Speaking as a vacationer, too, I have to agree that the Van Gogh museum is a must. For one thing, it's not just Van Gogh. It comprises a large span of Dutch artists, mostly just before Van Gogh and later. It's kind of like the influences of Van Gogh, Van Gogh, and the artists influenced by Van Gogh, plus some additional other stuff. Virtually all paintings. I really enjoyed the Van Gogh museum. Also, the line for tickets at the Van Gogh museum seemed consistenly long. But there are other places you can buy tickets and bypass that entire line. I'd suggest you do that. I did, and despite the convenience, I kinda felt like a jerk skipping past all those people in what must have been a twenty-minute wait.

On the other hand, I was left somewhat underwhelmed by the Rijksmuseum. For one thing, as an American, when people say "Rijksmuseum", I think "Rembrandt". But the fact of the matter is that there is precious little Rembrandt there. Sure, they've got "The Black Watch" (which is way bigger than you'd think it'd be), but not a whole lot else. Personally, I'd rather see the more intimate Rebrandt stuff, from the self-portraits to the autopsy illustrations, but I don't remember seeing any of that kind of stuff there. You have to remember that it's the national Dutch museum, which means that it's all geared toward antiquities instead of toward art. And the antiquities are certainly artistic and beautiful, but it just didn't impress me all that much as a whole. I suppose part of it is because I was expecting an art museum, when it's actually a history museum with an artistic bent. So go with that in mind; I'm certainly not suggesting you skip it.