Museum Speelklok in Utrecht is EUR 17.00 on the platform, EUR 1.50 under the box office, and free with a Museumkaart

At Steenweg 6 in the old centre of Utrecht stands a museum that only makes a sound when a tour begins. Museum Speelklok collects self-playing instruments: street organs, dance-hall organs, musical clocks that move by themselves. The point is that these machines sit silent by default and a guide has to start them before you hear anything, which is why the museum runs a tour on every half hour and includes it in the admission price. The Tiqets ticket costs €17.00 and is rated 4.8 from 28 reviews; the museum's own website charges €18.50 for an adult. This is the uncommon case of the platform being cheaper than the box office, by €1.50.

Before you buy, one thing has to be said first: Museumkaart holders get in free, and so do ICOM card holders. Buying this ticket with a card in your pocket wastes €17.00. In the same way the museum's own child rate for ages 4 to 12 is €10.00, which is €7.00 less than this €17.00 adult platform ticket, so check which bracket you are actually buying before you book for children.

• Platform price and rating: the Tiqets ticket is €17.00, rated 4.8 from 28 reviews, and shown as available. (source 1)
• The museum's own price ladder: adult €18.50, ages 13 to 17 €13.50, ages 4 to 12 €10.00, ages 0 to 3 free, student €13.50; Museumkaart and ICOM enter free. (source 2)
• Tours: the museum states that tours start daily on the half hours and are included in admission at no extra cost, and the instruments only play during a tour. (source 2)
• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, and also on Mondays during official school holidays. Closed on New Year's Day, King's Day and Christmas Day. (source 2)
• Address: Steenweg 6, 3511 JP Utrecht, inside the pedestrian streets of the old centre. (source 2)

The first sum subtracts the platform price from your own bracket at the box office, and the answer differs by person. An adult is €18.50 minus €17.00, so €1.50, and two adults save €3.00. But the museum charges €13.50 for ages 13 to 17 and €10.00 for ages 4 to 12, both under this €17.00 ticket, which means the platform ticket only pays for adults. A family of two adults and two children comes to 2 x €18.50 plus 2 x €10.00, or €57.00 at the museum, against €68.00 for four adult platform tickets. That is €11.00 the other way.

The second sum has nothing to do with money and everything to do with your arrival time. Tours start on every half hour between 10:00 and 17:00, roughly fourteen slots a day. Round your arrival forward to the next o'clock or half past and that is how long you wait before anything plays. Arrive at 10:20 and you wait ten minutes; arrive at 10:35 and you wait twenty-five. This is worth calculating because it is a museum that shows nothing of itself while standing still: miss a tour and you are looking at a row of handsome wooden cabinets.

Two more things decide which day you go. It is closed on Mondays, except during official school holidays when Mondays open normally, so the Mondays inside the October autumn break are available while ordinary Mondays are not. And it closes on New Year's Day, King's Day and Christmas Day, which rules out a few obvious dates. Utrecht Centraal to Steenweg is a walk of a little over ten minutes, so parking need not enter the calculation.

The Tiqets link on this page is an affiliate link. If you book through it the price is still €17.00, and Hokimi may receive a small commission.

Where

Museum Speelklok, Steenweg 6, 3511 JP Utrecht

When

Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-17:00; Mondays during official school holidays; closed New Year's Day, King's Day and Christmas Day

Price

Platform ticket €17.00; box-office ladder €18.50 / €13.50 / €10.00, with under-4s and both museum cards free

Ages

Free under 4 and suitable for children throughout; the experience is a listening one

Note

The instruments only play during a tour; tours start on the half hours and are included; do not buy a ticket if you hold a Museumkaart