Registration of guest tour guides
If you wish to give tours of the Rijksmuseum as an external guide, you are required to register in advance. This registration is meant for professionals in tourism. As a teacher, you do not need to register in advance. More information about educational visits can be found on the education page.
We then know who we can expect, and we can inform you about the procedures for guest guides at the museum.
As a registered guide you will be invited to take part in information sessions, and we will send you updates about new exhibitions and other Rijksmuseum news.
Applications that are received now, are valid until December 31, 2024. From 1 January 2025, new rules regarding guest tour guiding will apply. You will have to submit a new application.
How it works
We ask you to register once and to read the terms and conditions and the guidelines. We will then provide you with a name badge, which we ask you to wear during tours so that our staff can identify you as a guest tour guide. You are not permitted to give a tour without wearing a badge.
There is no charge for registration of the badge.
If you register by 17:00 on Wednesday, your badge will be ready for collection at the information desk on Monday. To collect the badge, please bring the confirmation email you will receive after registering. You should display this email both at the entrance and at the information desk.
If the badge is lost, we charge €10 for a new one. You can request a new badge from salesdepartment@rijksmuseum.nl. Again, if you request the badge by 17:00 on Wednesday, it will be ready for collection on Monday.
Guidelines for Guest Tour Guides
- Badge: The badge you receive is strictly personal. We may ask tour guides to provide proof of identity at any time.
- Courtesy to other guides and respect for visitors: Be aware of other groups and visitors in the room, and any impact your tour and group may be having on them.
- Managing your group: Make sure your group stays together. We notice that groups using a wireless tour guide system tend to take up more space because they can hear the guide wherever they are.
- Duration: Make sure that if the gallery you are in is busy you do not spend too long next to one object. Make contact with other guides if you notice that they would also like to discuss the object.
- Distance: If a gallery or room is full, consider carefully whether there is sufficient space for another group before entering. It is important to keep a distance from other groups.
- Philips wing: in our exhibition wing we have different rules regarding guiding than in the rest of the museum. You are only allowed to guide using a whisper system, you brought yourself, for you and your guests. We allow a maximum of 12 guests per guide. A separate start time is compulsory for exhibitions.
- Rijksmuseum tour guides: We ask you to give priority to Rijksmuseum guides – an object may be part of an educational programme and it is difficult for Rijksmuseum guides to make a detour. Our guides can be identified by their Rijksmuseum badge. Rijksmuseum staff: Rijksmuseum staff will supervise to ensure that guides comply with the above rules.
- If a guest tour guide or his/her group repeatedly fails to comply with provisions in the General Terms and Conditions for Visitors, Guidelines for Guest Tour Guides or directions and instructions given by members of staff, the Rijksmuseum may deny him/her permission to give guided tours in the Rijksmuseum building for a specified period.
- If you have an objection, or you disagree with an instruction given by a Rijksmuseum staff member, you can report it at the information desk in the Atrium.
- The Rijksmuseum reserves the right to refuse entry to tour guides and their groups who do not comply with the above rules. vChanges to guidelines: the Rijksmuseum reserves the right to change these guidelines if it deems this necessary.
- Terms and conditions for visitors: The General Terms and Conditions for Visitors are applicable, including the Special Conditions for Organisers of Group Visits.
- Live streaming or (digital) recording of tours is not allowed.