Anne Frank House Tickets: Prices, Release Time and Booking Advice

By the AllTrips Editorial Team · Updated September 2026 · 12 min read

The Anne Frank House is the hardest museum ticket in Amsterdam — not because it is expensive, but because of how it is sold. There is no ticket desk, no walk-up queue and no authorised reseller. Every visitor, from school groups to heads of state, enters on an online time slot booked in advance at the museum's own website. Miss that detail and you will find yourself standing outside on the Prinsengracht with no way in.

This guide explains exactly how the six-week ticket release works, what a visit is actually like inside, the honest options when tickets are sold out, and the practical rules — bag sizes, no photos, steep stairs — that catch visitors off guard.

Official-ticket warning: annefrank.org is the only place that sells admission to the Anne Frank House. Third parties cannot sell entry — they can only sell guided walking tours of the neighbourhood, which do not include the museum.

How the ticket system works

Tickets are released six weeks in advance: every Tuesday at 10:00 Amsterdam local time, all time slots go on sale for visits six weeks later. Each slot covers a fifteen-minute entry window, and you choose a specific date and time when you buy. In peak season — roughly April through September, plus school holidays and weekends year-round — the most popular morning and midday slots can disappear within days of release.

The practical move is simple: the moment you know your Amsterdam dates, note the Tuesday six weeks before and book that morning. If you are already inside the six-week window, go straight to the official ticket calendar and take whatever fits your plans — being flexible about the hour matters more than the time of day.

Prices and what's included

Checked September 2026: adults pay €16.50 including the €1 booking fee, visitors aged 10–17 pay €7 and children aged 0–9 pay €1. Every ticket includes the free audio tour, which runs through the museum and the Secret Annex in several languages and genuinely shapes the visit — take it. An optional thirty-minute introductory program in English is offered with some time slots for €7 and is intended for visitors aged 10 and over; it adds useful historical context before you enter, but the standard visit stands on its own.

Museumkaart holders are not charged admission, but the visit is not completely free: you still reserve a timed ticket online in advance and pay the €1 booking fee. The card does not get you past a sold-out calendar.

If tickets are sold out

Be realistic: the museum states that when no tickets appear for a date, that date is sold out, and there is no waiting list. Do not plan around cancellations reappearing. No reseller, hotel concierge or "skip-the-line" site can produce admission either, because the museum does not distribute tickets through any third party.

What does exist — and is worth doing — is a guided walking tour about Anne Frank and wartime Amsterdam. A good guide takes you through the Jordaan and the Jewish historical quarter, past the Westerkerk and the outside of the house itself, and fills in the context of the city Anne knew. You will not enter the Secret Annex, but many visitors find it the most meaningful Plan B.

Where to book

Entry tickets come only from the official museum website. For a guided Anne Frank walking tour of the neighbourhood — which does not include museum entry — our partner offers well-reviewed options. Cancellation and amendment conditions vary; check the individual listing before booking.

The Tiqets link is an affiliate link — if you book through it we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The official Anne Frank House link is not monetized.

What the visit is like

You enter at the modern museum building on Westermarkt, around the corner from the canal-side front door, and follow a fixed one-way route. The exhibition in the modern wing sets the scene — the Frank family's flight from Frankfurt, the German occupation of the Netherlands, the business in the warehouse below. Then you pass behind the hinged bookcase that concealed the doorway into the Secret Annex itself.

The hiding place is deliberately left unfurnished, at Otto Frank's own request. What remains are the small things: the marks on the wall recording Anne's and Margot's heights, the film-star photographs Anne glued to her bedroom wall, the rooms where the eight people in hiding spent more than two years within sight of the Westertoren. The audio tour carries diary excerpts read at the spots where they were written. Most people take sixty to seventy-five minutes and come out quiet. It is one of the few blockbuster attractions in Europe that lives up to its reputation.

Rules to know before you go

• No photography or filming anywhere inside the museum.
• Bags and the cloakroom. There is a free cloakroom for coats, bags and buggies, and bags smaller than A4 may be carried with you. Large bags and suitcases cannot be stored at all — leave them at your hotel or in a station locker.
• Check the calendar. Opening hours and exceptional religious or maintenance closures — Yom Kippur, and in 2026 maintenance from 22 to 24 September — should be checked on the official calendar before visiting.
• Arrive within your slot. Entry is tied to your fifteen-minute window; arrive a few minutes early, not an hour early.
• One-way route. You cannot re-enter or double back once you move on.
• Steep stairs. The Secret Annex is reached by narrow seventeenth-century staircases, including the famously steep attic stair.

Map: the house and the Jordaan

Everything clusters around the Prinsengracht in the western canal belt. Use the map to place the museum entrance, the Westerkerk next door and the surrounding Jordaan neighbourhood you'll want to wander before or after your slot.

Getting there

The museum address is Prinsengracht 263–267, but the visitor entrance is at Westermarkt 20, beside the Westerkerk. Trams 13 and 17 stop at Westermarkt, a two-minute walk away. From Amsterdam Centraal Station it is a pleasant fifteen-to-twenty-minute walk down the canal belt, or a short tram ride. Cycling works too — bike racks line the surrounding streets — but don't drive: the Jordaan is effectively car-hostile and parking is scarce and expensive.

Accessibility

This is the museum's one hard limitation. The modern wing — with its exhibition spaces, museum café and bookshop — is wheelchair accessible. The old house and the Secret Annex are not: they are reached only via steep, narrow stairs with no lift, a consequence of preserving a seventeenth-century building in its wartime state. Visitors unable to climb the stairs can visit the modern section, which includes a virtual presentation of the hiding place. If accessibility matters for your group, contact the museum before booking so you know exactly what to expect.

Common mistakes

• Assuming you can buy at the door. You cannot — no slot, no entry.
• Buying "tickets" from a reseller. Third parties sell walking tours, not admission. Anyone claiming otherwise is misrepresenting what they sell.
• Arriving with a suitcase straight from the airport. Coats and normal bags go in the free cloakroom, but suitcases and large bags cannot be stored at all.
• Planning it as a quick stop between other museums. The slot system and the emotional weight of the visit both argue for giving it its own morning.
• Skipping the audio tour. It is included, and it is what turns empty rooms into the diary.

FAQ

Do I need to buy Anne Frank House tickets in advance?

Yes — this is the single most important thing about visiting. The museum sells tickets only online, for a fixed date and fifteen-minute time slot, and there is no ticket desk for walk-up entry. Popular dates sell out shortly after release, so book as soon as your Amsterdam dates are fixed.

When do Anne Frank House tickets go on sale?

Tickets are released six weeks in advance. Every Tuesday at 10:00 Amsterdam local time, all time slots become available for visits six weeks later on the official website. Set a reminder for that Tuesday morning if you are travelling in spring, summer or around school holidays — the best slots go first.

How much do Anne Frank House tickets cost in 2026?

At the time of writing (checked September 2026) an adult ticket is €16.50 including the €1 booking fee, ages 10–17 pay €7 and children aged 0–9 pay €1. The optional thirty-minute introductory program costs €7 and is intended for visitors aged 10 and over. Prices change, so confirm the current rate on the official Anne Frank House website before booking.

Can I buy Anne Frank House tickets from resellers or tour sites?

The museum does not authorise third-party resellers for entry tickets — the only place to buy admission is the official annefrank.org website. What tour companies legitimately sell are guided walking tours about Anne Frank and Amsterdam's Jewish history, which do not include museum entry. Treat any site claiming to sell skip-the-line admission to the house itself with suspicion.

What if tickets are sold out for my dates?

The museum states that when no tickets are shown for a date, that date is sold out, and there is no waiting list. Do not count on cancellations reappearing. If nothing is available, a guided Anne Frank walking tour is a meaningful alternative: you see the outside of the house, the Westerkerk and the neighbourhood with the historical context a guide adds, but you will not go inside the Secret Annex.

How long does a visit take?

Most visits take about sixty to seventy-five minutes. The route is one-way through the museum and the Secret Annex, with a free audio tour included in the ticket. You cannot re-enter once you leave, and you cannot arrive early and wait inside — entry is tied to your fifteen-minute time slot.

Is the Anne Frank House accessible for wheelchairs or limited mobility?

Only partly. The modern museum wing is accessible, but the old house and the Secret Annex are reached by steep, narrow seventeenth-century staircases with no lift. Visitors who cannot manage those stairs can visit the modern section, which includes a presentation of the hiding place. Contact the museum ahead of your visit to discuss what is possible.

Can I take photos inside the Anne Frank House?

No. Photography and filming are not permitted anywhere inside the museum, out of respect for the historical site and other visitors.

Is there a cloakroom at the Anne Frank House?

Yes. There is a free cloakroom for coats, bags and buggies. Bags smaller than A4 may be carried with you inside the museum. Large bags and suitcases cannot be stored at all, so leave luggage at your hotel or in a station locker before you come.

Does the Museumkaart cover the Anne Frank House?

Museumkaart holders can visit, but admission is not completely free: you still reserve a timed ticket online in advance and pay the €1 booking fee. The card does not allow walk-up entry, and slots sell out just the same.

When is the best time to visit?

The first slots of the morning and the last ninety minutes before closing are the quietest. The museum is open daily, usually from 9:00 until late evening, but there are exceptional closures — Yom Kippur, and in 2026 a maintenance closure from 22 to 24 September. Opening hours and exceptional religious or maintenance closures should be checked on the official calendar before visiting.

Official sources

• Anne Frank House — official tickets and time slots
• Anne Frank House — museum information, opening hours and visitor rules

Prices and booking lead times checked September 2026. Ticket availability and opening hours change — always confirm on the official site before you go.

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