We are planning a trip to Europe next September to hit some of the Art Musuems we haven't made it to yet. With the Rijksmuseum under renovation is it even worth going to Amsterdam as that was one of our main reasons for going there?

I think it depends on how much you enjoy exploring museums as opposed to "hitting" the certified major art holdings of a museum.

The Rijksmuseum has taken 400 of its most popular works and put them in a temporary display area. They are all beautiful and very much worth seeing. Whether or not the renovation will be good or a disaster is unknown, but if you want to see the complete collection, or not have items of interest preselected for you, you might wait until the full reopening.

My hubby and I love Europe as we met in Germany. We went to Amsterdam in October 2004 with our family and my mother-in-law.

We all loved Amsterdam. There was so much to do and see for everyone. We plan on going back as we felt there is much more to do and see. It was a great trip and we loved the city.

Highly recommend visiting Amsterdam. Stayed at this B&B.

http://www.suite259.nl/thanx.html

I don't know about the Rijks temporary quarters...I saw it last year and it was fabulous. But the Van Gogh Museum itself is worth the trip, in my humble opinion...I guess maybe you've already been there since you mentioned trying to hit the "rest of them". There are a lot of other great reasons to go to Amsterdam! I had only a quick 24 hrs there but made the most of it, and will look forward to returning some day. Probably depends on your airlines, many of us from NWA/KLM land have frequent opportunities for the one day layover in that fabulous city. If you are really looking for certain works in the Rijks, that are "less important" of course,
you might be disappointed, and if there was a particular painting you wanted to see, I guess I would call ahead to find out if it is included in the temporary set-up. But if you have NEVER been to Amsterdam...don't pass it up.

It's true that Amsterdam is a beautiful city with other quite important museums, not to mention there are additional museums very much worth seeing a stone's throw away in Den Haag.

But if you have the opportunity to delay your trip there until the Rijkmuseum re-opens, that's worth considering. However, if your interest in seeing the Rijksmuseum is limited to its core collection, you'll never have an easier go of it than right now, with all those items concentrated in a single, smaller space.

Do they really smoke marijuana walking down the streets in Amsterdam?

No, but they do in New York, New Jersey and most other big cities in the US.

Travel_Princess: IMO Amsterdam is worth the visit to see any of the so-called "major" museums to include the "limited" collection on view at the Rijksmuseum.

If every museum had that kind of limitation you wouldn't be hearing many complaints. And then there is the wonderful Van Gogh as has been pointed out.

For Mr. Dreamer: they only smoke openly in those areas you are pretending you want to avoid!

LOL! When we were in Kansas City we went to the zoo on sunday and in the parking lot there was a group of people young and older toking away on pot! As get got closer to the entrance a bunch of zoo security guards were rushing towards the parking area!

Um, we are not going to Amsterdam? Are you taking about Munich and Paris?

There used to be a lot of pot smoking on trains until they made all compartments (at least in Switzerland) non-smoking. Took care of that problem.

We were in Amsterdam in early July. Even though it's not the complete collection, the amount and quality of art on display at the Rijksmuseum is still astounding. And I agree that the Van Gogh museum is wonderful and worth a trip to the city on its own merits.

Some of the collection not at the Rijksmuseum is temporarily located at other locations in Amsterdam and around the Netherlands and Europe (Including a nice display at the airport.)

However, if you have particular works of art you really want to see that are not available, then you might want to postpone your visit.

no question about it,
it is one of the most charming places in Europe!

If you want to go to a Van Gogh Museum there is a great one (maybe better) in the north of Holland in a wonderful park. I'll let you surf for it.

Hi TP,

I would go. Amsterdam is a lovely town.

There is also the Franz Hals Museum in nearby Haarlem.

Thanks for all the advice. Sounds like Amsterdam is not to be missed.

I enjoyed my 5 day stay in Amsterdam and I didn't go to any of the major museums or tourist attractions.