Visiting the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands has been at the top of Bea’s bucket list since she found out we were moving to Europe. This spring break, April 2015, we were able to cross it off the list! It is a fascinating visit and worth it for both those who have read her book and those who haven’t.
Tickets for the Anne Frank House sell out months in advance BUT being persistent pays off. Tickets were sold out for the time we needed when I started checking a month out. I went to the official ticket site daily and kept checking. I found that they add more tickets each day, at random times but some say around 11 am, and generally for the next day or next 1-2 days, but I purchased mine at 3 pm and they had just popped up because I was refreshing every 20 mins that day. I was able to purchase tickets for our family 2 days before leaving on our trip. Also know that you can purchase on your phone and show the phone to get in. So I’d keep checking right up until walking up to the line if you don’t have tickets. I heard the night before they’ll load some more as well for the following day. Having tickets can save you waiting a minimum of 45 mins up to 3 hours. The line often wraps around the church!
If Tickets are sold out:
Check website daily, multiple times throughout the day. I just left the website up and would refresh it every so often.
While you may see some pop up further out generally you’ll see more added for the next day or 1-2 days out. So check many times if your in the time frame.
Know these are tickets for a set time, so be flexible and able to move your other plans around them. I scored some for 2 pm, 2 days prior to leaving. It was easy to work it into our other plans.
If your already traveling you can show your tickets on your phone to gain entrance without needing to print your ticket.
Worst case scenario – you can’t get tickets…what now? You can either try to show up 45 mins prior to opening to be first in line or try to go after 3-4 pm. When we arrived at 1:30 pm the line was wrapping around the church. When we left around 3:15 pm we noticed the line was shorter.
If you have tickets you get to bypass the endless line and enter the door on the left. We showed up 15 mins before our scheduled time and they let us in. It was €27 for 2 adults and 2 kids (14 & 11).
Also know that NO photography, video, etc is allowed in the house, which is a bummer. It is also not furnished so you have to use a bit of your imagination. There are several sets of steep stairs that you’ll need to climb. You don’t get to go up into the attic but they have a mirror where you can see up. As you look out the windows you can see why during her confinement, Anne spent a lot of time here.
It’s a self guided tour, I used the Rick Steve’s book as we walked along, they also have English brochures. Once you get up the first set of stairs you start to get in a queue and you can’t move until the people in front of you do. They stop to watch videos so it slows it down making the visit about an hour long.
Both my daughter (12) and I have read the book and found it fascinating to see in real life where she stayed and to see her diary. Mr. B has not read the book but still found the visit and information interesting. I think our 14 year old son was the least interested but a little history never hurt anyone 😉
I had heard mixed reviews on visiting the house prior to going from some saying it’s not worth it to others saying they would go again. I think that it’s absolutely worth the visit, would it be worth waiting 3 hours in line for…probably not, but if you can get online tickets I’d say yes! It was a memorable experience and I’m glad we go to visit the house in person. For me it wouldn’t be worth a repeat visit, many things aren’t, once you’ve seen it I’m not sure why you’d need to visit it again. You can also read my review on TripAdvisor here. Another house worth visiting while your in the area is the Corrie Ten Boom house in Haarlem.
Have you been to the Anne Frank House, what did you think?!
Know Before You Go
What: Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
How To Get There: Located at Prinsengracht 263-267, it’s about a 20 min walk from Central Station. It’s a 20 min walk from the Heineken Experience, and about 3 min from Sara’s Pancake House.
Parking: it is not recommended to try to park in the city. I’d suggest using an P+R and using the public transport into the city.
Cost: €9 for adults, €4,50 for kids ages 10-17, and free for kids 0-9.
Traveling with little kids: Strollers are not allowed in, you can park at the entrance. Also backpacks may not be worn on your back and have to be carried on your front so keep that in mind if you use a carrier.
How long: Plan on at least an hour for the self tour, longer if you want to check out all of the displays, videos, etc.
Wow, well if we ever end up on that side of the world it is something to consider for sure. But Yikes the wait if we couldn’t get tickets. I’m glad you all were able to go though!
What a great experience. It’s wonderful that your kids were able to see the house.