Art lovers seeking to experience Vincent van Gogh's masterpieces without battling massive crowds have discovered a hidden gem in the Netherlands that offers an extraordinary alternative to Amsterdam's overcrowded Van Gogh Museum. The Kröller-Müller Museum, located just one hour from the Dutch capital in De Hoge Veluwe National Park, houses the world's second-largest collection of Van Gogh works while receiving only a fraction of the visitors that flock to more famous institutions.
While Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum welcomed 2.7 million visitors last year and Paris's Musée d'Orsay drew 3.75 million visitors in 2024, the Kröller-Müller Museum received approximately 1.8 million guests. This significant difference in visitor numbers means art enthusiasts can actually enjoy Van Gogh's paintings without the frustrating experience of fighting through crowds of frazzled tourists and overzealous selfie-snappers that often obstruct viewing at more popular venues.
The museum's heart features around 270 of Van Gogh's works, with a rotating selection constantly on display in galleries blessed with windows so large that nature seems to roll indoors. Visitors can explore the full spectrum of the artist's evolution, from his soil-hued Netherlands creations to the vibrant palette explosions of his Provence period. The collection includes everything associated with Van Gogh: wheat fields and blossoms, sunflowers and portraits, each serving as a snapshot of his artistic world. Portrait of Joseph Roulin stands among the notable works on display, while quotes lifted directly from Van Gogh's personal letters reveal deeper insights into the man behind the legend.
However, the most compelling story at the Kröller-Müller Museum belongs not to Vincent van Gogh, but to its visionary founder, Helene Kröller-Müller. Beginning in 1908, she collected Van Gogh's works with frenzied energy, eventually amassing an extraordinary collection that she donated to the Dutch nation with one crucial condition: the government must support the construction of her dream museum on her bucolic estate. Like Van Gogh himself, Kröller-Müller understood the powerful chemistry between canvas and countryside, believing firmly that museum visitors would have an elevated art experience in nature's tranquility rather than in busy urban settings.
Kröller-Müller's remarkable story is gaining international recognition through the exhibition "Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller's Neo-Impressionists," currently running at London's National Gallery until February 2026. While Van Gogh's post-impressionist works remain in Holland, the London exhibition features loaned works by artists including Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, demonstrating how the use of dots and geometry revolutionized late 19th-century art circles.
Museum displays reveal that access to seemingly unlimited funds from the family business enabled Helene's legendary spending sprees – she once traveled to Paris intending to buy a single Van Gogh painting and returned with fifteen. However, it was her single-minded determination, particularly remarkable given the limitations imposed on women of her generation, that established her as a key figure in the 20th-century art world. She recognized something special in Van Gogh's work before he gained widespread recognition and was among the first to understand that plain white gallery walls transformed the viewing experience.
Operating in a man's world, Kröller-Müller commissioned, designed, and project-managed the museum's construction plans. Today's visitors can admire not only works by Monet, Picasso, Gauguin, and Giacometti among the collections, but also the modernist buildings that grew to accommodate them. The museum's 200 outdoor modern-art sculptures truly set it apart from traditional institutions, with tree-lined corridors reminiscent of indoor gallery spaces leading to peaceful pavilions and quirky installations like Jean Dubuffet's 1974 monumental sculpture, "Jardin d'émail" (Enamel Garden). Walking across its blindingly white contours provides a challenging, surreal, and fun experience.
The museum sits within Helene Kröller-Müller's broader legacy, the 55-square-kilometer Hoge Veluwe National Park, featuring heath, woodland, and unique sandscape terrain. Nature lovers can explore the park on complimentary Dutch-style white bikes, observe red deer and wild boar in their natural habitat, and visit Helene's charming former residence, the Sint Hubertus Hunting Lodge.
Beyond art appreciation, the region offers additional attractions for travelers. The city of Arnhem, just a 20-minute drive away, features the Airborne Route walking trail that covers significant points of interest from the Second World War Battle of Arnhem. Arnhem's Openluchtmuseum (Open-air Museum) provides fascinating insights into Dutch social history, while the Modekwartier (fashion district) showcases sustainably minded creators who have helped establish the city's solid reputation for design innovation.
In a poignant irony that mirrors Van Gogh's posthumous success, Kröller-Müller died just one year after her museum's 1938 opening. Just as Vincent's coffin was surrounded by his paintings in the French auberge dining room where he died, Helene was laid out in her gallery beneath one of his sunflower paintings – devoted to art until the very end.
Travelers can reach the destination without flying via Stena Line's ferry service from Harwich to Hoek-van-Holland, followed by approximately a 90-minute drive to the museum. Alternatively, visitors can take the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam and continue via public transportation, taking buses from railway stations in Apeldoorn, Ede-Wageningen, or Arnhem to Otterlo, then transferring to the museum bus. The journey from Amsterdam's Eurostar terminus takes just one hour by fast train to Arnhem, making this cultural treasure easily accessible for flight-free travelers seeking an authentic and uncrowded Van Gogh experience.
