Archeon near Alphen a/d Rijn opens 11 to 25 October: from age ten a child already costs the 28.95 euro adult rate

Archeon in Alphen aan den Rijn is an open-air archaeology park: a prehistoric camp, a Roman bathhouse and a medieval town are rebuilt at full size from excavation evidence, and people in period dress spend the day lighting fires, working iron, paddling dugout canoes and fighting with swords. Over the autumn holiday it opens from 11 to 25 October, 10:00 to 17:00, closed only on Monday 12 October, which happens to fall on the first Monday of the northern region's holiday and is worth writing down now. The prices are stated plainly: 29.50 euro from age ten (28.95 online), 26.50 for ages three to nine (25.95 online), free under three, free with a Museumkaart, and parking a further 12.50. It suits children of about six and up who like fire and making things. Next step: work out which ticket your household needs, then pick the day. (source 1, source 2)

• This is not a museum with information boards. The oldest stretch of Dutch history is built as houses you walk into: a neolithic farmstead, a Roman bathhouse and inn, a monastery and a medieval market street, while the Archeologiehuis Zuid-Holland holds the actual excavated finds. The park also has a restoration yard where six Roman ships excavated at Zwammerdam are being conserved, with guides taking visitors along Zwammerdam 2. (source 3)
• When and where: on the south-eastern edge of Alphen aan den Rijn, with the full street address in the card below; over the autumn holiday, 11 to 25 October daily from 10:00 to 17:00, with Monday 12 October closed. The official opening-hours page marks every day on a month calendar, so check it again for any other date. (source 2, source 3)
• Who it suits: the age brackets here deserve attention, because the park counts everyone from ten years old at the adult price, so a ten-year-old and an adult cost the same. Under-threes are free and three to nine is one band. The language barrier is low because most of it is demonstration and doing, though the spoken explanation is mainly in Dutch. No minimum age is stated anywhere; the park only says charging starts at three. (source 1)
• Before you go: buying online saves 0.55 euro, so an online ticket is about skipping the queue rather than saving money. Residents of Alphen aan den Rijn should look twice: they get 25 per cent off the standard rate on showing ID, but the park states this applies at the entrance only, which means buying online costs them more. A CJP card takes 3.50 euro off, a dog is 3.50, and parking is 12.50 including carbon compensation. (source 1)

Work it out: one visit = people aged ten and over x 28.95 online + people aged three to nine x 25.95 + 12.50 for parking. Two adults with a seven-year-old and an eleven-year-old is 28.95 x 3 plus 25.95, which is 112.80 euro, or 125.30 with parking, because the eleven-year-old is billed as an adult and that single rule costs 3 euro more than the child rate. Turn the Museumkaart column round: two adults enter free, saving 57.90 euro in a single visit. For an Alphen resident, run it once more: 29.50 x 0.75 is 22.13 euro, which is 6.82 below the 28.95 online rate, but only at the entrance, so the right answer in that column is not to order online at all. (source 1)

Where

Archeonlaan 1, 2408 ZB Alphen a/d Rijn

When

Autumn holiday 11-25 October, 10:00-17:00

Price

From age 10: 29,50 euro (28,95 online)・ages 3-9: 26,50 euro (25,95 online)・under 3 free・Museumkaart free on showing・CJP 3,50 off

Ages

No minimum age stated; charging starts at three, and the adult rate starts at ten

Note

Closed Monday 12 October・parking 12,50 euro extra・the 25 per cent local residents' discount applies at the entrance only, not online

Hokimi field note: put the places with fire first, the forge, the pottery kiln and the Roman bathhouse furnace, because children arrive at the rest with better questions afterwards; the pancake house on the medieval street and the Roman inn are the park's own restaurants, so go early if you want to sit down at lunch. Autumn ground is wet, and waterproof shoes make the canoe and mud sections far easier. Details from Archeon's own prices and opening-hours pages, with the address and hours cross-checked against the Museumvereniging listing, checked on 20 September 2026.