Rainy day in Amsterdam: the museums that work best

A rainy day in Amsterdam is a good excuse to spend hours indoors with Rembrandt, Van Gogh or a soap bubble you can stand inside. You are not the only one with that idea, though. So the trick is to pick museums that are large enough to fill your day, close enough to combine, and bookable in advance. Below you find the best options on Museumplein and beyond, plus tips for children and for avoiding queues.

Museumplein is the easiest answer, because four museums share one square. The Rijksmuseum has about eight thousand objects in its galleries. You see the Gallery of Honour and The Night Watch in about an hour, but with the Special Collections and the Asian Pavilion you easily fill half a day. The Van Gogh Museum gives you a start time but no end time, so you stay as long as you like. The Stedelijk Museum adds modern art and design, and Moco Museum shows Banksy and Warhol in about an hour and a half. All of them are a few minutes' walk apart.

Rain sends many people indoors at the same moment, so book ahead. The Rijksmuseum requires a start time booked online for every visit, also with a Museumkaart or a free ticket. The Van Gogh Museum works the same way. The Stedelijk asks you to buy online, and NEMO guarantees entry only if you book. The Anne Frank House sells tickets online only, for a fixed time slot, never at the door, so plan that one well before your trip. Moco sells tickets with a time slot and without. On the day itself, arrive early, because the first hours are usually quieter than midday, and choose a weekday if you can.

With children, NEMO Science Museum near Central Station is the obvious choice. Nothing sits behind glass: in Fenomena you stand inside a soap bubble, and in the Laboratory you do real experiments. You can eat your own food in the designated areas, and children under 13 come with an adult. The Jewish Museum has a junior museum for ages 6 to 12, where children bake challah and write their name in Hebrew. At the Amsterdam Museum location Amsterdam in Motion, a fifteen minute show plays on a huge model of the city. Keep in mind that the Anne Frank House keeps a minimum age of 10.

Looking for things to do in Amsterdam when it rains away from the crowds on Museumplein? Take the free ferry F3 from the back of Central Station to Eye Filmmuseum. The crossing takes less than five minutes, and inside you combine an exhibition with a film in one of four cinemas, then sit in the bar with a view over the water. On the Amstel, the H'ART Museum shows exhibitions borrowed from international museums, so check what is on. The Jewish Cultural Quarter groups the Jewish Museum, the Portuguese Synagogue, the National Holocaust Museum and the Hollandsche Schouwburg within walking distance, which keeps your time outside short.

Wet coats and big bags are the main nuisance. At the Stedelijk, backpacks go in the lockers and handbags up to A4 may come in. NEMO has small lockers but no room for suitcases. Moco has no space for luggage at all and points to a storage service on Museumplein; strollers cannot go inside there either, as the old villa has no lift. The Anne Frank House allows only bags smaller than A4. If you hold a Museumkaart, the Dutch annual museum pass, several of these museums let you in free, although you still book a slot. Our Museumkaart guide tells you more.