Rijksmuseum

Amsterdam’s most celebrated museum was under renovation for nearly a decade, reopening in Spring 2013 to much applause. Its greatest hits, including works by Franz Hals, Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt, are on view in the Philips wing. The museum, which covers 800 years of Dutch art, is most well-known for its Gallery of Honour, where Rembrandt's The Night Watch hangs. The design of the church-like gallery was structured so that the piece, hanging at the end of the hall, is framed like an altar. Additional noteworthy pieces include Vermeer's The Milkmaid, and the museum's library, the largest art history library in the Netherlands, is not-to-be-missed.