Museumyaarkaart - The Museum Card - Amsterdam Pass
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If you plan to visit more than one museum in Amsterdam and Holland, you should consider buying a tourist pass for museums. There are two kinds I know of to mention here.
First is the Amsterdam Pass - it/s good for those who only plan to visit Amsterdam once a year or less . The last time I checked it cost 26/36/46 Euros for 1/2/3 day passes.. Aside from the VVV tourism offices, I believe you can also buy the Amsterdam Pass at stores and possibly train ticket windows. You won't have to look far.
The "museumyaarkaart" pass is for people with more time who love museums and plan to visit 4-6 of them. This pass is good for a year and costs more, but pays for itself after 4-6 full museum visits. The museum year card is available at the various VVV offices including the ones in Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam Centraal Station.
Amsterdam Pass
The Amsterdam Pass is good for those who just have a short time in Amsterdam. Among many other free entries and discounts listed, it includes free (I quote) "Entry Rijksmuseum or van Gogh museum." It says "or", not "and", so I assume they mean or. I would visit the Rijksmuseum first, then the van Gogh. The Amsterdam Culture Leisure Pass also includes numerous discounts on meals, drinks, canal tours and cruises, and discounts on museums.There used to be an Amsterdam Culture and Leisure pass for less than 40 guilders, but that is gone, and has been replaced by the Amsterdam Pass. It's not too different.
Museumyaarkaart - Museum Year Card in the Netherlands
Because I have been lucky enough to return to Holland more than once a year for the past 3 years, I keep my museumcard up to date. I don't remember exactly how much it was, but it costs between 60 and 80 guilders. Considering that a good museum costs over 15 guilders to enter, after 4-6 visits you have made the card pay for itself. I like to visit not just Amsterdam but many other Dutch towns and cities as well. Many of these towns have their own important museums, and almost all Dutch museums offer free or discounted entry with the Museumyaarkaart.An important idea if you plan to buy a museum card is to have an extra passport picture with you (loose, unmounted) -- you will need it to place on the card (they supply the glue). If you don't have a passport picture with you then you can do what I did last time -- run to the train station in Haarlem and take a hobbile picture of yourself with those automatic passport picture machines.
While the Culture and Leisure Pass only provides free entry or discounts on certain sights in Amsterdam, the Museum Year Card is for those who have more time, will visit many museums, and may travel outside Amsterdam. The first museum to see outside Amsterdam is the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, which also accepts the Museumyaarkaart.
You can buy the Museum Year Card at museums or VVV tourist offices.