The 4 Van Gogh Museums In Holland (Reviewed By Locals)

Which of the four Van Gogh Museums in the Netherlands is worth visiting? Making a choice is quite difficult, but as a Dutch Van Gogh lover who has visited every Van Gogh museum in the Netherlands myself, I can help you.

In this article, I describe my experiences visiting all four van Gogh museums in Holland so that you can make an informed decision about which van Gogh museum to visit and which you can skip.

I hope you will be as fascinated by the life and work of Vincent van Gogh as I am.

The 4 Van Gogh Museums In The Netherlands

There are currently 4 van Gogh Museums in Holland, two of which have paintings by Vincent van Gogh and two of which focus on his life.

The two museums with paintings are the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Kröller-Müller Museum on the Hoge Veluwe.

The van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen and the van Gogh House in his native village of Zundert focus more on the life of Vincent van Gogh.

Map of the 4 van Gogh Museums in The Netherlands

I have created the map below to give you an indication of the location of these four van Gogh museums in Holland.

The Van Gogh Museum In Amsterdam

The van Gogh Museum owns many paintings and drawings from Vincent van Gogh’s legacy to his brother Theo.

The van Gogh collection amounts to about 200 paintings and 500 drawings, although the drawings are rarely exhibited. That is almost 25% of his paintings and more than 50% of his drawings.

This is the most extensive collection of paintings and drawings of Vincent van Gogh worldwide.

This allows the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to offer a unique view of Vincent van Gogh’s work. There is no better place to discover his artistic development than the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

The van Gogh Museum also regularly organizes additional exhibitions about Vincent van Gogh’s work and life. If possible, I would plan a visit around such exhibitions, as they are often very worthwhile.

Here is an extensive review of the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

The van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is so popular that it is usually sold out 1-2 weeks in advance. Therefore, the best advice I can give you is to book your Van Gogh Museum entry tickets with a time slot well in advance.

The Kröller-Müller Museum on the Hoge Veluwe

The Kröller-Müller Museum owns more than 90 paintings and 150 drawings by Vincent van Gogh.

This makes this van Gogh collection the second largest in the world, about 10% of Vincent van Gogh’s total oeuvre.

That is about half of the collection of the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, but Kröller-Müller Museum still owns an impressive array of paintings by Vincent van Gogh.

In addition, the Kröller-Müller Museum owns beautiful paintings by famous contemporaries of Vincent van Gogh, such as Claude Monet and George Seurat.

The Kröller-Müller Museum is also in the most beautiful location of all the top museums in the Netherlands. The Kröller-Müller Museum is on the Hoge Veluwe, the Netherlands’ largest and most beautiful nature park.

Here, you can read an extensive review of the Kröller-Müller Museum.

Book your Kröller-Müller entry tickets well in advance.

Check their opening hours on their website.

Van Gogh Museum Vs. Kröller-Müller Museum

What I like about these museums

What I Don’t like about these museums

The van Gogh Museum vs. the Kröller-Müller Museum

Choosing between the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Kröller-Müller Museum on the Hoge Veluwe is difficult.

The van Gogh collections of the van Gogh Museum and the Kröller-Müller Museum are both so extensive and complementary that they are both worth visiting.

If you are in the Netherlands for a few days, I would only visit the larger van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

The van Gogh Museum has about 200 paintings by Vincent van Gogh, more than 2x more than the 90 paintings at the Kröller-Müller Museum.

Still, the Kröller-Müller Museum’s van Gogh collection of 90 paintings is not negligible; it is the world’s second-largest van Gogh collection, about 10% of his total oeuvre of paintings.

The van Gogh Museum and the Kröller-Müller Museum complement each other very well.

Therefore, if you live in the Netherlands and are a lover of Vincent van Gogh, you should visit both the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Kröller-Müller Museum on the Hoge Veluwe once in your lifetime.

The van Gogh Museum and the Kröller-Müller Museum complement each other very well.

The Van Gogh Village Museum In Nuenen

Vincent van Gogh lived and worked in several places in the Netherlands.

However, Vincent’s period in Nuenen from 1883-1885 was the most important and productive in his painting career in the Netherlands.

These two years in Nuenen were incredibly productive, and he created nearly a quarter of his oeuvre of 900 paintings and 1100 drawings in Nuenen, including his masterpiece, The Potato Eaters.

The van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen focuses on Vincent’s period in Nuenen when he began painting.

The unique thing about the van Gogh Village Museum is that Vincent’s first painting studio was behind the rectory, across the street from the van Gogh Village Museum.

Nowhere can you get closer to Vincent van Gogh’s life than here.

The van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen focuses on Vincent’s period in Nuenen when he began painting.

Nuenen allowed Van Gogh to find inspiration in nature and rural life. Vincent’s inspiration came from his life in the heart of the countryside.

He wanted nothing more than to paint nature and the rural life of the peasants here. He wanted to live with the peasants, to understand and paint them as they lived their daily lives.

During his stay in Nuenen, Vincent always got up early and spent the whole day in the fields or the huts of the farmers and weavers. He felt at home with the people of the fields and the loom.

The van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen successfully attempts to bring this critical period in Vincent van Gogh’s painting life back to life.

Check their opening hours on their website.

The Van Gogh House In Zundert

Vincent van Gogh was born in Zundert in 1853 and lived in Zundert for the first 11 years of his life. So, the person Vincent van Gogh was formed mainly in Zundert.

If you want to understand van Gogh better, a visit to the van Gogh House in Zundert is also a logical thought because this museum is partly on his former birthplace.

So there you are on his native soil and can now have a drink in the famous backyard where he played with Theo. Around the corner is his father’s charming little church and a beautiful statue of Vincent and Theo van Gogh, created by Zadkine.

So, the person Vincent van Gogh was formed mainly in Zundert.

Still, the van Gogh House is a disappointing museum because it is tiny and offers only two rooms with acceptable exhibits. The rest of the museum is dedicated to contemporary artists, and the backyard was neglected.

Zundert is also quite a long drive because it is practically right against the Belgium border. If you are a big Van Gogh lover, you might consider taking the Zundert exit sometime; otherwise, this Van Gogh Museum is not worth visiting.

You can find an extensive review of the van Gogh House in Zundert here.

Check their opening hours on their website.

Van Gogh Village Museum Vs. Van Gogh House

What I like about these museums

What I Don’t like about these museums

Van Gogh Village Museum Vs. Van Gogh House

I am also often asked which museum to visit if I had to choose between the van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen and the van Gogh House in Zundert.

The van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen is much larger and more beautiful than the van Gogh House in Zundert. The van Gogh Village Museum also focuses on a much more important period of Vincent van Gogh as a painter in which he produced almost a quarter of his oeuvre in Nuenen.

So, I would choose to visit the van Gogh Museum in Nuenen over the van Gogh House in Zundert.

I also do not find these two museums complementary and would recommend visiting the van Gogh House in Zundert only to van Gogh lovers who happen to be in the Zundert.