How to get tickets for the Rietveld Schröder House

Why every visit needs a reserved slot

There is no such thing as turning up and walking in. The house can only be visited with a reservation for a specific time slot, and the museum is firm about it: even visitors who enter free with a Dutch museum card or an ICOM card still have to reserve a slot first. The reason is the building itself. The museum describes the house as a large museum piece and a World Heritage Site that has to be protected for future generations, and most of what you see inside is still original. Fewer people at once means less wear on floors, panels and fittings that were built in 1924.

That also shapes the visit you get. Because the rooms are never crowded, you can stand in the middle of the upper floor and actually see the space the way it was designed to be seen, rather than over the shoulders of a tour group. The price of that calm is a small number of places each day, which is what the rest of this guide is about.

How the day is divided into slots

A new slot starts every 20 minutes. In the morning the slots begin at 11:00, 11:20, 11:40, 12:00 and 12:20. The house then closes for lunch between 13:00 and 14:00, and the afternoon slots begin at 14:00, 14:20, 14:40, 15:00 and 15:20. That is ten daytime slots, Tuesday to Sunday.

From the first Friday in May to the last Friday in August, the house also opens on Friday evenings until 21:00. Those summer evenings add extra slots, which is worth knowing if you are in the Netherlands in those months and your days are already full.

The visit itself takes about 30 to 40 minutes, so slots overlap: while your group is upstairs, the next group is starting outside. You check in at the Ticket Office beside the house about ten minutes before your slot begins, or 20 minutes before if you want to watch the short documentary there first.

Eight people per slot, and what that means in practice

Each slot admits up to eight people. Do the sums and an ordinary day has room for no more than eighty visitors across all ten daytime slots. For a house that appears in every history of modern architecture, that is a very small number.

It also changes how you should think about group size. A family of five takes up more than half of a slot. Two couples travelling together take half. If your party is larger than eight, the museum's advice is to book two consecutive slots and split up: one half tours the house while the other half watches the documentary at the Ticket Office, and then you swap. We can put both slots on one order so that the logistics stay simple.

The three-month booking window

The museum releases tickets for the coming three months and no further. If you are planning a trip for next spring in the autumn, you may find that your dates simply are not on sale yet. That is not a sign they are sold out; they have not opened.

When a date does not appear, the museum gives three possible reasons: the house is closed that day, the slots are already sold out, or an event is taking place at the house. Mondays are always closed, as are New Year's Day, King's Day on 27 April and Christmas Day. The house does open on Easter Monday, Whit Monday and Boxing Day, which can be useful for holiday trips.

When slots run out

The pattern is simple: the next week or two is where availability gets thin. On a check in early October, the coming Saturday had only a few single seats left across the day, and the Tuesday after that was down to one slot. Dates further out still had choice.

So the practical advice is to book as soon as your travel dates are fixed, rather than leaving the house as something to sort out once you arrive in the Netherlands. If you have flexibility, a weekday further from today gives you the widest choice of times. If your date is fixed and close, book the moment you know it, and be ready to take whichever slot is still open.

One more thing helps: if you are travelling with someone who has mobility difficulties, read the accessibility notes before you choose a time, because the house has steep stairs and cannot be adapted.

Which fare do you need?

We sell five fares, mirroring the museum's own ticket lines, and every one of them books the same visit: a place in a 20-minute slot, both floors of the house and the multimedia tour.

The adult fare is for anyone aged 18 and over. Teenagers aged 13 to 17 have their own fare, and it is sensible for them to carry an ID showing their age. Students with an International Student Card have a separate student fare at the same price, and show the card at the Ticket Office. Children have two fares, ages 7 to 12 and ages 0 to 6, and both are booked alongside an adult, because children must visit with a parent or guardian.

Every child needs a ticket for the slot, whatever their age. That matters for planning too: a baby still counts towards the eight places, and there is no room in the house for pushchairs.

Some Dutch museum and culture cards, and a free companion ticket for visitors who cannot visit independently, give free entry. Those are handled by the museum itself, and they are never something we charge for.

What happens after you book

When you book with us, we buy your tickets from the museum's own ticket shop, in your name, for the date and slot you chose, and send them to you by email. You do not need to print anything; showing the e-ticket on your phone at the Ticket Office is enough.

If a question comes up before you travel, about the stairs, the languages of the tour or the bus from the station, email us and a person will reply. We are an independent booking service, not the museum, but we know the house and how the day works.

On the day of your visit

Go to the Ticket Office just to the left of the house, at Prins Hendriklaan 50a, rather than to the front door. Staff scan your ticket, you put your bag and coat in a free locker, and you are given a media player with the multimedia tour. The tour starts outside with the façades and the street, then moves inside, where you pull protective slippers over your shoes.

On the ground floor you explore at your own pace. Upstairs, a member of staff shows how the sliding walls and the corner window work. Nothing may be touched apart from the stair banister, and photos for personal use are allowed as long as you don't use flash. After the tour, hand the player back, have a look in the shop, and if you have time, sit for a coffee in the garden behind the house.

If your plans change

Tell us as early as possible. Because each slot holds only eight people and the near dates are often full, moving a booking depends on there being room in another slot. We will check what is possible and come back to you by email. The earlier you ask, the more likely there is a good alternative.

A quick checklist

Fix your travel date, then book straight away. Count every person, including babies, against the eight places in a slot. Book two consecutive slots for groups larger than eight. Book children's fares only alongside an adult. Plan to be at the Ticket Office ten minutes before your slot, or twenty if you want the documentary. And leave the pushchair at your hotel.

Choosing a time of day

With only ten daytime slots, the choice of time is mostly about the rest of your day. The visit lasts 30 to 40 minutes once you are through check-in, and the house closes between 13:00 and 14:00, so a 12:20 slot finishes around the start of the lunch break and an afternoon slot can never start before 14:00.

If you are coming from Amsterdam, a late-morning or early-afternoon slot gives you a comfortable train in each direction. If you are staying in Utrecht, the first slot at 11:00 lets you be back in the old centre before most of the city has had lunch, and the last slot at 15:20 suits a day spent in town first. In summer, the Friday evening openings until 21:00 give you a third option once the day's sightseeing is done.

Whatever time you pick, add ten minutes for check-in before the slot, or twenty for the documentary, and a few minutes afterwards to return the media player and collect your bag.

Fitting the house into a Utrecht day

The house sits in Utrecht East, a short bus or bike ride from Utrecht Centraal: bus 8 towards Wilhelminapark to the De Hoogstraat stop, then about five minutes on foot, or about 15 minutes by bike from the station. Direct trains from Amsterdam Centraal reach Utrecht Centraal in about half an hour.

That makes it easy to pair the visit with the Centraal Museum in the old centre, which holds the largest Rietveld collection in the world and opens Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 17:00. Both are closed on Mondays, so plan a Utrecht day for Tuesday to Sunday and book the house first, because it is the part of the day with the fewest places.