Home 9 Annual events 9 Amsterdam Museum Night

Amsterdam Museum Night

Night at the museum Amsterdam

In November every year, Night Museum Amsterdam opens its doors. This initiative has grown in popularity rapidly and follows worldwide trends in museums opening for special events during the night.

In 2024, the Amsterdam Museum Night is on Saturday 2 November.

Kids love the idea, in no small part due to the film franchise, but an Amsterdam Museum Night should appeal to everyone. It is an amazing opportunity to see grand buildings in a new light and visit iconic artworks outside of standard day time tickets. Museums now don’t just open their doors at night, they put on live special events, often with music, food and drink and light shows.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to companies and services we trust. If you purchase something after clicking any link, then we will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you (policy page).

night-oude-kerk-amsterdam-min

Museum Night Amsterdam Tickets

When tickets are purchased, you receive a wristband that gains you access to over 60 museums in Amsterdam.

You can pick up your wristband from select museums in advance of the event start time, to save queuing on the night.

The main thing of note to visitors to Amsterdam thinking of going to Amsterdam Night Musuem, is that the organisers of this event do view the target market as mainly Dutch residents.

This is not to say it is not open to anyone, but the target market are mainly Dutch residents of Amsterdam. This is highlighted by their choice of financial partner for payents being a company called iDeal. This is the most common form of payment method used in the Netherlands. Why do we mention this? Well iDeal is not universally linked to every International bank, so it is possible that your bank may not be connected to the iDeal network and buying tickets may prove more problematic.

Can children go to Museum Night Amasterdam

The musuem night is aimed at everyone, but the very late evening events are usually designed for younger people 18 years and over. Children up to 6 can visit for free, but outside this there is one ticket for all ages.

Do tourist passes or museum cards gain entry

Museumkaart and I Amsterdam City Card and other tourist passes are not valid during museum night. In 2023, by buying a ticket for museum night, you also gained one free repeat entry, valid until the end of the year, to a museum that features on the Museumkaart list (there are some restrictions by certain venues). We expect this to be the same in 2024.

How much is a ticket to Museum Night Amsterdam

In 2023, the cost of a ticket to the museum night was €22.50. This ticket entitles you to access to all participating museums and also gives one free entry to a museum of choice before the end of the year – make sure you keep your wristband. This is amazing value when you consider normal entry costs to the museums, plus all the entertainment laid on.

Tickets for 2024 Museum Night Amsterdam have yet to go on sale, but do expect them to sell out very quickly. All previous years have sold out well in advance.

You can check for tickets at the official Museumnacht Amsterdam Website.

night-canal-amsterdam-min

Amsterdam Night Museum 

  • An annual event attracting thousands of people across the city.
  • Runs on 2 November 2024.
  • Starts at 7pm ends at 2am.

nemo-science-museum-night-min

Museums participating in Museum Night Amsterdam

Museum Night in Amsterdam features not just the blockbuster museums but a whole host of smaller, specialist and unusual museums too. The organisers hope that their ticket will encourage visitors to not just visit the obvious big museums, but also explore the novel, unique museums too. In 2023, there were 62 museums included in the night.

Some of the highlights include:

Van Gogh Museum

Wereldmuseum Amsterdam

Straat Museum

Stedelijk Museum

Rijksmuseum

Oude Kerk

Nemo Science Museum

Museum Van Loon

Rebrandthuis Museum

Huis Marseille

Huis Willet-Holthuysen

Scheepvaartmuseum

Hortus Botanicus

Foam

Eye Film Museum

Anne Frank House

Amsterdam Museum

Allard Pierson

There are many more museums featured in the night museum in Amsterdam and new museums may be added in 2024 too.

Explore the full list of participating museums in Museum Night Amsterdam.

night-tram-amsterdam-min

Night Museum Routes

When you get your ticket you will also discover there are set routes that you can follow that will take you around a pre-determined set of museums.

These series of routes are called the Ambassador Routes. These are designed to help you get around the vast amount of museums included in the night.

It is likely impossible to get around every museum in one night, unless you are just trying to see the outside of them lit up.  The routes can help, but are just there as a guide and it is hoped that you will choose a diverse mix of museums you’d like to see on the night.

Each museum will offer things to do on museum night. So it is worth checking what they have planned nearer the time to help you decide which museums you want to explore and when throughout the evening.

Getting around on Museum Night Amsterdam

Public transport in Amsterdam is very good and will run until the early hours which will help you more easily make your way around the list of museums included in the night.

You will also find multiple museums in one location so you could focus your time there, like in Museumplein for example.

The public transport usually runs a little later on Museum Night Amsterdam, to help those staying out very late to get around and back home.