My wife and I and our two young kids (one will be almost four years old and the other just one and barely starting to walk) have booked a flight to Amsterdam the last week of July. I’ve been to Amsterdam before and have already seen the Red Light district and the hash bars - obviously that doesn’t figure into the current itinerary, which will be more of a family affair.
Basically with two kids we don’t want to run all around everywhere. We’ve settled on several days in **Amsterdam **with a side-trip to **Haarlem **and then several days in the east (Gelderland) to see the **Veluwe **park, Palais Het Loo, and Burgers Zoo.
We’ve decided to set aside the other cities like The Hague and Utrecht, etc. for a future spring time trip to coincide with tulip season.
I humbly beseech all Dopers for help and suggestions! Specifically, accommodations. I looked into this a couple months ago and got a little frustrated. Most places looked a little more expensive than I’d hoped for, or didn’t look good for kids (I don’t want to be in a hostel with a bunch of smokers, nothing personal). In Amsterdam a houseboat might be ideal. Or an apartment perhaps. Any tips? Also, where to stay in the Veluwe area? We don’t plan to rent a car, so that’s a consideration in where to stay as well.
Also, here’s what I have sketched out for Amsterdam (along with a few canal walks) with a pester of questions:
The Pancake Bakery - got this from one of the other threads
Kinderkook Kafe - where the children do the cooking - fun for kids?
Canal tour by boat from Central Station - is any particular company better than others?
Tempo Doeloe (Utrechtsestraat 75) Indonesian restaurant - I loved it last time I went (over 10 years ago), maybe there’s a better one?
Tropenmuseum
Nederlands Sheepvaart Museum - this has moved?
Watch the sluice gates open at Amstelsluizen (four times weekly) - is this worthwhile or stupid?
See a show at the 19th-C. Koninklijk Theater Carré, built to house a circus and decorated with sculpted heads of clowns and dancers.
Visit Brouwerij Het Ij (Funenkade 7, next to the windmill, free tours every Fr at 4 pm) - good beer there? any other breweries worth going to?
the Entrepotdok - good? boring?
Visit the botanical gardens at Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam - any good?
Nederlands Filmmuseum - free outdoor screenings in the summer
Take a historic tram Electrische Museumtramlijn departing from Haarlemmermeerstation (near Vondelpark) to Amsterdamse Bos - anybody taken one of these? they look cool.
Amsterdamse Bos
Trip to Ouderkerk aan de Amstel - **best to go by bus or Metro?
**
We did just this a few years ago with a two year old and a six year old. We had no plans, per se, but found little trouble doing things that kept the kids interested and not freaking out (your kids may vary, of course).
Things like the flower market and the central plaza were good. Also that big park with the iAmsterdam sign was good and it’s near several museums, as I recall.
They did seem to like the canal boat tour that we took. I couldn’t tell you which company we were on…just that we took one.
Thanks, Jonathan. My children absolutely love travelling, so they’ll be fun companions. Did you stay anywhere worth recommending? PM me if you prefer. TIA
Hi there,
I’m Dutch and I’ve got a two year old, so I know what I’m talking about.
First of all, call the Dutch Tourist Office in Amsterdam and ask them for advice what to do and where to stay. Bet to write them an e-mail first. They will speak English perfectly.
Now, as for your planned list:
The Pancake Bakery - sounds like a good choice
Kinderkook Kafe - where the children do the cooking - I would say even your four year old is a bit too young, and your two year old will be bored or in the way.
Canal tour by boat from Central Station - is any particular company better than others? A great idea for the whole family. Why don’t you do it twice, once in the daytime, once in the evening? It doesn’t matter much which company you choose.
Tempo Doeloe (Utrechtsestraat 75) Indonesian restaurant - I loved it last time I went (over 10 years ago), maybe there’s a better one?. Most indonesian family restaurants are a good choice. IN Dutch they are called " Chinees-Indisch Restaurant" . Be sure to order a Rijsttafel and have your kids sample all the different little dishes.
Tropenmuseum. Great idea, one that the whole family will enjoy. The museum is bg, you could easily spend a whole day there.
Nederlands Sheepvaart Museum - this has moved? Everyone except the two-year old will enjoy this. But it might be difficult to get aboard with a stroller, so it might be disappointing.
Watch the sluice gates open at Amstelsluizen (four times weekly) - is this worthwhile or stupid? I think it isn’t worth the trip, You will be a whole day coming and going for a great 15 minutes.
See a show at the 19th-C. Koninklijk Theater Carré, built to house a circus and decorated with sculpted heads of clowns and dancers. The buidling is great, but the shows are for adults. There are plenty of theaters with shows for kids, though. Ask the vvv.
Visit Brouwerij Het Ij (Funenkade 7, next to the windmill, free tours every Fr at 4 pm) - good beer there? any other breweries worth going to?. No, this is the most fun for beer-loving adolescents.
the Entrepotdok - good? boring? Don’t know.
Visit the botanical gardens at Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam - any good?. No, it is just a fairly small park. It will be a disappointment.
Nederlands Filmmuseum - free outdoor screenings in the summer. No! It is a crowded part for young adults with high-brow grainy classcal movies that are too hard to see and you have to sit on the grass and be aaware of pickpocket all the time.
You left out a visit to the Amsterdam Zoo, Artis. This is great for all ages. Burgers Zoo in Arnhem is far more spectacular, but Artis is a nice park and a real classic zoo. I’d recommend it.
Take a historic tram Electrische Museumtramlijn departing from Haarlemmermeerstation (near Vondelpark) to Amsterdamse Bos - anybody taken one of these? they look cool. No, but they soudn cool
Amsterdamse Bos. Nope. Just a bland forest with nothing to see.
Trip to Ouderkerk aan de Amstel - **best to go by bus or Metro? Why would you want to go there? In general is the metro better then the bus, it’s faster. Kids either love the bus or they get carsick in them. Or both.
**
What I would recommend is taking the train out of Amsterdam to Utrecht central. Leav the station and have a 15 minute walk to the Spoorwegmuseum (railroad museum). Lots of classic trains there and they have a miniature train that kids loooooove.
Another hit for your family: Nemo, the science museum.
Also, and this may be a two day trip: the Efteling. It’s the Dutch or rather European, Disney world. But it is about classic fairytales, not about the Disneyverse. Children all ages will love it. It is expensive, exhausting and busy there, though.
I don’t know your budget, or any suitable accommodations anywhere, but it might be cheaper if you find something in Haarlem near the train station and travel by train to Amsterdam (costs: 2x7 euro (day-return ticket), kids under 4 travel for free)
for your to-do list some answers:
-Kinderkook kafe: it was fun 20 years ago when I was 8… and we where in a group; don’t know how much fun it is for 2 younger children.
hmmz… I see that it is possible to just walk in there and make something (every day from 10 to 17)
-a quick google says nothing about the quality of the tours, so I can’t help you there
-The Nederlands Sheepvaart Museum is closed until the summer of 2011, but if you want to see the VOC ship Amsterdam you can go to the science-centre Nemo (NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam) to see it… it might be worth going there for the sciency things as well. I know I enjoyed its predecessor when I was a kid.
I heartily endorse visiting this brewery, if only because it’s not the Amstel brewery.
if you have time,inclination and budget, try the steam-tram Hoorn-Enkhuizen-Medemblik (http://www.museumstoomtram.nl/stoomtram/ENGELS/homeEng.html). it’s a bit out of the way (33 minutes by train from Amsterdam to Hoorn), but if the weather is nice it is certainly worth it.
We stayed at the Grand Hotel Krasnopolsky near the train station. Nice place and reasonably well located. Big hotel though. If you want a sort of quaint, smallish place it’s not the hotel for you. But I was with the family and my mother in law so large and good was the order of the day.
I visited the Railroad museum this weekend, with my husband and our two year-old. I’d like to up my recommendation from “could be nice” to “if you kids have any love for trains, they’ll have an absolute blast, and you too”. The museum seems to be made for kids, with theme rides and dressed up actors…absolutely wonderful. They currently have an exhibition on royal traincarriages, with actors dressed up as the royals giving out info while staying in character. They even have the train carriages of the last and current Dutch queen.
What about a side trip to Madurodam (spelling?) outside den Haag? Could always toss them in kid-carriers on rented bikes and head for the countryside (across the water to Waterland is nice). OH OH the Sheepvaart Museum, if it’s the same as it was a few years ago, has a frikkin’ clipper (PIRATE!!) ship set up to run around on. Which, if I were 4, would make me pee myself in sheer joy. Hell, it did when I was 33. Ah, Containing Iron has noted it’s at NEMO (which I haven’t been to so no report). Brouwerij 't Ij makes pretty good beer and it is a cool site. Also, the neighborhood parks/playgrounds on the edges of the city are a hoot-- they have really awesome jungle-gym type things.
I was there last summer with 4 kids and had a great time. One place that was a huge hit was the island of Texel (pronounced Tessel). We stayed at a hostel called the Stay OK. Hostel Texel, op loopafstand van Den Burg | Stayokay
I was great, we biked all over the island (the hostel had a bike rental place right there), went to cute villages, great beaches and gorgeous countryside. The hostel had a meal package which was tasty and very convenient. There is a playground, pool table, and pinball machine. The rooms are utterly basic, but comfortable and cheap.
It’s wonderful beer indeed, but be careful with that stuff. Most of the beer there will get you drunk very quickly. Luckily they close early in the evening (around 8 on most days, I think, check the website). If you like weizen type wheat beer, you really should try IJ-wit if it’s still available (it’s one of the seasonal beers).
Kinderkook Kafe: I think your kids will like it more when they’re a bit older. I loved it when I was 8 or so.
And I second Maastricht’s suggestion of Burger’s Zoo - that should be a lot of fun. Artis is OK, but Burgers is a whole lot better. If you’re planning on going to Gelderland anyway, might as well visit the best zoo in the country
Oh, and if you’re in Arnhem, you may want to take a walk in Sonsbeek Park. There’s a summer program with all kinds of stuff, including kids stuff, music and art exhibits - but it’s also just a nice park to walk around and it’s right next to the center of Arnhem.
Just to be perfectly clear, this is the one in Utrecht, right? It turns out we’ll probably spend a day in Utrecht after all so I’ll make sure to add that to the itinerary.
Palo Verde, Texel looks wonderful - I’ll make note of it for future trips.
Superfluous, Burger’s Zoo is a sure thing. Did not know about Sonsbeek, thanks for the tip. We’ll be staying in Otterlo, but we will undoubtedly swing through Arnhem proper.
capybara, Madurodam is a possibility if we end up down that way, Sheepvaart is a sure thing.
Yup! If you’ve got a day, visit the city centre by following the Oude Gracht, a shopping street along a canal. Visit the Dom tower, and let you and the five year old climb it while the stroller and your wife stay down in the cloister garden. If you leave the station, just go quickly through Hoog Catharijne and don’t linger there, as it is a soulless shopping mall but the only route to the city centre.
Then go to the Spoorweg museum. A perfect day.
Texel is seconded for a beach vacation. It is good for a relaxed vacation; it is hard to get off the island and anywhere else.
Arnhem isn’t much: it got bombarded in WW2 and most of it is new.
(around 8 on most days, I think, check the website). If you like weizen type wheat beer, you really should try IJ-wit if it’s still available (it’s one of the seasonal beers).
