available from 15.30. If you don't mind eating early/late then around 6-7pm may be a good time to try. But have a look at 15.30 and see what the queue is then - you may be lucky, especially if it is raining!

PalenQ

And the Anne Frank House is now part of the National Museum Pass so if visiting other museums just a few make it pay off - also valid at JHM Museum- and many museums you may not ordinarily pay to get in- The Dutch Resistance Museum is also of similar interests.

menachem

I understand that people were affected by Anne Frank's diary. And I don't want to take anyone's moment away. But there is a reason why the AF House is less popular with Dutch Jews such as myself. Personally, I consider it mainly a monument to the Dutch myth of resistance. While Miep Gies et al were heroes for supplying the support network, people tend to forget that one reason why the Frank family was able to go into hiding was because Otto Frank had money at his disposal. In the end, they were betrayed, probably by a disgruntled employee of the Frank firm. And the Frank family would have made it to the United States had they not been refused entry as refugees from Germany.

For me the poignancy is in the Diary itself and even that was heavily redacted by Otto Frank.

I suggest also visiting the Jewish Historical Museum, or the Resistance Museum, or the Hollandsche Schouwburg memorial, with the children's creche right opposite, where so many children who were smuggled out of Hollandsche Schouwburg, were hidden by resistance workers who were as courageous as Miep Gies. Amsterdam as a city is also a place of immense suffering and destruction. Of course, I have a stake in this and so I had to point it out.

hetismij2

You can only use the museum card for pre booked tickets at the Anne Frankhuis.
I would agree with menachem's views and I am not Jewish and am only just Dutch!

molc54

As a follow up. We were not able to get tickets to Anne Frank House. We checked the line in the afternoon and even at 8:30 at night (Closing was 10pm). The lines were too long. It was Easter weekend, so there were many tourists visiting Amsterdam.
We did manage to visit The Resistance Museum which we enjoyed in addition to the Rijksmuseum.

While we were there I was told Ten Boom Museum in Haarlem (20 minute train ride from Amsterdam) was also a hiding place. Many people recommended it but we did not have the time to go there.

Thank you all for your help.