Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam: How to get in when tickets are sold out

Van Gogh Museum tours — which include admission tickets — have availability when normal entry tickets have sold out. This guide, updated in January 2026, shows you how to get inside Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum when there are no tickets left.

Visiting Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is one of the highlights of a visit to the Netherlands. One of Europe’s most popular art museums, it is home to more than 200 Van Gogh paintings, and exhibitions about the ear-cutting artist’s life.

However, the Van Gogh Museum is surprisingly small, and its massive popularity could cause many visitors a problem – namely, that the entrance tickets are usually sold out.

How far in advance do Van Gogh Museum tickets sell out?

If you want to visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, advance booking a ticket is pretty much essential. And, by advance, I mean at least a week or so in advance.

I looked on the official site at about 3pm on a Tuesday afternoon. The tickets for the Van Gogh Museum were not only sold out for today, but for the next five days as well.

5 great Amsterdam experiences to book

  • 🌷 Zaanse Schans day tour: Combine windmills, cheese and clog factories on a day tour to Zaanse Schans, Edam, Volendam and Marken.
  • 🚤 Amsterdam canal cruise: Take a cruise along the canals with unlimited beer and wine.
  • 📖 Anne Frank and Jewish Quarter tour: Follow in Anne Frank’s footsteps on a WWII walking tour of Amsterdam’s Jewish Quarter.
  • 🔴 Red Light District tour: Let a knowledgeable guide explain Amsterdam’s red light district and ‘coffee’ shops.
  • 🧀 Amsterdam food tour: Taste Amsterdam’s local specialities on a food and culture tour.

Visiting the Van Gogh Museum when tickets have sold out

However, there is a sneaky – if more expensive – workaround. There are many tours that include entrance to the Van Gogh Museum. Some of these are basically just museum tickets with a prebooked audioguide. Others are small group guided tours.

However, these tour companies are clearly given an allocation of tickets. Which means the tour operators sometimes have availability when the official Van Gogh Museum site does not.

Van Gogh Museum tour

A quick scout through the Van Gogh Museum tours on Tuesday afternoon showed that, instead of having to wait until the following Monday, I could get in tomorrow – Wednesday. 

Given the Van Gogh Museum tickets are sold out nearly a week in advance, getting next day admission when searching in the afternoon is an absolute result.

Look through the Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum tour options here.

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How much do Van Gogh Museum tickets cost?

Via the official site, Van Gogh Museum tickets cost €25. Tours that include the Van Gogh Museum cost from €38, although you may have to pay upwards of €50 to find one that has the elusive next day availability.

These Van Gogh museum entry fees were checked and updated in January 2026.

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Photo by Frans Ruiter on Unsplash

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