Accessibility

Address

Van Abbemuseum
Stratumsedijk 2
5611 ND Eindhoven
T: +31 40 238 1000
E: info@vanabbemuseum.nl

How do I find the building?

The building that houses the Van Abbemuseum consists of two parts. The main entrance at Stratumsedijk 2 is a tall, modern building clad in grey slate panels. To reach the entrance, walk past the four flagpoles bearing the museum’s logo and then cross the small covered pink bridge.

The other part of the Van Abbemuseum is a historic red-brick building with a clock tower above the old entrance.

By bike

There is plenty of space to park your bicycle next to the main entrance at Stratumsedijk. Bicycle parking Heuvel is the closest guarded parking and is a 10-minute walk from the museum. The Van Abbemuseum is connected to the bicycle junction network; bicycle junction 89.

By car

Eindhoven can be reached via the A2, the A50 and the A67. Regardless of which direction you come from, drive in the direction of the city centre. Follow the signs to one of the parking garages in the centre, all within 5 minutes walking distance of the Van Abbemuseum: Q-Park parking Stadhuisplein, Parking Stadskantoor or Q-Park parking Heuvel.

Traveling from the south? Park inexpensively at P+R Genneperparken and travel from there by bus, shared bicycle or scooter to the city centre. Information about all public parking places in Eindhoven, the parking fees and opening times can be found on the website of the Eindhoven Municipality.

There are two disabled parking spaces next to the main entrance at Stratumsedijk 2 and two spaces next to the old entrance at Bilderdijklaan 10. Please call +31 40 238 10 20 for assistance.

Walking route from the Q-park car park at Stadhuisplein or the Town Hall (5 minutes)

When you leave the car park, cross Stadhuisplein and, to the left of the Town Hall, take the footpath towards the River Dommel.

Once you reach the river, turn right towards the bridge. On the other side of the water, you will see the Van Abbemuseum.

Cross the bridge and you will reach the museum entrance of the brick Old Building.

Inside, you will find a staircase and a lift leading down to the ticket desk. If you have come down the stairs, turn left towards the ticket desk. If you have taken the lift, turn right.

Walking route from Q-park Heuvel car park (10 minutes)

Leave the car park through shopping mall Heuvel.

From the car park or the mall, turn right towards Catharinaplein.

Diagonally cross the square towards Stratumseind and take a right into Begijnenhof, passing the St. Catharina’s Church on your right.

Cross Stadhuisplein and, to the left of the Town Hall, take the footpath towards the River Dommel.

Once you reach the river, turn right towards the bridge. On the other side of the water, you will see the Van Abbemuseum. Cross the bridge and you will reach the museum entrance of the brick Old Building.

Inside, you will find a staircase and a lift leading down to the ticket desk. If you have come down the stairs, turn left towards the ticket desk. If you have taken the lift, turn right.

By train

From the station, it’s a 15-minute walk through the car-free city centre to the museum. Plan your train journey at www.ns.nl.

Walking route from Eindhoven Central Station (15 minutes)

Leave the station via the exit towards the city centre and walk across Stationsplein to Stationsweg, cross the road.

Turn right, cross Vestdijk street and turn left.

Continue until you reach Ten Hagestraat and turn right towards Catharinaplein.

Diagonally cross the square towards Stratumseind and take a right into Begijnenhof, passing the St. Catharina’s Church on your right.

Cross Stadhuisplein and, to the left of the Town Hall, take the footpath towards the River Dommel.

Once you reach the river, turn right towards the bridge. On the other side of the water, you will see the Van Abbemuseum.

Cross the bridge and you will reach the museum entrance of the brick Old Building.

Inside, you will find a staircase and a lift leading down to the ticket desk. If you have come down the stairs, turn left at towards the ticket desk. If you have taken the lift, turn right.

Bus

The bus station is located on the north side of the NS railway station Eindhoven Central Station. Several buses stop near the museum, such as stop Bilderdijklaan (1 minute walk), Smalle Haven (3 minutes’ walk), Stadhuisplein (4 minutes’ walk), PC Hooftlaan (4 minutes’ walk) or Keizersgracht (9 minutes’ walk) to our main entrance at Stratumsedijk 2. Plan your train journey at 9292.nl.

Walking route from the Bilderdijklaan bus stop (1 minute)

At the bus stop, cross the junction of Geldropseweg and Stratumsedijk and walk straight ahead into Bilderdijklaan. After a few dozen metres, you will see the Van Abbemuseum on your right.

Walking route from the Smalle Haven bus stop (3 minutes)

Turn left and follow Stratumseind, crossing the River Dommel via a bridge.

The grey building on the right, situated on the water, is the Van Abbemuseum. Continue walking and take the first street on the right, Bilderdijklaan. After a few dozen metres, you will see the Van Abbemuseum on your right.

Walking route from the Stadhuisplein bus stop (4 minutes)

Cross Stadhuisplein and, to the left of the Town Hall, take the footpath towards the River Dommel.

Once you reach the river, turn right towards the bridge.

On the other side of the water, you will see the Van Abbemuseum. Cross the bridge and you will reach the museum entrance of the brick Old Building.

Walking route from the PC Hooftlaan bus stop (4 minutes)

Follow PC Hooftlaan around the bend and continue straight until you reach Bilderdijklaan. Turn right there and cross the road; you will see the Van Abbemuseum in front of you.

Walking route from the Keizersgracht bus stop (9 minutes)

Follow Keizersgracht southwards, across the Wal, until you have crossed the River Dommel. Then turn left and you have reached the Van Abbemuseum.

Taxi

There are taxis on both the north and south sides of NS railway station Eindhoven Central Station.

This wall in the entrance area offers practical tools that you are welcome to take and use during your visit. They support your way of moving, sensing, and focusing in the museum galleries. You can use one or several of the following tools:

• Noise‑reducing headphones for adults and children.
• Boodie: a sensory‑calming hoodie.
• Stimming tools (for more information, see ‘Take a sensory break’, below).
• Small stools to rest or sit with artworks.
• A magnifying glass to zoom in on details.
• A sensory map to plan your visit according to sensory needs.

The tools on this wall are developed in collaboration with ADEZIV, a social design platform dedicated to neuro‑inclusion and neuro‑liberation. ADEZIV sees neurodivergent people as ‘designers by default’, constantly adapting systems not originally made for them.

These tools offer a different way of moving through, sensing, and understanding a space for everyone, allowing every visitor to experience something new.

• The Van Abbemuseum is well accessible with wheelchairs, mobility scooters and walkers. These may all be used in the exhibition galleries as well.
• The museum has two wheelchairs for visitor to use. Make a reservation via kassabalie@vanabbemuseum.nl.
• In the entrance area, portable stools are available to rest or sit with artworks
• Seating areas for resting are provided at various points throughout the exhibitions, particularly in the New Building.
• Queuing: sometimes visitors need to queue while waiting for an event. If you have access needs that make queueing difficult, please speak to a member of staff who will help you skip the queue or guide you to a place to sit.

You are welcome to bring your assistance animals. No other animals can come inside our building.  To protect our collections and for everyone’s comfort and safety, please make sure your assistance animal:

• Stays under your care and control throughout your visit, ideally remaining on a leash.
• Only eats or drinks in Van Abbe café. The staff here can provide a drinking bowl for your animal.

• There are gender-neutral toilets on the ground floor, both of which have baby-changing facilities.
• There is a gender-neutral, wheelchair-accessible toilet on the ground floor.
• On the second floor of the New Building, there are single-sex toilets with self-contained cubicles.
• There is a gender-neutral toilet in the Van Abbe Café.

• Visitors are welcome to breastfeed and bottle-feed babies in the Van Abbe café and the Quiet Room on the ground floor.
• There are baby-changing facilities on the ground floor inside the two gender-neutral toilets.
• You are welcome to use the Quiet Room on the ground floor for expressing milk or breastfeeding.

Quiet Room

In this Quiet Room on the ground floor, you can relax and retreat for a moment of silence, prayer, meditation, care or reflection. It is a place where you can take some time for yourself, alone or with your child, without rushing or distractions. Here, you will find prayer books, mats, a nursing pillow and a comfortable place to sit. The room is also suitable for expressing milk or breastfeeding.

 If the doors to this room are closed, it means the room is in use. Do you want to use the room yourself? Please close the doors to ensure peace and privacy for everyone. To keep the floor clean for future users, we ask you kindly to leave your shoes in the shoe rack next to the entrance.

Cocoon

Also on the ground floor, opposite the Quiet Room, you find the Cocoon. It’s up to you how you want to use this space. Inside, the world seems to slow down for a moment. Sit or lie down on the soft carpet and look up at the stars above you. What do you fancy: reading a book, relaxing on the cushions or building with blocks? You choose what to do, at your own pace. To keep the floor clean for future visitors, we kindly ask you to leave your shoes in the shoe rack next to the entrance.

eZwayZ

From 1 October 2026, indoor navigation will be available at the Van Abbemuseum for people who are blind or visually impaired. This indoor navigation system has been developed within the eZwayZ app. This innovative technology enables everyone to navigate through buildings independently, safely and effortlessly. How does it work:

• Using the app: view the instruction video. Before using the app, be sure to read the eZwayZ manual thoroughly.
• Prepare your visit: eZwayZ currently works on tablets, iPhones and Android phones. Before visiting the Van Abbemuseum, download the eZwayZ app from the App Store or Google Play Store. Open the app, allow it access to the camera of your device, and watch the Quick Start.
• Using the ap in the museum: the app requires an internet connection. In the museum the Wi-Fi network ‘Gasten Van Abbemuseum’ is free to use.
• Identifying your location: on arriving at the Van Abbemuseum, find a quiet place for yourself in entrance area to start the location tracking function in the app. During this process, be sure to stay still while holding your device vertically in portrait position. At the centre of the location screen is a white circle. When the blue circle is positioned in the middle of the white circle, your device is in the correct position. You will hear a confirmation sound when location tracking is complete.
• Navigating: the eZwayZ app offers two methods of navigating around the Van Abbemuseum:
• • Search for a destination using the category list or search field.
  • Explore your surroundings in the 360 view and select a destination.

Once you have selected a destination you can start following your route. The app offers the following types of route instructions: visual, vibrations, speech audio, sound effects, or a combination of these signals. We recommend that you use earphones if you choose to use audio route indicators.

• Feedback: eZwayZ and the Rijksmuseum would love to know about your experience with the app. You can provide feedback via the app or by sending an email to vivian.vasilda@vanabbemuseum.nl.

Sensory map

The sensory map, developed in collaboration with ADEZIV, is a tool that helps you navigate the museum using sensory stimuli such as light, sound and scent. It allows you to tailor your visit to your energy levels and sensory needs, so you can enjoy the exhibitions comfortably.

On the Care Wall in the entrance area, you will find a sensory map for each floor. We are currently testing these maps in collaboration with various specialists. On the back, you will find a feedback form where you can leave your feedback. From 1 October 2026, the sensory maps will be available for all floors.

Tactile map

Tactile maps help you find your way around the museum’s floor plans. You can use these maps to scan the layout by touch. The tactile map is currently available for the first floor and is being tested with various specialists. Eventually, the tactile maps will be available for all floors.

Tablets

From 1 October 2026, you will be able to use tablets from the ticket desk to zoom in on artworks and exhibition texts.

In various places on the museum’s website and online platforms, you can convert written text to speech:

• ReadSpeaker webReader reads the content of a website out loud. Tap the read-out-loud-button at the top of each website. A voice will read you the text while it's being highlighted, making it easier to read along.
• You can listen to descriptive texts and object descriptions for a selection of collection works via an audio tour using the free Smartify app on your smartphone. We will be expanding this selection in the future.
• The Smartify app also has a ReadSpeaker option for listening to written text.
• When navigating the building via eZwayZ, you can choose to have spoken audio for route guidance. Available from 1 October 2026.

As part of Unlimited Van Abbe, a programme designed to improve the museum’s accessibility for all visitors, we offer the following guided tours:

Multisensory guided tour

Van Abbemuseum developed a Multisensory tour with and for the blind and visually impaired. Besides Braille, tactile replicas, scent interpretations, and soundscapes, also music, literature and poetry bring the artworks to life. For deafblind visitors we offer an adjusted version of the tour. Click here for more information and dates of upcoming Multisensory guided tours.

Lights Up tour

For those who enjoy experiencing art in a well-lit environment, we organise Lights Up Tours, a brighter version of our Multisensory guided tours. The Lights Up Tours take place before opening hours. Explore the exhibitions under brighter and more even lighting in the galleries. During these tours it is easier to see more details, whilst still enjoying a multi-sensory experience through touch, sound and smell.

Unforgettable Van Abbe

Looking at art stimulates the brain. That's why we developed Unforgettable Van Abbe, an interactive guided tour for people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Sharing stories, memories, associations and ideas with one another in a safe and inspiring environment brings the artworks to life. Click here for more information and dates of upcoming Unforgettable Van Abbe guided tours.

Spraakmakend Van Abbe

Art lovers with aphasia or brain injury can enjoy the museum with the Spraakmakend Van Abbe guided tour. In this interactive and positive tour, you visit the museum with like-minded people and share experiences with each other. Art historian Jenneke Lambert developed the tour together with social worker Mijke Ulrich who has lived experience. As a person with first-hand knowledge, Mijke supports the participants every step of the way. Click here for more information and dates of upcoming Spraakmakend Van Abbe guided tours.

Low-stimulus museum experience

The Van Abbemuseum aims to remove invisible barriers and offer an accessible, low-stimulus museum experience for visitors who are sensitive to stimuli. This applies, for example, to people with neurodivergence, acquired brain injury or other conditions that affect how they process stimuli. By creating a calm environment, the museum reduces fatigue and stress, so that everyone can experience art in a comfortable and inclusive way.

In the museum, lively museum rooms offering a lot of stimulation alternate with areas where peace and quiet are key. There are quieter exhibition galleries and two quiet rooms, one of which is suitable for prayer and breastfeeding. This variation in stimulation levels is reflected on the sensory map, allowing you to tailor your route to your energy levels and sensory needs. Also, on the Care Wall in the entrance area, you’ll find tools that you can use during your visit. They help you moving, sensing, and focusing in the museum galleries.

Tour for visitors dealing with aphasia

The Spraakmakend Van Abbe guided tour, designed for people dealing with aphasia and brain injuries, takes place every two months. During this interactive and positive tour, developed by an expert by experience, we take our visitors’ wishes into account as much as we can. Where possible, we minimise stimuli, for example by turning off the sound on some artworks. The tour always takes place on Mondays, a day when the museum is closed to regular visitors. View and book upcoming tours.

Quiet times and places

Some areas can be busy and loud, especially at the entrance area and the Van Abbe café. Other areas upstairs are often much quieter. Ask staff if you need help finding a quieter space.

Weekday mornings are usually the quietest time to visit. On Tuesdays from 3 pm to 5 pm, admission to the museum is free; this is a busier time of the week, as are the weekends.

Stimming tools

On the Care Wall and on the lockers near the entrance, you will find five different stimming tools. The tools help regulate the nervous system. The designers of the stimming tools all drew inspiration from the museum’s architecture. This way they become part of the museum’s design, something everyone is welcome to use.

Inside the lockers you find drawings by Cedric De Rodot about how to take care. These drawings use the style of infographics, making them universally understandable and interpretable.

With our new collection presentation, Collection as a Cosmos, we are taking steps to make our collection more accessible. In the coming years, over the duration of the exhibition, we will be adding more accessibility elements.

In the exhibition, lively museum rooms offering a lot of stimulation alternate with areas where peace and quiet are key. There are quieter exhibition rooms and two quiet rooms, one of which is suitable for prayer and breastfeeding.

We have paid particular attention to orientation and helping you find your way through the exhibition. You can make use of a sensory map, a tactile map and, from autumn 2026, indoor navigation via the eZwayZ app. This app helps you explore the exhibition in your own way and at your own pace, using vibrations and sound.

 In Collection as Cosmos, we approach accessibility from various perspectives. You will encounter artworks that can already be experienced through multiple senses, like Carolyn Lazard’s artwork Consensual Healing. This video work follows a conversation between a therapist and a client. A yellow ball swings back and forth, echoing the simple movements used in EMDR therapy to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In addition, we have added extra layers to existing works, so that you can experience them through touch, sound or vibration. For example, artists Femke and Angelo developed sound pieces for some of the collection works. They are incorporated in seating furniture and activated by touch or vibration.

Collection as a Cosmos features various interactive elements and performances that can be experienced through different senses. We invite you to experience the collection display in a way that is comfortable and suitable for you.

Smartify-tours in NGT

The Van Abbemuseum offers a range of free digital tours via the Smartify museum app. Two of these take place in the exhibition Collection as Cosmos and are also available in Dutch Sign Language (NGB): the Introduction Tour and the 90 Narrators Tour. In Smartify, select ‘Dutch Sign Language’ from the drop-down menu at the top of the screen. Available from the end of July 2026.

Hearing Loop System

In the museum auditorium visitors wearing hearing aids can comfortably listen to the sound of the installation through the available hearing loop system.

• Works of art are fragile. To prevent damage, we ask everyone not to bring their coats, bags larger than A3 size, backpacks and umbrellas with them to the museum. A limited number of free lockers are available for storing items. The management of the museum is not liable for loss, damage or theft of personal belongings.
• It goes without saying that artworks should not be touched. For safety reasons, keep some distance from the artworks. When visiting with young children, we ask the parents or supervisors to be extra attentive. Running around in the museum is prohibited.
• Loud phone calls with a mobile phone are not permitted inside the building.
• Smoking is only allowed on the terrace of Van Abbe café.
• For wedding reports, please contact info@vanabbemuseum.nl or view the wedding brochure for more information.
• For security reasons within the building, the instructions of security personnel must be followed at all times.
• Bringing or consuming food and drinks from outside of the museum is not allowed anywhere.
• Dogs are not allowed in the museum, with the exception of guide dogs.
• During the visit you can use the open wireless network (WIFI), based on Fair Use Policy and entirely at your own risk. The Van Abbemuseum is not responsible for any claims arising from the activities of the users.