Better than I expected. Van Gogh is so overdone in the commercial sense - everybody has a poster of the sunflowers or irises, right? however, there was much, much more in this museum and it was worth fighting the crowds. We got a ticket ahead of time and were in line before the 10 am opening, so were able to get in right away. Make sure you have at least a couple of hours. The comparisons with other painters, mentors, and various details of the exhibits made it very educational and gave depth to the life and work of Van Gogh. If you go to Amsterdam, don’t miss it.

Auf unserem Amsterdam Ausflug durfte natürlich das “Van Gogh Museum” nicht fehlen, das mich wirklich sehr positiv beeindruckt hat.

Außer dem abgeschnittenen Ohr, den Sonnenblumen und seinem tragischen Tod wusste ich sehr wenig über Vincent van Gogh und konnte hier durch eine schön aufbereitete Ausstellung und einen sehr guten (mehrsprachigen) Audio-Guide schöne Stunden verbringen, die Kunstwerke genießen und viel viel lernen.

Auch bei uns fehlte zum Glück die auf der Website angedrohte Schlange an den Kassen, was wahrscheinlich an der Fußballeuphorie direkt vor dem EM-Spiel gegen Russland lag. Für alle, die nicht direkt vor einem Fußballspiel anreisen, kann ich empfehlen, die Tickets online zu kaufen und anschließend einfach grinsend an der Schlange vorbeizumarschieren.

Der durchaus eher hochpreisige Eintritt von aktuell 10 Euro plus 4 Euro für den Audio-Guide lohnen sich auf jeden Fall.

Sehr schön ist auch der Museumsshop, der zurückhaltend gebrandete Poster zu günstigen Preisen bereithält, die bald unsere noch zu weißen Wände schmücken werden.

I don’t really have a ‘bucket list’ but if I did, visiting the Van Gogh museum would be on it. And during our short stay in Amsterdam I was able to fulfill this life long dream.

We went on a Friday night and were pleasantly surprised by the lack of a queue! Another nice thing was the dj spinning and the bar set up in the main atrium area. While you can’t take your drinks into the main museum it was nice to have the option of grabbing a drink before or after.

I highly recommend spending the extra money for the audio tour…it really breaks down a lot of his work in depth and gives you an understanding of what was going on in Van Gogh’s mind during each period. I had no idea that towards the end of his life he painted 80 works of art in 80 days. And to think, he only sold one painting while still alive!

You won’t find a lot of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings here but you will find the largest collection of his art in one place. And as an added bonus your museum admission gets you into the temporary exhibit - in our case we saw the fantastic work of John Everett Millais, including his famous painting Ophelia.
In contrast to Van Gogh, Millais took four months just to paint the creek in his painting!

I can’t recommend the Van Gogh museum enough and suggest going on a Friday night when the crowds are smaller and the scene a bit hipper.