A very unique experience, though a bit pricey at around $24 USD (€20-22). It's important to know…read morethat this isn't a traditional museum; it's a high-tech art storage center that happens to be open to the public. The focus is really on the "behind-the-scenes" of art preservation--how pieces are crated, cleaned, and stored in climate-controlled rooms. The building itself is a masterpiece. It spans several floors, and while the individual sections feel small, the central atrium with its zig-zagging staircases is massive. There's an elevator if you want to skip the stairs! They offer free 10-minute "walk-in" tours of the storage compartments, plus more detailed "behind-the-scenes" tours that are worth the extra look. The top floor has a great cafe/restaurant (Renilde) and an outdoor space with a forest of birch trees. The 360-degree view of Rotterdam is breathtaking. If you love architecture or are curious about how museums actually work, it's worth the price. If you just want to see a standard art gallery, you might find it a bit expensive.

The Boijmans is the main art museum in Rotterdam. It opened in 1847, originally with the collection…read moreof Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans. Since then, it has grown and now contains some of the preeminent works of art. Not just Dutch artists, the collection includes Rembrant, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, René Magritte and Salvador Dalí. And those are just the more famous. There are Rubens and Bosch and many more! A friend of mine had visited a few months ago and found the Rembrant/Dali wing was closed. That wing was open this time, but the Kandinsky wing was closed. I'm a big fan of Kandinsky and I have a few posters of his work and his contemporaries. I was bummed. Even bummed, I still enjoyed the Bruegel "Tower of Babel", one of the most famous paintings in Rotterdam. And the Rodin sculptures. Amazing artworks! The museum wasn't particularly crowded on this weekday and they had no issue with photographs, as long as the flash was disabled. An audio tour is available, which I strongly recommend. Note: The museum is a member of the Museumkaart system, so if you're planning on visiting more than three or four museums in the Netherlands, get the card!

Museum Boerhaave- originally a convent in central Leiden, established in 1931 as a science and…read moremedicine museum with an extensive collection of historical scientific instruments. Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738), a Dutch physician, botanist and humanist, for whom the museum is named after, was famous throughout Europe as a teacher of medicine and he is known to have taught Peter the Great, Voltaire, and Linnaeus. Of note, Boerhaave's main achievement was to demonstrate the relation of symptoms to lesions and was the first to isolate urea from urine. In 1724, he was the first to describe what is now known as Boerhaave Syndrome, for which Baron Jan von Wassenaer died from following a gluttonous feast and subsequent regurgitation.

One of the geekier options for fun in Leiden, the Boerhaave Museum is a fascinating stop for anyone…read morewho's interested in history, science, medicine, or any combination of those. It's a national museum, so it's been curated at a very high level. The space itself is in an old building, but one that's been renovated perfectly to show off the items and explain their context. The collection ranges from the 16th century to the present. Not being science-oriented myself, I'll say that the earliest items are the most accessible. The closer you get to the present, the more complicated and specialized everything becomes. Eventually, all the items look like interchangeable metal boxes. But that's just me. If you're at all knowledgeable, I'm sure they're more compelling. The first thing you encounter is a replica of the 17th-century anatomy theater. You can set in the seats and imagine what it would have been like to attend a dissection, at a time when very few people understood the human body at all. This showpiece is surrounded by skeletons (animal and human) and explained by a video. The early medical instruments were also cool (and creepy). Tracing the history of familiar instruments like microscopes and clocks is also interesting, and there are some hands-on displays that help you understand the scientific principles behind them. The natural history collections are amazing and daunting (like an 18th-century version of "Hoarders.") I wish there was an audio guide to help explain the significance of some of the more arcane exhibits. Apart from that, though, this museum is an intellectual treat of the first order.

A well laid out museum with a large collection of masterpieces from artists like Rembrandt, Vermeer…read moreand Ruebens. The famous Girl with the Pearl Earring is captivating but there are many others worth viewing. Check out the lower level and its presentation about how the museum dealt with occupation during WWII.

Walking in, the museum immediately feels calm and intimate. The galleries are beautifully arranged,…read moreand the scale works perfectly -- spacious enough to move comfortably, but small enough that you're always aware of how close you are to the art and the people around you. It's the kind of place where you don't want to be that person blocking a painting, and the layout naturally encourages everyone to share the space respectfully. There's a complimentary coat and bag check, and it's absolutely worth using. Being able to wander without a backpack or jacket makes the whole visit feel lighter and lets you focus entirely on the works in front of you. The collection itself is exceptional -- beautifully curated, full of pieces that genuinely deserve the attention they get. But then you hit the large Stephan Vanfleteren photographs scattered throughout the rooms, and the tone shifts hard. These oversized portraits have the dull, overprocessed look of something you could snap on a smartphone that's been dropped repeatedly and still somehow limps along. They feel completely disconnected from the surrounding masterpieces, like filler chosen because a wall needed something on it. The contrast is so jarring that it pulls you out of the experience, and after a few rooms, it starts to feel less like an artistic choice and more like an intrusion. It's baffling that a museum with such a refined collection would wedge in work that looks this flat, this mismatched, and this unworthy of the space it occupies. By the time you finish, the memory of the classical works is still there, but so is the irritation -- those photographs linger in the worst way, leaving the overall experience feeling uneven and not nearly as polished as it should be.

Loved this museum. It's a small museum but very interesting. It captures storytelling of Escher's…read morelife and how it is portrayed in his art. Loved how the rooms are laid out for this purpose as well. Good labeling on the pieces and useful to have the free audio tour accessible via phone.

Fantastic museum for any one who appreciates interesting art or is an Escher lover. The museum has…read morea QR code that you can scan which provides a free overview of the most popular prints. You can read or listen to the guide. This was very helpful in getting the background story on the art and covers the top 12. There are 2 floors of prints from Escher and artists who were inspired by him. No parking.

This is where you go for culture. Not only is it dotted with several museums, but there's also a…read morelovely garden with tons of different paths, fountains, and places to rest and relax.

We bought the museum park for access to all museums in this park cost 27€. For one entry would be…read more14€. Pretty awesome

Van Gogh was sold out, chose this instead.... And it was awesome! . However, this museum can sell…read moreout too! Really enjoyed the afternoon we spent in this museum. My favorite was the "Nightwatch" exhibit, but there was so much more to enjoy I loved that the more famous works of art had laminated cards (in multiple languages) that explained the exhibit and told you the history and interests about the work. The building is a little tough to navigate, but we figured it out. Amsterdam is full of museums, this is one you shouldn't miss. Lots to do outside too.

One of the must see museums when visiting Amsterdam…read more We also enjoyed taking a break at the cafe located inside the Rijksmuseum.

A small city in the South of the Netherlands. Known for its cheese and historical churches, its an…read moreeasy day trip from most of Holland. And well worth a visit as a tourist. I came here when I had some free time and was so happy I did. I had been as a child, but as an adult it was really much more interesting. Lots of history here, of course Holland/The Netherlands has been around a while, and so has this town. Its an old town, from around 1100 when a family named van der Goude occupied and started to develop the area. It has had a few iterations over the hundreds of years, some fires, plagues, occupations etc. So its had to rebuild itself a few times. These days its a thriving city that holds the Gouda cheese market. The cheese itself is made in the region, but brought to the city for grading and selling. In the city you can enter a few Gouda stores and sample some of the various cheeses and flavors. You can of course also buy the cheese here. Gouda also makes many of the stroopwaffels sold worldwide. Its a typical Dutch cookie, and well loved by all who sample one. They originated in Gouda, although they are now made worldwide. Its a very walkable city and has some areas that don't allow cars in the city center. Makes for a great day. Get a map of the city, or use the ones on the street every so often, visit the Gothic churches and buildings, walk along the canals, sample some cheese, visit the Gouda Museum. Learn some history along the way. Parking restrictions are very enforced here so park carefully and mindfully. Also, remember where you parked if you plan to walk the city.

Gouda was a fun town to visit for a day. We came here on cheese market day and went around to the…read moredifferent vendors, sampling cheeses. We also visited some stores, including the stroopwafel factory that was very memorable for their interior human-sized hamster wheel and 2-story indoor slide.

Never quite seen so many music makers…read more There is a good kids attraction where they can do a scavenger hunt There is a guided tour that looks interesting Took about one hour for us to go through and feel like we were able to see everything

I seriously can't fathom why this museum is so poorly rated. This was probably my favorite museum…read moreon our trip. If you are going, make sure to take the TOUR. We made the 10:30am one. It's free and the young man, in addition to explaining what the automatons and musical instruments were and the history behind them, actually wound up all the ancient relics so you could see them in action. Some of this stuff is really old, which is mind boggling. Exceptional museum and so much fun (and I don't have children and am not a child!). A must-visit in Utrecht. Also, a separate note about Holland for those planning their trip. Utrecht and The Hague were our favorite cities. We found Amsterdam to be touristy and overrated. Delft is a nice day trip (20 minutes from The Hague) but don't go to the Delftware factory, it is a tourist trap. Skip Leiden: university town but not that interesting and not much in it.

The tour has really basic information and is explained via a headset in an unbelievably childish…read moretone! I personally expected to see organs in a jar with detailed information on every part of the human body. Now it was just an really long and lousy theme park attraction. Considering the price of €18,75 this was just far below my expectations, next to that the technology used in this "museum" is really outdated. And parking cost 6 euro's! Even when you stay for less than an hour, because that's all the time you will need to explore this 'theme park'..... Enjoy

This museum is amazing!…read more After you purchase your ticket you receive an audio guide, and then begin your journey. You travel through various parts of the human body and receive an educational breakdown of that particular area while you stand in it: the mouth, heart, stomach, lungs, etc. The interactive aspect of the museum makes it much more interesting than your standard science museum. Getting to the museum isn't the easiest especially as someone who doesn't know a lick of Dutch. I tried taking the bus from Leiden Centraal, but the bus wasn't running consistently so I ended up having to do quite a bit of walking, but the museum itself was very enjoyable! I recommend it to anyone visiting the region. I was staying in Amsterdam, and it was well worth the trip to Leiden to visit Corpus.

Really awesome museum also known as the National Museum of Antiquities. Great museum for Egyptian…read morebuffs with lots of mummies and hieroglyphics. History goes through the Greeks in early middle ages. Plan to spend about 3 hours with the audio tour. Lots to see. They have a decent gift shop and cafe.

This Rijksmuseum location is MUCH smaller than Amsterdam's, but we were staying with friends in…read moreLeiden and visited it first. If we were not in Leiden because our expat friends live there, this museum would not have been on our radar at all. This museum is fairly low key and was NOT crowded on a Friday afternoon. Locker rentals are available to store coats/belongings and are included with the admission cost. For a small museum, there's a ton to see, and in two hours, we didn't make our way through everything. On our visit, they had an exhibition on the Year 1000, which was advertised throughout Leiden, and it was neat to learn about The Netherlands in the Middle Ages. The first floor is mostly Egyptian art which was also fascinating. From Amsterdam, the easiest way to get to Leiden is via train from Centraal station. If you want to explore a Dutch small town/college town, it's worth it to visit Leiden and check out the Rijksmuseum.