hetismij2

It is better to book the van Gogh. As I understand it you don't have priority getting in unless you have a booking.

PalenQ

It's not that you'll get into van Gogh without reservation but may have to wait in long line. Ditto Rijksmuseum. So reservations are smart. Can't think of any other Amsterdam museums that need worry about?

hetismij and menachem are Dutch residents so are great sources.

and be sure to check out other lesser museums - there are so so many that are neat but often overlooked -again Lord in Attic church; Jewish Museum; Dutch Resistance Museum; Tropped Museum (if still around); Botanical Gardens; Royal Palace, several old churches; Maritime Museum, Amsterdam branch of Hermitage and on and on, Sex and Hashish museums are not covered I believe!

menachem

Tropenmuseum, PalenQ!

Van Gogh Museum, always book a slot. Rijksmuseum, not always very busy, I'd risk it.

Tulips

I've been to the Rijksmuseum a few times with a museumkaart; no queue, just walked right in. Don't know if you can book?
At the Hermitage there is an extra charge, can't remember how much. There is a terrific exhibition with Dutch masters from the Hermitage St Petersburg there now.

schnauzer

Don’t forget the wonderful handbag museum. It’s a must!! Is the Troppen still open? That was my fave...

Tulips

It's called the TROPENMUSEUM
https://tropenmuseum.nl/en

PalenQ

Yes Tropenmuseum of museum of tropical life I believe is still open and always presents a wonderfully eclectic exhibits - assume they still have the re-created street scenes from tropical third world countries especially those with Dutch connections.

menachem

It's a Dutch colonial museum. There's a number of those: Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam, Land en Volkenkunde in Leiden. There used to be one in Delft (Nusantara, now sadly closed). There's a vehement debate about the Dutch colonial heritage now. It has come very much to the foreground in the current nationalist climate that has us sliding inchwise to an illiberal democracy, as is happening all over Europe.

PalenQ

I sure appreciate the inputs of locals hetismij2 and menachem! Great info only locals could know.

There was talk of Tropen Museum closing a year or so ago - what's up with that - I can see changing orientation to escape colonial aspect - maybe just be a museum of the tropics?

menachem

It has always tried to broaden its approach, from the 1980s onwards. The entire building used to be the Dutch Colonial Institute, the library has already been closed and partly sold for scrap paper (that's the ugly, but honest truth) and partly transferred to KITLV in Leiden (another colonial institution).

Ever since 2014, when its funding by the ministry of Foreign Affairs was stopped rather suddenly, it has been a member of an alliance of "World Culture Museums", together with Wereld Museum and Nijmegen's Africa Museum. There now is structural funding of that alliance, of course not enough for all three museums to be viable, so already, Rotterdam's Wereldmuseum is in dire straits, and the wait is for a substantial subsidy cut yet again.

The lack of viable funding means that the Tropenmuseum can't offer the educational programs it once had. It now has these long-running thematic exhibitions, but cannot enlarge or even properly maintain its core collections.

All this against the background of a vehement "debate" about the Dutch colonial heritage and the role of the East India and West India Companies during the 17th/18th century: something to be proud of, or a matter of shame (a lot of Dutch wealth is built on the slave trade and colonial practices, all subsequently whitewashed).

PalenQ

Still in its broken state Tropenmuseum must still be a delight in many ways-especially those third-world street re-creations (hope they are still around).

menachem

Nope, those are gone, they were pretty dated as a concept anyhow.