Marti324

I'm going to be in Amsterdam for the first time the first week of August. I am staying in the Museum district. I have seen ads for the combination canal hop on and off boats and museum pass to the Van Gogh museum. Should I buy this combination pass prior to getting there? It says it gets you entry in the museum without waiting in line. Is this true? Thanks for any help. These are two activities I definitely plan on doing during my short visit.
Martha

HappyTrvlr

You also need a pass ahead for the Rijksmuseum. Why don't you go on the websites for the museums and buy your passes to avoid long lines and wait to see which canal boat you may prefer.

greg

The locals residents would jump in when they wake up tomorrow Until then, this is my take.

If any place needs an advance reservation, it is the Anne Frank House.
Following that is the Rijksmuseum.
Van Gogh museum can get queues, but not the same degrees as the first two. What this combo proposes is to address a third level queue issue. Read the combo offer carefully. From a reseller, you usually get a voucher to the Van Gogh museum online which you need to exchange it to an actual museum ticket at reseller kiosk. If you bought the Van Gogh museum ticket straight from the museum site online, you would have gotten the ticket itself without having to bother with the kiosk.

For the boat, realize there is not one, but several boat companies doing different routes, different starting points, different prices.

1. http://www.rederijkooij.nl/en/our-canal-cruises
2. https://www.canal.nl/en/canal-cruise-amsterdam = Holland International = Gray Line
3. http://www.amsterdamcanalcruises.nl/...ty_cruise.html = http://www.blueboat.nl/en/canalcruise_daycruise.html.
The last one also offers a "boutique" cruise http://www.blueboat.nl/en/canalcruise_openboat.html

If you have not made a prior commitment, you can choose whichever route you like at the time and the starting point of your choice.

Marti324

Thanks - your comments help a lot. I may go ahead and get museum tickets now, but wait till I get there to settle on a canal boat trip.
Martha

PalenQ

the National Museum Pass could be a good bet - covers zillions of Amsterdam museums plus Frank House and gives priority entrance at many. No need to buy in advance - buy at any participating museum.

http://www.amsterdam.info/museums/museumkaart/

ParisAmsterdam

What Pal says above x2. Just buy the museum pass at one of the quieter locations like the palace or new church.

PalenQ

And there are many neat museums in Amsterdam that may not be on your radar but with a whole week you may love some of them - like the to me awesome Troppen Museum or life in tropical countries and avant-garde installations.

Also valid for museums in other Dutch cities- good for one year - nice to be able to come and go too at the biggies- Anne Frank House you can still book a time with the museum card I believe.

menachem

For instance, I discovered the Klederdracht Museum

http://hetklederdrachtmuseum.nl/


Pal, it's TROPENMUSEUM. One P.
Also, Tropenmuseum has now so been hit with cuts in the culture budget, that it's hardly functioning. The Royal Tropical Institute has been dismantled, it's priceless library partly being adopted by the library of Cairo, partly sold for scrap paper.

A national shame, but then, the Dutch have never been very keen on a thorough examination of their colonial past.

hetismij2

If you are only visiting Amsterdam for a few days I doubt the Museum card is worthwhile. You only get a temporary one from a museum and are expected to get one with a photo on it asap.
You are probably better off buying tickets for the museums you want to visit online. I doubt you will get a timed ticket for the Anne Frankhuis now though. The advantage of the timed entry ticket for the van Gogh Museum is that you avoid the queue and once in can take all the time you want/need. Early tickets mean you are before the crowd, late once also mean you miss much of the crowd, but obviously give you less time in the museum.

The MJK only gives a discount at the Klederdracht museum, but it does look an interesting place to visit. We still see some ladies in traditional clothing from Bunschoten at the marets around here, but nowhere near the numbers there were 30 years ago. We used to live in Overijssel, and would see Urkers and Staphorsters amongst others in traditional dress every day, men as well as women, young as well as old. Not any more.
I've added to Klederdracht museum to my list for a camper trip to Amsterdam in the autumn. Yes it is less than an hour away by train, but we can stay a couple of nights in the camper and enjoy the city as tourists for a change!

Marti324

Thanks again everyone. I went ahead and bought a ticket to the Van Gogh Museum, so I won't have to stand in line. With just 3 days in Amsterdam, I will spend the rest of my time wandering around, which is what I like to do most. I am staying near Vondal Park, so I look forward to spending time there, as well as a canal boat trip.
Thanks very much.
Martha

PalenQ

Oops-I thought OP said for the first week - naw with just a few days I rather spend wandering than in museums except the world famous musts of course.

Vondel Park on a nice summer day is great for people watching - on Saturdays or Sundays they used to at least have a flea market there.

But other than that it is just a huge park - nice rose gardens and other gardens.

menachem

Marti324: Vondelpark extends all the way to Amstelveense Weg: that far end of Vondelpark is really underexplored even though, in terms of landscaping, it is the most interesting.

vondeltuin is a buvette style place at the Amstelveense Weg end: much more local and less overrun than the places at the city end: http://www.vondeltuin.nl/