Planning your museum days
Three museums, two cities, and an optional fourth stop in Delft — here's how the actual logistics fit together, and how to decide how many days this trip deserves.
Tickets, in order of urgency
- Van Gogh Museum
- Book weeks ahead
- Rijksmuseum
- Book days ahead, peak season
- Mauritshuis
- Usually flexible
The Van Gogh Museum is the one genuine bottleneck in this trip — its timed-entry slots sell out days or weeks ahead in spring and summer. The Rijksmuseum benefits from advance booking in peak season but is generally more forgiving. The Mauritshuis, being smaller and less globally famous than the other two, is usually the easiest to get into without planning far ahead.
The train logistics
Everything in this guide connects by direct or near-direct train, which is what makes a multi-city version of this trip realistic in a short amount of time.
- Amsterdam Centraal → Den Haag Centraal: around 50 minutes, direct, frequent departures.
- Den Haag Centraal → Delft: around 15 minutes.
- Amsterdam Centraal → Delft direct: around an hour.
The Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum need no train at all — they're a five-minute walk apart on Museumplein in Amsterdam.
How many days does this actually need
One day
Covers Museumplein only — the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum, both in Amsterdam, no train required beyond arriving in the city.
Two days
Adds a full day trip to The Hague and Delft — the Mauritshuis in the morning, Delft's old town in the afternoon, connected by a short train.
Three days or more
Leaves room to slow down inside each museum, add a second Amsterdam museum entirely outside this guide's scope (the Anne Frank House and the Rembrandt House Museum are both common additions), or spend a full day in Delft rather than just an afternoon.
Use the route planner on the homepage