Anne Frank House

The Anne Frank House is a biographical museum at Westermarkt 20, 1016 GV Amsterdam, built around the Secret Annex at Prinsengracht 263 where Anne Frank, her family, and four others hid from the Nazis for just over two years during World War II.

It is open daily, but here is the part most guides bury: you can only get in with a timed ticket bought online in advance, tickets are released every Tuesday at 10:00 AM Amsterdam time for dates six weeks out, and they sell out within minutes. This local’s guide covers exactly how to get in, when to go, how to reach it (the Westermarkt tram stop is currently closed), and what the visit is actually like.

How to Get Anne Frank House Tickets in 2026 (the part that actually matters)

Anne Frank House tickets cost €16.50 for adults and are sold only through the official website, annefrank.org. New tickets are released every Tuesday at 10:00 AM CET/CEST (Amsterdam time) for a visit roughly six weeks later. There are no walk-up tickets, no tickets at the door, and no exceptions — if you don’t book online, you don’t get in.

• Adults (18+): €16.50
• Young visitors (10–17): €7
• Children (0–9): €1
• Where: annefrank.org only — plus a small online booking fee
• Release: every Tuesday, 10:00 AM Amsterdam time, for dates ~6 weeks ahead

Here’s the insider move: set a reminder for 9:55 AM Amsterdam time on a Tuesday, have your dates ready, and be logged in and refreshing when the clock hits 10:00. In summer (June–August), the morning slots can vanish in two to three minutes. Treat it like buying concert tickets, not like a museum.

What to do if tickets are sold out

If your dates are sold out, your best backup is the same-day release: roughly 20% of each day’s tickets drop at 9:00 AM Amsterdam time on the day of the visit itself. It’s competitive, but people land them. A few rules to keep you safe and sane:

• Never buy from resellers. Reselling Anne Frank House tickets is not permitted, resold tickets are often fakes, and visitors are turned away at the door every day because their ticket is fraudulent.
• Tickets are non-refundable, non-transferable, and time-stamped. Miss your slot and you’ve missed your visit.
• Have a Plan B nearby. If you strike out entirely, the National Holocaust Museum tells the fuller story of the Nazi persecution of Dutch Jews and rarely sells out — a meaningful companion or alternative.

Anne Frank House Hours, Address & Opening Times

The Anne Frank House is at Westermarkt 20, 1016 GV Amsterdam, and is currently open every day from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM, with last entry at 9:00 PM. The museum opens 365 days a year, including holidays. Hours do shift seasonally and on a handful of dates, so always confirm your exact slot on the official site when you book.

• Address (entrance): Westermarkt 20, 1016 GV Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Historic building / hiding place: Prinsengracht 263
• Opening hours: daily, 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM (last entry 9:00 PM)
• Nearest landmark: directly beside the Westerkerk on the Prinsengracht canal

The best time to visit is the last evening slots — after about 7:30 PM the crowds thin, the light over the canals is beautiful, and the experience feels far more personal than a packed midday visit.

How to Get to the Anne Frank House (the tram stop is closed)

The simplest way to reach the Anne Frank House is to walk — it’s a flat, well-signed 15–20 minute stroll from Amsterdam Centraal straight through the canal belt. Here’s the local correction most older guides get wrong: the Westermarkt tram stop is closed for canal-bridge construction and is not expected to reopen until 2028. Trams 13 and 17 no longer stop at Westermarkt.

• On foot: ~15–20 minutes from Centraal — honestly the nicest option, past gabled canal houses the whole way.
• By tram: take tram 13 or 17 toward Dam Square, then walk the final ~10 minutes to the museum. Tap on with a contactless card or your phone using OVpay.
• Heads up on the stairs: getting through the house means three steep, narrow Dutch staircases (about 12, 14, and 16 steps) plus one tall 39 cm step. The historic house and Secret Annex are not wheelchair accessible. The modern wing — exhibition, café, and shop — is accessible. If you’re traveling with anyone who struggles with steep stairs, plan accordingly.

What You’ll See Inside the Secret Annex

Inside, you move from Otto Frank’s original business premises into the Secret Annex itself — the hidden rooms behind the famous swinging bookcase where eight people lived from 1942 onward. Anne hid here with her parents Otto and Edith, her older sister Margot, and the van Pels family, supported by helpers like Miep Gies who risked their lives to bring food and news. At Otto Frank’s request after the war, the annex rooms remain empty, with no furniture. That emptiness is the point; it hits harder than any reconstruction could.

Along the way you’ll see Anne’s original diary, photographs, and personal belongings, the pencil marks tracking the children’s heights, the magazine cuttings Anne pasted on her bedroom wall, and the window with a glimpse of the Westerkerk tower — the one piece of the outside world the families could still see.

After the group was betrayed and deported in August 1944, only Otto survived; Anne and Margot died at Bergen-Belsen. The final exhibition connects their story to antisemitism and discrimination today. Most visitors move through quietly; photography is not allowed inside.

How Long Does the Anne Frank House Take?

Plan on about 1 to 1.5 hours. That’s enough to walk the full route through the annex and the exhibition at the slow, unhurried pace the place deserves — you set your own speed once inside, there’s no guided shuffle. Reading Anne’s diary excerpts and sitting with the quiet is where the time goes, so don’t rush it.

A Local Tip: Where to Decompress Afterward

Visiting the Anne Frank House is an emotional experience — build in time to sit with it before rushing to your next stop. You’re standing in the Jordaan, the city’s coziest neighborhood, so do what locals do and find a brown café by the canal:

• Café Chris — built in 1635 and preserved as a museum since May 3, 1960, the oldest café in the Jordaan and a genuine time capsule, a two-minute walk away.
• Café ‘t Smalle — a 1780 canalside classic with a little pontoon terrace right on the water, perfect for a quiet beer.
• Café de Prins — sits on the Prinsengracht with views of the Westerkerk and the Anne Frank House across the canal.

Order a coffee or a Dutch jenever, watch the boats go by, and let the visit settle. If you’re pacing a bigger day, our guide to visiting Amsterdam on a budget has more local picks nearby, and seeing the Prinsengracht and the surrounding canals from the water is a fitting, low-key way to end the day.

Anne Frank House: Quick Facts

• What it is: the WWII hiding place and biographical museum of Anne Frank
• Address: Westermarkt 20, 1016 GV Amsterdam
• Tickets: €16.50 adult, online only at annefrank.org
• Release schedule: Tuesdays, 10:00 AM Amsterdam time, six weeks ahead
• Hours: daily, 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM (last entry 9:00 PM)
• Time needed: 1–1.5 hours
• Photography: not allowed inside
• Accessibility: Secret Annex not wheelchair accessible (steep stairs); modern wing is