I am back with a related question. An acquaintance mentioned that we can purchase same day tickets from a shop near the museum and skip the line. Does anyone know what and where this is?

I know I can reserve online but purchasing them in Amsterdam will allow us to more accurately choose the entry time.

Thanks again.

Update: We are back from Amsterdam and enjoyed the Van Gogh museum. We purchased a voucher through the ship's concierge that was good anytime on Monday December 5. In the morning we had a canal cruise and walking tour and made our way to the museum after lunch, arriving around 2:30. We exchanged the voucher for tickets and entered the museum--no waiting! Checked our coats and began to explore starting on the first level.

The museum was busy but we could get close to the works with only a little waiting for some of them. People using the audio tour seemed to cluster around the paintings featured on the tour but most other works were easily accessible. The painting of Van Gogh's room in Arles was given a featured place. Viewing the collection from the 1st to 3rd floors allowed us to see how Van Gogh's style progressed. One of my new favorites was a still life of poppies and other flowers with vibrant color. The museum shop had no prints of it but I think it was on loan from the Triton Foundation.

Before leaving the museum we stopped at the café for tea and a slice of honey walnut cake. It may have been the best dessert of our 10-day trip. I regret not buying a bag of Potato Eater Crisps in the gift shop, in contention for the tackiest souvenir of all time.

Scootoir,

Thanks for reporting back. Glad you had a good tour of the Van Gogh. Im going in May to fulfill my number one bucket list site. Potato Eater Chips. Good grief!

<< If you were looking for "Starry Night over the Rhone" you would have to go to the Orsay in Paris.>>

Update: until 29 January you can see it in Toronto at the marvellous exhibition, "Mystical Landscapes" jointly organized by the AGO and the Musée d'Orsay. I saw the exhibition yesterday and it includes paintings by impressionists and symbolists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One discovery for me was the Swedish painter Eugène Jansson, with several of his luminous blue cityscapes as part of the exhibition. It also put into context iconic war paintings and wilderness landscapes by the Group of Seven and Emily Carr, well-loved by Canadians but virtually unknown abroad.

In March, the exhibition opens at the Musée d'Orsay for a four month run.