Moco Museum Amsterdam

The Moco Museum is the Museumplein visit for people who want something lighter, louder and more contemporary than the Golden Age. It opened in 2016 in Villa Alsberg, a townhouse built in 1904 and designed by Eduard Cuypers, a nephew of the Rijksmuseum's architect, squeezed between the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum on the edge of the square. Its founders, the gallerists Lionel and Kim Logchies, set out to make a museum for people who might not otherwise go to one, and the formula has been so successful that Moco has opened sister museums in other European cities. The collection and exhibitions centre on modern, contemporary and street art, with Banksy as the long-standing headline name and a rotating line-up that has included Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, KAWS, Yayoi Kusama and other Pop, street and digital artists. Works are displayed in intimate rooms of the villa, many with their original fireplaces and windows, which gives even the most provocative pieces a domestic, almost private feel. Alongside the paintings and prints are immersive installations: digital rooms of light, mirrors and projected imagery that are designed to be stepped into and photographed, and that have made Moco one of the most shared museums in Amsterdam on social media. The garden behind the villa holds sculptures and is a pleasant spot in good weather. Moco is compact, so a visit takes an hour or two rather than half a day, and it is open every day with long hours.

Is it for you: purists sometimes dismiss Moco as Instagram bait, and it is true that the digital rooms are as much backdrop as art. But the Banksy works are genuinely good, the hang changes regularly, and as an accessible introduction to street art and Pop for teenagers or for anyone who finds big museums tiring, it works well. It is also an easy add-on on a Museumplein day, because it is right there and does not demand much time. Expect a younger crowd and a more relaxed atmosphere than at the national museums, with music and phones out in many rooms. If your taste runs to serious modern art, the Stedelijk next door is the deeper visit; Moco is the fun one.

Visiting well: buy a timed ticket online, which is usually cheaper and quicker than at the door, and try to go early in the morning or in the evening, when the small rooms are less crowded. The villa has narrow staircases between floors, so check accessibility in advance if you have mobility needs. Photography is encouraged in most areas. Check the current exhibitions on the museum's site before you go, because the line-up changes and some artists are shown only for a season; if you are coming for Banksy in particular, confirm that his work is on display.

Around Moco: you are on the corner of Museumplein, with the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum within a couple of minutes' walk, the Stedelijk across the lawn and the Vondelpark ten minutes west. The P.C. Hooftstraat, the city's designer shopping street, starts just behind, and De Pijp, with its cafés and the Albert Cuyp market, is a short tram ride east. A good plan is the Rijksmuseum or Van Gogh in the morning, a picnic on Museumplein, then Moco as a light-hearted afternoon chaser.