Anne Frank Museum: tickets, tours, tips...

Visiting the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam is a great plan: discover the attractions of this piece of history in Holland, and how to get to know, from the inside, the hiding place where Anne Frank was.

Ana Caballero

Ana Caballero

10 min read

Anne Frank Museum: tickets, tours, tips...

Anne Frank House, Amsterdam, | ©Charles

The Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam was created in collaboration with Otto Frank, the father of the girl whose story traveled the world. The organization that manages the space is responsible for telling the story of Anne Frank to the whole world, and opens, so you can know it, the hiding place where his family was during the Holocaust. Read on to find out how to visit.

How much do tickets to the Anne Frank Museum cost?

Queue to enter the Anne Frank House| ©mattmangum
Queue to enter the Anne Frank House| ©mattmangum

Tickets to the Anne Frank Museum cost about 16 ¤ for adults, 7 ¤ for children from 10 to 17 years old, and 1 ¤ for children from 0 to 9 years old.

If you also want to book the introductory program, you must pay an extra 7 ¤. The program is available for visitors over 10 years old.

Meanwhile, the guided tour of Anne Frank, with which you will learn about the history of the exile of the Jewish girl while you walk the streets of her neighborhood, costs approximately 28 euros.

Book the Anne Frank tour of Amsterdam

How to get tickets for the Anne Frank Museum?

Exterior of the Anne Frank House| ©Daryl Mitchell
Exterior of the Anne Frank House| ©Daryl Mitchell

Tickets to the Anne Frank Museum can only be purchased online on the museum's official website. You can purchase them with a pre-set timetable, which you can choose from the options offered by the museum. This is true for the general public as well as for children's tickets and Anne Frank Museum discount card tickets.

Tickets for one month go on sale on the first Tuesday of the month, so pay attention, because if they are sold out, you will not be able to buy them.

If you don't make it in time and can't get tickets for the museum, you have the option to join the Anne Frank tour through the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam. In fact, this activity will give you the opportunity to learn more about the history and the environment where the German girl and her family hid, thanks to the explanations given by an expert guide.

Book the Anne Frank tour in Amsterdam

The best option to complete your visit: the Anne Frank tour of the Jewish Quarter

Streets of Jodenbuurt| ©maduarte
Streets of Jodenbuurt| ©maduarte

Another way to learn about the life of Anne Frank, if you prefer to have an expert guide tell you the details of her life, is to take the Anne Frank tour of Amsterdam's Jewish Quarter.

For about two hours this tour will take you through the places where the family had to hide to escape Nazi persecution, which will give you an overview of the harshness of life in the city during the Holocaust.

You will walk through Jodenbuurt, the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, the Jordaan district, where the "Secret Annex" is located, and the surroundings of the Jewish Historical Museum, among other places. A whole district full of tributes to the Jewish community and trying to recover its memory.

Book the Anne Frank tour in Amsterdam

Are there guided tours of the Anne Frank Museum and is it worth it?

Museum Entrance| ©Chan K
Museum Entrance| ©Chan K

At the Anne Frank Museum you have the option to buy the entrance ticket with introductory program, which will help you get up to speed. However, the museum does not offer guided tours.

Despite this, my recommendation is that you visit the Anne Frank Museum and on the same day, earlier in the day, take an Anne Frank tour of Amsterdam's Jewish quarter, which is where the museum is located. On these tours, the focus will be on the young Anne, so you will arrive at the Anne Frank House with a different kind of motivation.

This tour lasts two hours, and is a great option to get to know the Jewish Quarter before entering the museum. It is ideal for 20th century history buffs. The guided tour can be booked in the language of your choice, so you won't miss any details about the history of the Holocaust.

During the tour, you will walk the stretch between the Jewish Quarter and Anne Frank's House, and learn about one of the darkest episodes in world history.

Book the Anne Frank tour of Amsterdam

Anne Frank Museum opening hours

Anne Frank Room| ©Jil D
Anne Frank Room| ©Jil D

You can visit the Anne Frank Museum from Monday to Thursday from 9:00 to 17:00, or, if you decide to go on a day between Friday and Sunday, from 9:00 to 19:00.

Remember that tickets are purchased in advance, and you must choose a time slot within that range before you buy them. Tickets cannot be purchased without defining the time of day you will go.

Meanwhile, in the case of the Anne Frank tour of the Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam you can choose two times to make the tour, either at 10:00 or if you prefer at 14:00 hours, which you must also select when making your reservation, and its duration is 2 hours.

Book an Anne Frank tour in Amsterdam

How to get to the Anne Frank Museum

Directions to the Anne Frank House| ©Talya Price
Directions to the Anne Frank House| ©Talya Price

The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam is located in the city center. Specifically, at 263-267 Prinsengracht Street. However, you enter the grounds just around the corner from there, at Westermarkt 20.

You should know that, from the Central Train Station, it is about a twenty minute walk. You can also take streetcar 13 or 17 and get off at the "Westermarkt" stop.

In addition, you can take buses 170, 171 and 172. Do not forget to always have Google Maps and a good internet signal at hand, so you can avoid getting lost and move around the city as if you have always known it.

Is it advisable to book the introductory program to visit the Anne Frank Museum?

Inside the house| ©Chan K
Inside the house| ©Chan K

The introductory program is a 30-minute talk that will introduce you to the experience of visiting the museum. Whether or not you should book it depends on whether or not you know Dutch or English, which are the languages in which this program is offered. If the answer is yes, then it would definitely be a good idea to book it.

The introductory program to the Anne Frank Museum lasts half an hour. Afterwards, you can visit the museum. It is a great option to get some context before taking a walk through the house of the girl who has moved the whole world with her diary of teenage memories.

With the introductory program, you will have information that helps to complement the information you already bring with you, to be more in tune with the context in which you will enter. Among other things, you will receive information about Anne's history, about World War II. In addition, you will learn all about how the museum is organized and the organization that governs it.

Are tickets to the Anne Frank Museum included in any Amsterdam sightseeing pass?

Amsterdam Pass| ©HappyW
Amsterdam Pass| ©HappyW

The Amsterdam Pass does not include tickets to visit the Anne Frank Museum. However, there is no other Amsterdam City Pass that includes it in the package. For example, the I Amsterdam City Card does not.

However, if you hire any of the best tours of Amsterdam, you will see that some do have this mandatory stop, so you can see the Anne Frank Museum and at the same time walk around Amsterdam.

Even if you have the Dutch Museum Card you will have to get tickets. In this case, you will only pay the reservation fee, but still, if you do not buy a ticket, you will not be able to visit the museum.

Book an Anne Frank tour in Amsterdam

Is it advisable to go to the Anne Frank Museum with children?

Statue commemorating Anne Frank| ©jack_g
Statue commemorating Anne Frank| ©jack_g

You should know, first of all, that the museum itself has tickets for children from the youngest age. This is because there is definitely nothing in the museum that makes it inadvisable to attend with them. However, I think it's a decision you should make personally.

Here's how I see the advantages and disadvantages of going to the Anne Frank Museum with children.

Advantages:

  • If you are on vacation, you don't have to lose your mind to figure out where to drop them off.
  • If you like to educate your children to respect diversity, you will definitely find this plan very educational.
  • Tickets for children and teenagers are really affordable.

Disadvantages:

  • If your kids cry or scream a lot, you might be cut off by the weather.
  • Not much else: take them!

Have you decided to travel to Amsterdam? Don't hesitate to check out our 10 tips for traveling to Amsterdam!

Book an Anne Frank tour in Amsterdam

Top things you can't miss at the Anne Frank Museum

Anne Frank's hiding place| ©Dennis Jarvis
Anne Frank's hiding place| ©Dennis Jarvis

The Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam, as you know, takes the physical space where Anne Frank lived before she was found, and recreates the space so you can fully enter into her tragic story. I'll summarize the best things to see in this museum below:

The Secret Annex

Wondering what the Secret Annex is? You see: it is the house where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis who were invading their city. The employees who were in charge of allowing the hiding place, were able to save some belongings after the little girl was arrested, but most of them were lost.

The rooms that you will see when you walk through this part of the museum will be different from the ones that Anne Frank actually had available to survive the war. However, you can recreate them with photos, signage, posters and your own impressions from the Diary of Anne Frank. Now do you agree with me that it's best to read it first?

The diaries of Anne Frank

Another thing you definitely can't forget is to pay attention when you are on your way to the first floor. You will see a room with many objects on display, and inside it, yes: the original diaries of Anne Frank. You'll be separated by glass from being able to touch them, but you'll definitely be able to see them.

Undoubtedly one of the most exciting elements of the Anne Frank Museum: being able to see up close those old notes that once rested under the young girl's pen.

Free2choose Room

Finally, we recommend you to visit the Free2choose room, which is an educational space where you can learn while testing your convictions about freedom and racism. You can get to know yourself better and measure your tolerance of differences.

You will discover that the Anne Frank Museum is not only a tourist attraction: it is a room of resistance, from which actions are promoted to change the course of things.

How much time do you need to visit the Anne Frank Museum?

Photos of Anne Frank inside the Museum| ©Jil D
Photos of Anne Frank inside the Museum| ©Jil D

Although the Anne Frank Museum does not have a time limit for your visit, it will be useful to know that you can tour the museum in about an hour.

Then, if you want to spend more time touring the museum, having a drink in the cafeteria or strolling through the Anne Frank Museum store, you are free to do so as you see fit.

If you book an admission ticket to the Anne Frank House with a specific timetable, you will have a predefined entrance time. The time of departure is up to you.

Where to eat near the Anne Frank Museum

Café at the Anne Frank Museum| ©Cris Toala Olivares
Café at the Anne Frank Museum| ©Cris Toala Olivares

You will love this. You can have a coffee not only near, but also inside the Anne Frank Museum. The museum itself offers you its cafeteria, overlooking the Prinsengracht. In the cafeteria of the Anne Frank Museum, you can choose between cold drinks and hot drinks.

In addition, in the cafeteria of the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam you will have available the possibility to order snacks, and even select some of their options for lunch there.

You can only access the cafeteria if you visit the Anne Frank House, and inside you can only pay by card. Without a doubt, the mere fact of knowing this cafeteria with an incredible view is reason enough to go to the museum, and it is not even the most interesting reason.

Is it important to have read the Diary of Anne Frank before visiting the museum?

Rest of the Diary of Anne Frank| ©Heather Cowper
Rest of the Diary of Anne Frank| ©Heather Cowper

This is not an answer I can give you, because I really think it depends on each person's criteria. In my case, and having read it, I can say that I think that the more tools we have to get into spaces like this, the more juice we will get out of them.

Not that you will not understand what is happening if you do not read the diary, of course not. However, I suppose you re-signify in other ways the things you observe by having read young Anne's account in the first person.

By the way, I think it's a must read even if you don't intend to visit the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam. The writing of the little girl-teenager in hiding, and with her problems so everyday, so mundane, while everything is falling apart around her, is definitely a fascinating and moving experience.

However, I must tell you that, if you haven't read the Diary of Anne Frank and don't plan to do so before you travel to Amsterdam, you can still access and buy it at the very Anne Frank Museum store. There's no escaping it, eh?

Book an Anne Frank tour of Amsterdam