How to Visit the Anne Frank House: History, Tips, and Ticket Guide 2024 – The Jan Edit

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How to Visit the Anne Frank House: History, Tips, and Ticket Guide 2024

On my trip to Amsterdam, aside from attending the Taylor Swift Eras Tour, I most wanted to visit the Anne Frank House.

Twenty years ago, when I visited the Netherlands with my mom and a guided tour group, the Anne Frank House wasn’t part of our itinerary. I asked the tour guide if it was possible to visit the house during our free time in the city (a day only) and was met with a firm “NO.” As we drove by Prinsengracht, I saw the long line outside the house from the bus (totally stunned!). Twenty years later, it’s time for redemption—no fixed itinerary, but visiting the Anne Frank House is non-negotiable for me.

It’s not just about visiting a historic landmark but also about experiencing, up close, the power of Anne’s words and the story of her family.

Every year, over a million visitors worldwide come to Amsterdam to visit the Anne Frank House—averaging nearly 3,000 visitors per day.
So, how do you secure a ticket to visit?
In this post, I’ll share the story of the Anne Frank House, my personal experience, and, most importantly, how to buy tickets on the official website!

📍 Anne Frank House
Official Website： https://www.annefrank.org/en/museum/tickets/
Address：Westermarkt 20, 1016 GV Amsterdam

👉🏻 Other Related Tours

Anne Frank Guided Walking Tour through Amsterdam’s Jewish Quarter (via Viator)
Anne Frank Walking Tour in Amsterdam (via Klook)

( This post is based on my personal experience and is not sponsored. If you purchase through the links, I may earn a small commission, but it won’t affect your price. Thank you so much for supporting my work! )

目錄 Contents

Toggle Prinsengracht 263: The Green Door on the Prince Canal How to Buy Tickets for the Anne Frank House in 2024 Important Dates Ticket Purchase Steps: Last Resort for Tickets My Experience Visiting the Anne Frank House Other Recommendations

Prinsengracht 263: The Green Door on the Prince Canal

Prinsengracht 263

Located at Prinsengracht 263 in the Jordaan district (now Westermarkt 20), this townhouse with a deep green door was once the Dutch office of Otto Frank’s spice company, “Opekta.”

Between 1942 and 1944, during the German occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family, the Van Pels family, and dentist Fritz Pfeffer hid for over two years in the Secret Annex. During that time, Otto’s youngest daughter Anne, at just thirteen years old, meticulously documented the more than 700 days they spent in hiding in her diary, all while dreaming of becoming a writer one day.

However, things didn’t go as we all wished In August 1944, their hiding place was discovered, and they were sent to concentration camps. Of the eight people hiding at Prinsengracht 263, Otto Frank was the only one to survive and return to Amsterdam after the war.

Anne’s diary, published posthumously in 1947 with Otto’s efforts, portrays wartime lives from a young girl’s perspective. Her writings describe life in hiding with warmth, joy, conflict, and the sorrow of the impossible to stand under the sun. To this day, it has been translated into over 75 languages and is regarded as one of the must-read books of the 20th century.

The Secret Annex, where they hid, is now preserved as the Anne Frank House, a memorial museum at Prinsengracht 263.

A 3D view of the Anne Frank Huis｜Image from the official website of Anne Frank House: Source

How to Buy Tickets for the Anne Frank House in 2024

The official website of the Anne Frank House

Unlike twenty years ago, when you had to queue up for tickets in person, the only way to buy tickets to the Anne Frank House was through the official website. Although it’s much easier to purchase online, it’s a hassle for people like me who hate planning!

Let me remind you again: you cannot buy tickets at the door—you must buy them in advance online .

Important Dates

Every Tuesday at 10 AM (Netherlands time), tickets for six weeks in advance are released on the official website.

You can use a date calculator to set your planned visit date to Amsterdam and then count back 42 days to find the Tuesday when tickets will go on sale. That’s the day to set your alarm!

Ticket Purchase Steps:

Go to the official Anne Frank House website and navigate to the “Choose Your Tickets” page. Select the number of tickets you want to purchase. Choose a visit date. If the date is marked in red, it means tickets are sold out. Select a time slot—tickets are available in 15-minute intervals, from 9 AM until 10 PM.

The best strategy is to buy your tickets the day they’re released on the website. Do not wait like I did, hoping to get extra credit card points on a special day—three days later, the site was completely sold out! (facepalm)

Last Resort for Tickets

If you miss the initial ticket release, don’t panic! There’s a last resort for those like me who tend to leave things until the last minute. The Anne Frank House releases some last-minute tickets one week before each visit date.

Again, on Tuesdays at 10 AM (Netherlands time), the website releases remaining tickets for the upcoming week.

Since I missed the six-week advance tickets, I set an alarm for the Tuesday before my flight to the Netherlands. I refreshed the ticket page starting at 10 AM, and after about 15 minutes, I saw some dates slowly turn from red to white, indicating available tickets.

The steps for buying these tickets are exactly the same: choose a date, then a time slot. This is your last chance—grab the tickets as soon as they appear! I got mine using this method. If you’re planning to visit, don’t hesitate—checkout immediately!

My Experience Visiting the Anne Frank House

The Anne Frank House

Before the visit, I had a lot of concerns. I was worried the exhibition would focus too heavily on the suffering of Jews during WWII and that it might make me feel down during an otherwise uplifting trip.

However, all my worries were dispelled once I visited. The Anne Frank House is not like that at all!

Upon entering, staff hand you an audio guide, which plays content in sync with the exhibition route. The guide focuses on the Frank family’s journey from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, the circumstances before they went into hiding, and why they chose July 6, 1942, to go into hiding. The exhibit features many letters and documents written by the Frank family.

As we followed the path, we arrived at the Opekta office at 263 Prinsengracht, and soon after, we were in front of the famous bookcase.

Behind the bookcase is the Secret Annex, and as I carefully climbed the narrow stairs, I was surprised to find that the hiding space was much larger than I had imagined. The lighting, walls, and interior have been preserved as they were during the hiding period. In Anne’s room, we saw the photos she mentioned in her diary, and the small bathroom shared by all eight people. Although the furniture is gone, it still feels as if time has frozen when they were living there.

At the end of the exhibition, we finally saw Anne’s diary, densely packed with her handwriting.

I thought I would cry when I entered the Secret Annex, but instead, I found myself crying when I saw her diary. Anne had dreamed of becoming a writer, and she wrote in her diary every day in hiding. Besides documenting her life, she also wrote down famous quotes and even created short stories. A year into hiding, Anne began rewriting her earlier diary entries, editing them with more mature language.

Anne’s dedication to her craft was deeply moving. She took her dream seriously, and her writing has genuinely impacted so many people. I left feeling how truly great dreams can make a person.

After leaving the Anne Frank House, I stood by the bustling Prinsengracht, filled with gratitude. My ordinary day had been transformed by Anne’s passion for writing, and suddenly, the purpose of life felt crystal clear. I, too, wanted to experience what it’s like to live with a singular focus on a dream.

Standing in front of the Anne Frank House, looking over the Prince Canal

Other Recommendations

Watch “A Small Light”

The Mini Series: A Small Light on Disney+

If you want to dive deeper into the story of Anne Frank’s family, besides reading her diary, I highly recommend watching the mini-series A Small Light .

To authentically recreate the Secret Annex without disturbing the original site, the production team built a 1:1 replica in Prague, accurately reconstructing the three-story annex. Watching the series beforehand will give you a better understanding of the eight people in hiding and the helpers who risked their lives to protect them.

Best Time to Visit

The Anne Frank House is open all day, with 15-minute time slots for entry. This made it hard for me to choose a time when buying tickets.

After visiting, my recommendation is to go during the day. The Secret Annex is dimly lit, so it’s better to see it in natural daylight. And the earlier the better, as the Jordaan district, where the house is located, gets quite busy with tourists around midday.

The visit takes about 2-2.5 hours, so I recommend booking a morning slot, ideally at 9 or 10 AM. That way, you’ll be done by lunchtime and can find a restaurant near the beautiful Prinsengracht to enjoy a meal.

That’s all for now! If I have the chance to visit again, I’d love to try a night-time visit to see what the Secret Annex feels like in the evening.

Have you visited the Anne Frank House, or are you planning to? Please let me know what you think in the comments. My visit to the museum was inspiring and filled with hope, and I hope you do too!

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