Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands and the country's most important collection of art and history, and it stands on the Museumplein in Amsterdam. The present building was designed by Pierre Cuypers, the architect who also designed Amsterdam Centraal Station, and opened in 1885, with a grand brick facade that mixes Gothic and Renaissance elements and a long passage through the middle. After a ten-year renovation, the museum reopened in 2013 with new galleries and a more open entrance hall, and it has been among the most visited museums in the world ever since.

The collection is centred on the Dutch Golden Age of the seventeenth century, when the Republic was among the richest countries in Europe and its painters achieved extraordinary things. The Gallery of Honour leads to the museum's best known work, Rembrandt's Night Watch, a huge group portrait of a civic guard company painted in 1642. Other highlights include Vermeer's The Milkmaid, painted around 1660, along with more works by Vermeer, paintings by Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Ruisdael and many others, and a selection of works by Van Gogh. The Night Watch is the subject of a long-running research and restoration project that visitors can sometimes watch taking place in a glass-walled studio.

Paintings are only part of what is shown. The museum also has sculpture, furniture, silver, delftware and costume, and a large collection of historical objects that tell the story of the Netherlands from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, including ship models, weapons and dolls' houses of astonishing detail. The Cuypers Library, a beautiful historic reading room, can be seen on a visit, and the gardens beside the museum are open in the summer and contain sculpture and flowerbeds. Special exhibitions are held throughout the year.

Plan the visit carefully, because the museum is large and very busy. Tickets are normally booked online for a specific date and time slot, and booking ahead is strongly recommended, especially in high season. Prices, opening hours and arrangements for cards and discounts change, so check the museum's website before you go. An audio guide helps to make sense of the highlights, and a full visit takes three or four hours, though a shorter one focused on the main works is possible in about two.

The Rijksmuseum is next to other major museums on the Museumplein, including the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum. It suits art lovers, history fans and first-time visitors to Amsterdam. Go early in the day or late in the afternoon for fewer people, and wear comfortable shoes.