I want to go to the Anne Frank Museul on July 2. It's sold out. Hope me!

June 29, 2018 1:42 PM

I was in Amsterdam for a 6 hour layover years ago and didn't get to go to the Anne Frank museum because there was a long line. Going this time was top of my list of things to do. In fact, it was my only must-do. But I didn't know you had to buy tickets ahead of time until someone mentioned it to me today. I will have only one full day in Amsterdam and that was my plan to see. Is there anything i can do? Are there Anne Frank scalpers (yes, the thought grosses me out, too, but I'm desperate)? There are two adults who want to go. Is there any hope?
posted by If only I had a penguin... to Travel & Transportation around Amsterdam, Netherlands (8 answers total)

Best answer: I was in a similar situation a couple years ago, kept checking the website constantly, and a bunch of new tickets opened up a couple days in advance. Their website now says they post some tickets the day of.

Very much no guarantee it will work out, but I'd keep trying the site as often as you can.

If that fails, and you can't find tickets elsewhere, the long line is an option. Make it your only must-do and get in line early.
posted by zachlipton at 2:01 PM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

We checked tickets at least a dozen times leading up to going to the museum without them. We went after dinner last October and waited about an hour. I think we got in line around 7:00 PM. @zachlipton's link above was accurate in terms of gauging the length of the line. It was absolutely worth the wait.
posted by cnc at 3:30 PM on June 29, 2018

There's no long line any more. You can only enter with pre-booked tickets now.

You want to check each day between 9am - 10:30am CET when they may or may not release new blocks of tickets.

Again, waiting in line is no longer an option.
posted by humboldt32 at 4:58 PM on June 29, 2018 [3 favorites]

Ah sorry about that. I missed that change:

Please note: Due to renewal work all visitors must purchase an online ticket with a time slot in advance. You cannot buy tickets at the entrance of the museum, only via our website. Due to renewal work in the museum, opening times may vary.

posted by zachlipton at 5:10 PM on June 29, 2018

I was in Amsterdam in 2014 and the concierge in our hotel was able to get us tickets through a "group" even though regular admission was sold out. We paid more (maybe double?) the regular admit fee though. Maybe check with a hotel?
posted by Caz721 at 10:09 PM on June 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

The ONLY source of tickets is the website.
posted by humboldt32 at 1:10 AM on June 30, 2018

If you aren't able to get tickets to the Anne Frank House, you could consider the Corrie ten Boom house in Haarlem. The Ten Boom family also hid Jewish people and members of the Dutch underground throughout the war.
posted by PosterGirlwithNoPoster at 5:26 AM on July 2, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I went! I somehow missed that tickets were also available the same day. So even though I wasn't in Amsterdam yet, I just started refreshing obsessively each day at 9am. I went in the day before I intended to and got to go. I don't know what to say about it. It feels trite and cliche to say it was moving. I am glad I went.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:53 PM on July 9, 2018 [3 favorites]