What Is NEMO Science Museum?

NEMO Science Museum occupies a distinctive green, ship-hull-shaped building rising out of the Oosterdok harbor, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano and opened in 1997 under the name "newMetropolis." The institution's roots go back further than the building itself — it traces to the 1923 Museum van den Arbeid (Museum of Labor), founded by artist Herman Heijenbrock, which was renamed NINT in 1954 before eventually moving into Piano's building. The name changed again to "Science Center NEMO" in 2000 and finally to "NEMO Science Museum" in 2016.

Today the museum spans five floors of hands-on, interactive science exhibits aimed primarily at families and school groups, though the content skews broad enough to hold adult interest too. It draws roughly 728,000 visitors a year, making it the seventh most-visited museum in the Netherlands. The building's roof holds a public terrace of more than 1,000 square meters with panoramic views over Amsterdam's harbor and old city — one of the free highlights that doesn't require a museum ticket at all.

NEMO Science Museum Tickets & Prices 2026

NEMO uses a single flat ticket price for all visitors aged 4 and up — there's no separate, cheaper child rate the way many museums structure family pricing. Most current third-party listings put that price at around €21.50 per person as of mid-2026, though a couple of guides still show an earlier €17.50 figure, which suggests a recent increase or regional pricing difference. Children under 4 are admitted free with no ticket required. Given the spread between sources, confirm the live rate on the official plan-your-visit page before you finalize a booking, especially for a larger family group.

A combined ticket bundling NEMO admission with a one-hour Amsterdam canal cruise runs about €34 per person, a reasonable pairing if a canal tour is already on your list. Entry is free for holders of the Museumkaart (the Dutch annual museum pass) and the I amsterdam City Card, which starts from around €28 per day and bundles free entry to dozens of museums plus public transport. If you're already weighing whether a citywide pass makes sense for your trip, our guide on whether the Amsterdam Pass is worth it covers which paid extras these passes typically include.

Tickets are sold with a specific entry time slot rather than an open-ended day pass, which spreads visitor arrivals out across the day. Online prices generally match walk-up prices at the door, so booking ahead is mainly about guaranteeing entry and a convenient time slot rather than saving money.

Opening Hours & Best Time to Visit

NEMO is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 to 17:30. It's normally closed on Mondays, with two exceptions: during Dutch school holidays and throughout April to September, when it also opens on Mondays. The museum closes on King's Day (27 April), one of the few fixed annual closures worth noting if your trip lands on that date. Check the official tickets page for the live calendar before you travel, since hours can shift around holidays.

For a calmer visit, arrive right at opening on a weekday, ideally outside Dutch school holidays. Weekends and rainy days both drive up crowds noticeably — rain pushes outdoor tourism indoors across the whole city, and NEMO is one of the obvious beneficiaries. If a weekend visit is unavoidable, arriving before 10:00 and being at the door when it opens makes a real difference to how crowded the first couple of floors feel.

How Long to Plan for Your Visit

Budget at least 2 to 3 hours to get a proper look at the five exhibit floors without rushing, and closer to 4 hours if you're visiting with kids who want to linger at hands-on stations or if you're adding the rooftop terrace and cafeteria on the fifth floor. Families with younger children often find a full half-day disappears here once meals and terrace time are factored in. If your Amsterdam schedule is tighter, our Amsterdam with kids guide covers how a NEMO stop fits alongside other family-friendly sights in the city.

How to Get to NEMO Science Museum

NEMO sits at Oosterdok 2, on the Oosterdokseiland waterfront a short walk east of Amsterdam Centraal Station — reckon on roughly 15 minutes on foot along the harbor. Bus 22 also stops at Kadijksplein, close to the museum entrance, for anyone who'd rather not walk or is arriving with young children and strollers. The building's ship-like silhouette is visible from much of the surrounding waterfront, making it an easy landmark to navigate toward even without directions.

Visit Tips: Queues, Booking & Common Mistakes

• Book your entry time slot online in advance during weekends, school holidays, and rainy days — walk-up admission at busy times can mean a longer wait or a later slot than you wanted.
• Don't assume a cheaper child ticket exists — NEMO's flat pricing above age 4 catches some parents off guard when budgeting for a family visit.
• Check the live opening calendar before a Monday visit outside school holidays and the April–September window, since Monday closures are the most common scheduling mistake here.
• The rooftop terrace is accessible via street-level stairs without a museum ticket, but it's weather-dependent — skip planning around it on a forecast-poor day.
• If you already hold a Museumkaart or an I amsterdam City Card, register it at booking instead of buying a separate paid ticket.

Nearby Attractions

For a change of pace after NEMO's hands-on floors, the Rijksmuseum and its Dutch masters collection sit across the city center, about a 20–25 minute tram ride away. The Anne Frank House is a similarly popular, advance-booking-required stop worth pairing on a multi-day itinerary, and Vondelpark makes a good green-space wind-down if you're combining a science museum morning with an outdoor afternoon. For the fuller list of what else is nearby, see our broader Amsterdam attractions coverage.