We visited the Frans Hals Museum last year and loved it. When we returned to Haarlem this year to visit our girls, we decided to tour the museum once again. If you are going for the first time, it is imperative that you not skip the short video at the start of the tour. It is exceptionally well done, informative, and interesting. Also, keep in mind that there are two Frans Hals Museums. The contemporary art one is near the Grote Markt and this one is a few blocks away and for first time visitors, might be hard to find. Look for the large and brilliant paintings of the Guard and for the 'dollhouse'. These dollhouses were not for children to play with but for wealthy ladies to decorate with expensive items. This museum will not disappoint. It is much smaller than the Rijksmuseum and takes about 90 min to two hours to fully see.

Great visit, second half of my ticket from yesterday. Upon arrival you are asked to put your coats in a locker (to protect the paintings from the humidity) and provided a audio tour device which can be scanned along the way. Do not skip the film, it is highly educational and watching pays dividends as you tour the museum. Some very interesting paintings that are presented in the film along with furniture and buttery (I focused on the paintings). There are works from those he influenced and who influenced him. The group portraits were most interesting to me as they had a sense of activity and personality which was an interesting experience. The audio guide did add to the experience. Highly recommend!

For me, Frans Hals Museum was of the most impressive sights in Haarlem. Actually, there are two “Frans Hals” art museums in Harlem; the other one is called Frans Hals HAL and is located at the Grote Markt (it is only contemporary art there and a single 16 Euro ticket is good for both). The Frans Hals museum surpassed all my expectations: I knew that his portraits veery well and the ones at the museum are truly superb, but a nice surprise was the spectacular historic building of the museum with its magnificent courtyard. The Civic Guards Hall has the best of the best of Hals’s group paintings and Sarah Lothe’s Doll’s House with miniature room interiors of a typical Haarlem canal house is adorable. The golden leather room with excellent Hals’s portraits of the Haarlem’s noblemen is another magnet. The museum has a lovely cafe and you can enjoy your lunch outside in good weather.

A lovely museum. Really easy to walk around and learn about Fran Hals. Free audio guide was really handy too - point at exhibits and hear interesting stories about them. Also want to shout out the cafe, interesting food and definitely a step up from your average museum cafe. Had a lovely lunch here.

The Frans Hals Museum is typical of a Dutch museum in that it not only houses a superb art collection but is also a fascinating historic building in its own right. What surprised me more, however, was how comparatively few of the two hundred or so paintings on display were actually by Frans Hals himself. Take the first room, for example, which featured portraits not only by the great man himself but also his Dutch and Flemish contemporaries and even a photographic self-portrait by Sarah Lucas. Period seventeenth century furniture and even a small organ were as important features in one of the rooms as its paintings. There was an extensive exhibition of paintings of the town of Haarlem itself some commemorating sea battles which took place during the Dutch wars of independence against the Spanish. The culminating experience is a room housing some of Hals’s celebrated group portraits of members of guilds. But even a few of these were by Hals’s contemporaries, replacing works on loan to exhibitions around the world including one currently in the National Gallery London.

This museum is worth the trip to Haarlem from Amsterdam or nearby. Beautifully laid out in the historical building and the breadth and scope of his work and others displayed is a joy to see. Besides the great museums in Amsterdam, this one is a must see! Highly recommend the trip and the time to see this fantastic museum.

Adored this museum in a very old building with great explanations of both the building and the exhibitions. There was also an excellent short film about Frans Hals and his painting. Highly recommend. Easy 15 minute train trip from Amsterdam and the town of Haarlem is charming.

This was a wonderful museum in a historic building. It was small and could easily be toured in a couple of hours. The collection was interesting and there were signs in English as well as Dutch. The audio tour was informative and easy to use.

This was my prime objective of coming to Haarlem and staying in this town for long weekend. After visiting Frans Hals exhibition in London I was inspired by this painter. We really enjoyed the visit and wish would have have more time to spend there. The audio guide was good and also lots of very detailed explanations about each painting.

In preparation for the Frans Hals special exhibition at the Rijksmuseum (closing June 9), we visited Haarlem and explored this intimate small museum. The building itself is very beautiful, and displays works by other artists (both Dutch Golden Age and more contemporary) as well as important paintings by Hals. It was the perfect intro to the artist’s life and work, while the onsite café was excellent for a break. HAL, the sister museum in Grote Markt, was also worth stopping into (included in the admission price).