Private Rijksmuseum Exploration: Guided Tour with Exclusive Reserved Entry

Tailored Excellence: Unveiling Dutch Artistry on a Private Rijksmuseum Tour

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  • Babylon Tours Amsterdam
Duration: 2 to 2.5hs Private Tour

From €79-145

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Tour Description

Discover more about this tour

Skip the line and join us for a private tour through this world-famous collection of Dutch art, with paintings from Vermeer, Van Gogh, Rembrandt and many more!

Often called Holland’s version of the Louvre, the Rijksmuseum is one of Amsterdam’s jewels. Our 2-2.5 hour private tour provides first-time and veteran visitors alike with a personalized journey through the history of Dutch art. (And don’t forget, your ticket is valid all day, so you can come back as many times as you like!)

With 8,000 pieces in this stunning collection, there is a lot to see and learn: you’ll discuss Rembrandt’s portraits, explore the significance of Vermeer’s “The Milkmaid”, examine rarer pieces, like the museum’s series of 17th century dollhouses, and spend some time in the extensive 19th century library. By the end of your visit, you’ll have a unique and thorough overview of Dutch art and the museum’s offerings. (No promises about being able to pronounce the name correctly though!)

Highlights Include: (if artwork is not on loan or being restored etc.)

Rembrandt’s portraits (“The Jewish Bride”, “Night Watch”)

Vermeer’s “The Milkmaid”, one of the museum’s most celebrated attractions

Delft ceramics: blue, white and fancy

17th century dollhouses, globes and ship replicas

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Private Tour

“Private Tour” means tour guide exclusively for you.

Latest Reviews
Latest Reviews
  • Paul C Paul C

    What an incredible museum! I would definitely do it with a tour guide! Victoria was terrific and passionate about the art work. She was able to give us art history lessons as we enjoyed the museum.

  • Lizbeth R Lizbeth R

    The tour of the Rijks, as Audrey gave us, was an exciting glimpse into the Golden Age of the Dutch in the 17th century. She started the tour in the Middle Ages and skillfully illustrated the transformation from a poor and backward country to a focused and efficient one. The Low Countries achieved power and outreach totally unrelated to its size. Amazing! Rembrandt's and Vermeer's paintings were a highlight. Audrey has gifted us with a memorable impression of the mighty Dutch, I definitely recommend her tour.

  • Sal B Sal B

    Our guide was knowledable and friendly and we loved the new, renovated museum.

  • Donald D Donald D

    Excellent tour. Private guide was personal and informative. Would certainly do this one again!

  • Nancy G Nancy G

    Guide was extremely well versed in the museum. She gave us a walking art history class.

  • Michael D Michael D

    We really enjoyed this private tour. Our guide, Paula, was very knowledgable as well as friendly and polite. Her English was good and you could sense a real enthusiasm from her for the museum and the art contained inside.

  • Denise R? Denise R?

    Our guide was an amazing pleasure and wealth of knowledge. This is the best tour we have taken. She explained the architecture, history, people and the art. She explained the symbolism behind the art and the signifigance of each piece.

  • ssquire ssquire

    Guide Victoria very knowledgeable and personable. Met all of our expectations.

  • Brian E Brian E

    We entirely enjoyed the complete tour experience. Our guide was excellent. Her ability to describe the art and place it in historical context was just what we were looking for.

  • Karina K Karina K

    Victoria was a perfect docent for our mixed group. My kids were less than excited by the art history. So she peppered our tour with interesting history notes and the weapons display. I got my art upgrade and everyone was happy. That and #39;s no small feat!

  • Sharon Sharon

    Fantastic guide, Paola was both highly knowledgeable and extremely charming. A lovely morning in the Rijksmuseum and highly recommended.

  • Eric Goodman Eric Goodman

    Our tour guide was exceptional, Cea was enthusiastic and informative, learned much in a short time about the Dutch masters and historical Amsterdam

  • Tasha Wall Tasha Wall

    I have been on many tours and thought that this was one of the best. Salena was very knowledgable, personal and interesting. Had a really great time.

  • Caroline Gibson Caroline Gibson

    Great tour guide. Knowledgeable, excellent English. A joy to be with.And we learned a lot. You can't ask for more on an art museum guide.

  • Brice Hodges Brice Hodges

    Reviewing some of the available tous of amsterdam we have discovered babylon tours. We booked a private tour of amsterdam mesuem and it was simply well above any expectations. Our tour guide was simply great giving us general information and details on both the period, artists and every of the most inportant and amazing places (including curiosities) we have seen. We would suggest everybosy to use this operator.

  • Myles Moore Myles Moore

    The art was great...the museum amazing...our guide Paola just wonderful! I think my wife and I will remember meeting Paola as much as the art. Her knowledge of the museum and its exhibitions was unbeatable. Our two hour tour just flew by. We can't thank her enough for being such a fabulous host. Book the tour, you won't regret a single second :)

  • Richie Hawkins Richie Hawkins

    Excellent and left us with the feeling when we had more time we would go back again. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and we greatly enjoyed our tour. Thank you

  • Stanley Gibbs Stanley Gibbs

    While visiting Amsterdam we decided to take a private tour of the Rijksmuseum and discovered the Skin-the-line and Private Guided Tour. Our guide, Giuesppina, met us outside the museum at 9:45 am on 10/3/2018 (if you get there early enough there probably won't be a line). The entire three hours of the tour were spent on the Dutch Masters (I am only mentioning this because the description of this tour does not disclose this). I am not sure if this was her personal decision or if this is the company's policy to just focus on the Dutch Masters but she was extremely knowledgeable. If you choose this company and want to see more than just the Dutch Masters I would definitely ask them about this before booking. This is a huge museum (you could probably spend days in here) so if you want to stay beyond the tour your guide will email you a copy of your tickets. This tour is a great way to see the museum and we all learned so much from Giuesppina.

  • Kristy Whitney Kristy Whitney

    Selina did a great job walking us through the Rijksmuseum. Incredibly knowledgeable about both the art and the historical context. Thank you

  • Allie Oneal Allie Oneal

    Victoria did a great job as our tour guide. Wonderful information about the art works as well as insight to living in Amsterdam. Recommend her highly!!

  • Christa Mayer Christa Mayer

    Our guide, Selina Anderson was a lovely, warm, friendly & very knowledgeable young woman who obviously loves what she does. She was very organised, explained her approach to our tour & navigated us through the crowds very capably. She shared her love of the artworks without any superiority & by the time we were finished, we felt like we had become friends.

  • Rebecca Sampson Rebecca Sampson

    We had an absolutely fabulous tour of the Rijksmuseum. We had a little confusion about when our tour was to start, but once we were together, the tour was amazing. It was just me and my husband, so it really was a private tour! It was a busy Saturday at the museum, with several tours going on at the same time, but our guide was so knowledgeable and had such interesting things to say that we often found other people eavesdropping on our tour! We had a wonderful time and saw all the things we wanted to see. We also learned a lot about Dutch artists, their techniques, and what differentiated their work from other artists of the same period. It was informative, fun, exceptionally interesting and just what we were looking for. Highly recommended!

  • Preston Yu Preston Yu

    Our guide Paola, was very thoughtful, informative and gave us a wonderful introduction to the Riksmuseum. The experience was a great value! Thank-you.

  • Etta Cook Etta Cook

    Great tour.... terrific knowledge of museum...... very enjoyable!....the museum can be overwhelming but Paola hit all the key exhibits

  • Rebecca Macias Rebecca Macias

    We all three loved the tour. The 2 hours flew by and was perfect amount of information to absorb. His personal stories added to the tour and gave it a unique feel from just reading materials.

  • Dianne Cannon Dianne Cannon

    Our tour of the Rejksmuseum was better than expected. Tour guide Victoria was informative and passionate about the art and Dutch culture and it made the whole experience great

  • Robby Harrison Robby Harrison

    The tour ended up being a private tour just my husband and myself. Tea was very knowledgeable and has made the tour very interesting.

  • Marcia Grimes Marcia Grimes

    Very much enjoyed the museum and the private tour. We lucked out and it was only us on the tour. Had a great time with Victoria and got more from the museum than we would have on our own

  • Cesar Dorsey Cesar Dorsey

    The guides were very experienced and helpful. They went out of their way ensuring that we had a good time. Amsterdam's wind chill was quite cold during our time there, yet the experience was worth it. The tour was very punctual, which was very professional as well.

  • Kevin Larsen Kevin Larsen

    We had afantastic time with our guide, Victoria. She was extremely knowledgable and made the museum items really come to live. If you have only a few hours available and want tobknow more than just the average, this tour is a must!

  • Hazel Tucker Hazel Tucker

    The experience was enriched by touring with Hank. He was knowledgeable, personable and able to give historical context to the art. I appreciated his discussion of the enormous restoration project and very recent reopening.

  • Ben Deleon Ben Deleon

    The Rijksmuseum has an enormous collection that could be overwhelming. Our tour, led by Tea', was a wonderful introduction to the collection focusing on the Grand Masters galleries. Connecting the artists and their paintings to their place in Dutch history and to each other was a fascinating learning opportunity. The paintings are beautiful--but understanding their background and context made them important. The tour was just the right length. After a short break it left plenty of time to revisit some of the works we had discussed or to explore other parts of the museum at our leisure. Tea' was knowledgeable and personable. Her enthusiasm for the art added to the experience. Well worth the investment. The tour truly helped to make our visit so much more enjoyable.

  • Horace Benson Horace Benson

    Our guide Tea was highly knowledgable, enthusiastic and responsive. Her sophisticated understanding and well planned exploration of key works allowed us to really appreciate what we were seeing. The way she organized her approach Seeing the paintings this way truly maximized our time at the museum. Money very well spent. allowed us to build on this understanding as we later explored on our own.

  • Alan Taylor Alan Taylor

    A good guide can turn any museum experience from a "ho hum" day into a wonderful, educational, stimulating memory. Cera made that special memory for us today.

  • Blanche Bennett Blanche Bennett

    This was the second time my husband and I booked a museum tour with this company and we were not disappointed. While we would have been happy with the group tour that we did a few years ago in Paris, we booked too late and the only option was a private tour. This was actually much better. We learned so much more and the tour was at our pace, stopping to view want we wanted to see and not fearing that we were boring others with our questions. Strongly encourage you to do this over a headset tour. It was interesting to watch those with headsets trying to look like they were not listening to what our guide said.

  • Marta Jackson Marta Jackson

    The young woman who was are tour guide was well versed in her subject, interesting, easy to understand and as pleasant as she could be. She was also completely prepared with back up materials on her notepad and other materials to enhance the experience. One of the best tours of an art museum we have ever taken.

  • Sammy McKay Sammy McKay

    Private tour of Rijksmuseum was excellent. Guide was personable and very informative. We would certainly recommend this tour to anyone interested in some of the world's best art!

  • Dolores Farrell Dolores Farrell

    We booked a Rijksmuseum Private Tour for three of us. Our private guide was Paola. She was fantastic! She was extremely knowledgeable about what we were seeing at the museum. She was very friendly and found it to be the most enjoyable tour. Our dear friend who accompanied us is elderly and in a wheelchair. Paola helped navigate us around in order to use the lifts. We would highly recommend this tour and would definitely do it again.

  • Maxine Shea Maxine Shea

    I booked a private tour of the Rijksmuseum through Babylon Tours before leaving home. Tea was our guide, and she was amazing. She met us promptly and was extremely knowledgeable and professional. She told us about the building, which is an interesting piece of art in and of itself, as well as the paintings. Often she would explain a painting by comparing it to what was being painted in Italy or Germany at the time and she would show us pictures of the comparisons on her Ipad so we could see for ourselves the differences and similarities. She even brought samples of the pigments used to make the colors the artists used! The tour with her was 2 hours, but we were allowed to remain in the museum as long as we wanted, and she gave us suggestions for what else to see. She made our visit to the Rijksmuseum a memorable experience. I highly recommend using Babylon Tours when you are looking for private tours of museums. It is rather expensive, but worth every euro!, ,,,

  • Frederic Richmond Frederic Richmond

    Our guide Selina was excellent. Her knowledge was outstanding, she had great Empathy. Wonderful to have a guide to ourselves, this meant we could linker when we wanted to, take a break when we wanted to. We meet just outside the Rijksmuseum and quickly put our coats in a locker (who knew about lockers). The day just flew bey. Will go again hopefully with Selina.

  • Leticia Rich Leticia Rich

    Outstanding, great wonderful and helpful. The guide was friendly and hospitable. Highly knowledgeable

  • Jasper Conrad Jasper Conrad

    We had a guide from Babylon Tours Amsterdam take us through the Rijksmuseum on a recent visit. We got to the front of the line - no waiting - and he gave us insightful descriptions of he various artwork. He also maximized the use of our time so that we went to all of "the good stuff". I would use Babylon again

  • Gregorio Riggs Gregorio Riggs

    Took the guided tour with Paolo. She was very pleasant and extremely knowledgeable. Knew the background on both the museum and all the art & artists. Detailed explanations of the background & history. Fantastic ask around.

  • Alberto Porter Alberto Porter

    We booked a two hour private tour of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, We had four in our group and the tour was exceptional. Anita, our guide, was very knowledgeable and was very attentive to our questions. The tour was well worth the price given we were able to skip the long lines and get an up close personal look at the museum pieces.

  • Lauren Martin Lauren Martin

    Our guide Victoria was knowledgeable, engaging, and enthustiac. Her tour of the Dutch Masters at the Rijkes museum gave us a great perspective of the art and culture of the Dutch Golden Age.

  • Naomi Irwin Naomi Irwin

    What an incredible museum! I would definitely do it with a tour guide! Victoria was terrific and passionate about the art work. She was able to give us art history lessons as we enjoyed the museum.

  • Erik Moyer Erik Moyer

    The tour of the Rijks, as Audrey gave us, was an exciting glimpse into the Golden Age of the Dutch in the 17th century. She started the tour in the Middle Ages and skillfully illustrated the transformation from a poor and backward country to a focused and efficient one. The Low Countries achieved power and outreach totally unrelated to its size. Amazing! Rembrandt's and Vermeer's paintings were a highlight. Audrey has gifted us with a memorable impression of the mighty Dutch, I definitely recommend her tour.

  • Keri Lee Keri Lee

    Our guide was knowledable and friendly and we loved the new, renovated museum.

  • Jamie Shah Jamie Shah

    Excellent tour. Private guide was personal and informative. Would certainly do this one again!

  • Donna Simmons Donna Simmons

    Guide was extremely well versed in the museum. She gave us a walking art history class.

  • Connie Clark Connie Clark

    Fantastic guide, Paola was both highly knowledgeable and extremely charming. A lovely morning in the Rijksmuseum and highly recommended.

  • Kate Fritz Kate Fritz

    Victoria was a perfect docent for our mixed group. My kids were less than excited by the art history. So she peppered our tour with interesting history notes and the weapons display. I got my art upgrade and everyone was happy. That's no small feat!

  • Cameron Bauer Cameron Bauer

    We entirely enjoyed the complete tour experience. Our guide was excellent. Her ability to describe the art and place it in historical context was just what we were looking for.

  • Harry Dixon Harry Dixon

    We really enjoyed this private tour. Our guide, Paula, was very knowledgable as well as friendly and polite. Her English was good and you could sense a real enthusiasm from her for the museum and the art contained inside.

  • Emmett Hamilton Emmett Hamilton

    I had always been intimated by the "Dutch Masters" but Ilaria made our group of 4 understand the Dutch perspective and their place in art history. An overwhelming museum made much more simple and enjoyable by her skill and perspective.

  • Sammie Morrison Sammie Morrison

    Just completed our tour with Audrey, who was fantastic. She made history interesting and tied together all of the artifacts and artwork into a clear narrative. This is the only way to see this museum. Thanks Audrey!

  • Bonnie Hanna Bonnie Hanna

    This tour was the highlight of our visit to Amsterdam. Anita, an art historian, expertly guided us through Rembrandt's paintings at the beautiful Rijksmusem and his home where he worked and lived. It was through her passion and lens that we learned so much about his life and work. We highly recommend this tour and Anita!

  • Lynette Hodges Lynette Hodges

    Audrey was personable and well-organized, giving a brief overview of the entire museum and how it was organized before we began. In 2 1/2 hours she zipped us through the crowds to the high points, gave special interpretations to some famous pieces, and made sure that we’d all gotten a good look. We enjoyed our time with her, and she was very conscientious about making sure that we could get back in and revisit things at our own pace when she was finished.

  • Edna Bates Edna Bates

    Our tour through the Rijksmuseum was certainly a highlight of our trip to Amsterdam. There is so much to see and learn about art and Dutch history and we were more than happy to have our tour guide Audrey guiding us skillfully and full of enthusiasm through this remarkable museum. Thanks for a wonderful day.

  • Jenifer Burns Jenifer Burns

    With so much to see and do in Amsterdam in 3 days this was time well spent. The Rijksmuseum was a must and our guide, Victoria, showed us all the important parts. She kept the pace appropriate going into detail when needed and moving our group along so we got to see many things. She was just lovely and her love for the museum was contagious. We really enjoyed the morning!

  • Suzanne Young Suzanne Young

    My daughter and I often visit museums and usually have enough background information to do it unguided or by using an audio recording. Irina added so much value to this visit! We aren’t very knowledgeable on the Golden Age and she did a great job comparing the works and themes to some of our interest in other time frames. We used Babylon in Paris as well and both times had highly skilled guides.

  • Irving Stewart Irving Stewart

    Our tour was wonderful! I booked this tour on our first day in Amsterdam. Getting used to the time change was rough and I overslept and were 45 minutes late. I called the company immediately upon waking and they got a hold of our tour guide and contacted me back very quickly to let me know to just meet her as soon as possible but the tour time would be decreased by that time, which is perfectly understandable. However, our tour guide gave us the same amount of time, actually even more time than was originally scheduled. She did not have any appointments after us, however, but it was nice of her to give us the time when she really didn’t have to. They were very accommodating. Our tour guide was also very knowledgeable about the art and history. We really enjoyed the tour and conversation. I highly recommend this tour.

  • Vincenzo Herman Vincenzo Herman

    My wife and I came to Amsterdam for our 10th wedding anniversary and had a guided tour of the Rijksmuseum. It was so fascinating to learn more about the Dutch Masters and our tour guide, Audrey, was so amazing! She taught us so much about Dutch art and about Rembrandt in particular! She was super friendly, super knowledgable and an awesome gal all around! We would recommend a tour with her any day! THANK YOU, AUDREY!

  • Dewayne Morgan Dewayne Morgan

    This was an amazing experience. When we travel to a city that we’ve never visited we find it extremely important to have several private tours to get all of the information possible from an experienced guide who lives daily in the city. Angelo was an amazing guide who’s knowledge and ability to answer questions of all things art, culture and history in Amsterdam. He was also able to give us guidance after the tour on dining and other experiences that we value. If you want an amazing Amsterdam experience Babylon tours and Angelo are the way to go!

  • Joann Jordan Joann Jordan

    Paola was our guide for the 2 museums. She was pleasant, sweet and extremely knowledgeable. She was able to answer any questions we asked ... even historical questions about Amsterdam! Her guidance through the museums was perfect! Despite the rain outside the museums, the day was a high light of our trip!

  • Hayden Valentine Hayden Valentine

    Audrey was an awesome guide! She made the museum fun and interesting even to a 12 and 15 year old. The way she started the tour with her story telling and bringing it all together at the end was well done. I highly recommend her!

  • Roy Yates Roy Yates

    We are a family of 5 visiting Amsterdam. Rijksmuseum is a gigantic museum and we have very limited time. Fortunately we booked a private tour with Babylon Tours who sent us an excellent guide, Angelo. Angelo is very kind, pleasant with great knowledge. We learned so much about the Dutch paintings and Angelo took us around to view the important pieces in the museum. We would not have been able to accomplish even a portion of what we have done if we did not have Angelo as our guide.

  • Murray Davis Murray Davis

    We could not have seen the splendors of the Rijksmuseum in the limited time we had without the expertise of our guide Alice. The route she led us on allowed us to learn so much of the background we needed to fully appreciate the objects and paintings. We highly recommend not only a private tour but our guide. If you should be so fortunate to be with Alice, you are guaranteed a tour that you will never forget. Thank you, Alice!

  • Zane Oconnell Zane Oconnell

    not much of a museum or indoor activity guy, but in general we enjoyed the experience , what made it absolutely worth it was the tour guide.

  • Pasquale Gallagher Pasquale Gallagher

    Guide Victoria very knowledgeable and personable. Met all of our expectations