Art on wheels: wheelchair-accessible museums in Amsterdam

Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is doing well: from elevators and wheelchair lanes and accessibility maps to a book (Rijksmuseum: Accessibility without Borders), this museum has it all. Since 2017, there has even been an accessibility manager who collects and shares knowledge and helps ensure the museum is gradually becoming accessible to everyone. You can now also use the new app, which allows you to navigate independently within the museum so everyone can move independently and safely through the building. Special accessible programs and tours are also regularly offered, such as low-stimulus evening openings and tours in sign language.

The museum is accessible to people who use wheelchairs, mobility scooters, and walking bikes. At the information desk, you can borrow mobility aids, wheelchairs, and folding chairs and pick up a floor plan showing all the lifts, seating areas, and accessible toilets in the museum. If visiting with a companion, free entrance tickets are available and must be reserved in advance with a starting time. 

STRAAT Museum

STRAAT Museum is a wheelchair-accessible museum perfect for street art enthusiasts eager to explore global street art and graffiti culture. Located in a former warehouse on the NDSM wharf, this spacious museum features an impressive selection of over 160 artworks by well-known artists and emerging talent. With ground floor entry and access to the museum's main gallery hall, STRAAT has lifts that provide access to the museum café and all exhibition floors. For visitors travelling accompanied, free companion tickets are available and registered assistance dogs are allowed. Mobility scooters are permitted in the museum. However, the museum's metal-panelled floors cause its surface to be uneven. People who require entirely smooth surfaces to move around, please consider this when planning your visit. 

Nxt Museum

Nxt Museum is the Netherlands' first exhibition space dedicated entirely to New Media Art. Think progressive art forms from large-scale digital art installations and immersive audio-visual projections. The museum's exhibition, restaurant and toilets are accessible to wheelchair users and visitors with physical disabilities via ramps and alternative routes. For those travelling with a companion, free Accessible Companion tickets are available. And if you plan to arrive by car, you can book an accessible parking spot. Please note that this exhibition contains flashing video images and loud sounds, which may not be suitable for people with sensory sensitivities or epilepsy. 

Royal Palace

The Koninlijk Paleis (Royal Palace) is easily accessible with elevators and a wheelchair toilet. You can also borrow a wheelchair or walking stick here. You can easily enter the 17th-century monument via the ramp next to the stairs. An employee will help you with the elevator up, after which you can drive through the marble galleries without obstacles. You will see beautiful statues and paintings by famous artists. The interior is decorated with a lot of gold and reminds you of the past. A visit is definitely worth it!

Van Gogh Museum

Van Gogh Museum is one of Amsterdam's most famous museums featuring the world's largest collection of Van Gogh's artwork. The museum is dedicated to making visiting accessible for all to admire Vincent's most iconic masterpieces while exploring the artist's creative development. The museum is close to public transportation and offers accessible pick-up/ drop-off areas and parking at Paulus Potterstraat 7. Visitors using wheelchairs can access both main entrances, with disabled visitors having priority entry. If travelling accompanied, free companion tickets are available, and a free multimedia guide is included. The museum has accessible toilets and lifts, all featured in the museum's Accessibility Map, which you can download or pick up at the information desk.

Allard Pierson

Allard Pierson Museum is home to one of Europe's most acclaimed heritage collections and is entirely accessible to people with physical disabilities. Travel through 10,000 years of cultural history and discover the museum's internationally renowned archaeology, cartography, design, and zoology collection from the University of Amsterdam. The museum provides several accessibility features, including lift access to all floors, accessible lockers, and toilets. It also welcomes registered guide dogs. For those arriving by public transport, metro and tram connections are available directly outside the museum, and accessible parking on the premises can be reserved one day in advance by calling +31205252556. 

Wereldmuseum

Amsterdam’s Wereldmuseum is a museum of world cultures housed in a beautiful building in the trendy Amsterdam East neighbourhood, right next to public transport connections. Covering universal themes of love, mourning, and celebration, Wereldmuseum invites visitors to explore differences and cultural diversity across many engaging exhibitions highlighting our shared humanness.  Wereldmuseum offers two accessible parking spots free of charge at the adjacent hotel for visitors arriving by car. The museum is wheelchair-friendly, with no entrance thresholds and lift access to all exhibition floors. Visitors can borrow manual wheelchairs if needed, and guide dogs are permitted inside. If you travel with assistance, companion tickets are available free of charge.  

Stedelijk Museum

Stedelijk Museum is the Netherlands' largest modern art museum showcasing artwork by world-famous contemporary artists, including 20th-century Dutch creatives. With close access to public transport and accessible parking at Paulus Potterstraat 13 or the Q-Park parking garage, Stedelijk Museum is perfect for modern art lovers to discover contemporary visual art and design in the Museum Quarter. The museum has lifts and platform lifts, all suited for wheelchairs, walkers and mobility scooters and can be used without assistance. Registered assistance dogs are allowed, and admission is free for companions. Wheelchairs, walking bikes, walkers or folding chairs are available at the information desk or can be reserved in advance by calling +31205732911 or emailing reserveringen@stedelijk.nl.   

Van Eesteren Museum

The Van Esteren Museum's website has plenty of information regarding accessibility needs—not bad for a small museum. The first thing to note is that the museum is at ground level, making it easily accessible. Meanwhile, the permanent and temporary exhibitions in the pavilion are arranged so that visitors in wheelchairs, with a walker or guide stick, can move around easily and freely. One companion per wheelchair user has free access. Assistance dogs are also allowed.

Resistance Museum

The (Verzetsmuseum Resistance) Museum is entirely at ground level, which makes it easily accessible. The museum's information is available in 3 languages: Dutch (written text and audio), Dutch Sign Language (video with subtitles) and English (written text and audio). Guidelines and floor markings make the museum independently accessible for the blind and visually impaired. You're welcome to bring a service dog, and any companion has free admission.

Our Lord in the Attic

You might not expect accessibility to be at the forefront of a museum in a centuries-old canal house with a seemingly endless number of stairs, but (Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder) Our Lord in the Attic Museum has done plenty of work to make the space navigable for everyone. The museum café, museum store and temporary exhibition space are located in the entrance building and accessible by elevator. Meanwhile, a special audio tour dubbed Together You Can See More allows visitors who are blind or visually impaired to walk through the museum with a guide and listen, smell and touch. If you cannot climb stairs, there is the CoVisit tour, where you connect your phone to your companion's smartphone, who walks through the museum while you follow along via audio and video.

Eye Filmmuseum

At the Eye Filmmuseum, the museum section and the movie theatres are accessible to people in wheelchairs or with other disabilities. You can enter through the staff entrance, just ring the bell. All floors are accessible by elevator, and the Eye's movie theatres always reserve two spaces for wheelchairs. Better yet, you can also reserve a wheelchair or walker. There are guided tours in Dutch Sign Language on request, and every third Sunday of the month, there is a free entry tour in NGT through the temporary exhibition at 15:15. During some (premiere) films, you can use the Earcatch app to get an audio description, while Subcatch app subtitles what you can't hear.

Accessible museums for children

Hanna Yoo is the mother of Jasmijn (14), who is in a wheelchair due to multiple disabilities. In addition to her work as a self-employed person and founder of Stichting Falderie, which organises concerts for people with disabilities, Hanna enjoys visiting museums with her daughter. From their home in Amsterdam, they are fortunate to live close to museums such as NEMO and the Maritime Museum.

Wereldmuseum Junior & Jewish Museum Junior

The Wereldmuseum Junior is highly recommended. They are very accessible for people with physical disabilities, with step-free entrances and elevators on all floors. You can also borrow manual wheelchairs, and assistance dogs are welcome. The Jewish Museum Junior (from 6 years) is also interesting, especially the tours in Dutch Sign Language (NGT) and for children with a visual impairment, where they learn about Jewish life through different senses. This museum is also accessible to visit with a physical disability; there are elevators everywhere and a wheelchair entrance at Nieuwe Amstelstraat 3-5.

NEMO

To make the visitor experience more accessible to everyone, several changes have been made to NEMO. An app that allows you to navigate the entire building independently is now available for visually impaired visitors. In addition, the lighting in the museum has also been recalibrated, colour contrasts are larger, and all texts have been adapted in an accessible font. In addition to these new adjustments, NEMO already offers accessibility for wheelchairs, walkers and mobility scooters (except on the rooftop plaza), a companion is allowed in for free, and staff are trained to accommodate visitors with visual impairments.