A day in Amsterdam with the children

[Theresa]

At the end of May we are spending a day in Amsterdam with the children. The reason we are going is because there is a fab DFDS ferry which leaves North Shields (Tyne & Wear) which is 10 mins drive from our house. It leaves at 6.00pm, arrives at about 8.00am the next day, you get a day in Amsterdam & leave Amsterdam at about 16.00 for an 18.00 sailing, arriving home at about 9.30 the next day. It is quite cheap (just under £200 for 4 if us with cabin & one evening meal) & the children really fancy an overnight trip on the ferry. The day in Amsterdam is just an extra! I've been myself with just dh & so spent a lot of it eating & drinking, any ideas of how to fill in a few hours with the children? We'll do a canal trip & if it's nice they'd prob be happy in a park of some sort. Am going to start trawling thru the quide books but just wondered if anyone had any ideas? (We're not really museum people I'm ashamed to say!)

Ride on a canal boat - they last about 1 1/2 hours and most are covered so that's great they used to be really good value for money when I lived there. Find a bus or train out to Zaanse Schaans loads of Windmills and fun things to see for kids. Leidseplein good for cafes and watching the world go by, Leidsestraat just walk down it - main shopping street. Dam to see the Royal Palace, may or may not be open. Bijenkorf big department store is just there. Do go near the Zwaanburg area - not good and start of red light just behind the Bijenkorf. Unless of course you want the seedy part of Amsterdam. If your children are older a must is the Anne Frank Museum. Any more let me know.

That's fab Alipiggie, Zaanse Schans looks great, a definite possibility. I've found it in a quide book and had a look at the website, it says 4 stations (20 mins) from Amsterdam so that's sounds easy (!). We didn't attempt public transport the last time we were there, are the trains fairly straightforward?

Following this thread with interest as we have booked two nights in an Amsterdam hotel in advance of our Dutch Centerparcs holiday...

I was nominally thinking of a canal boat trip, the Riksmuseum, and Anne Frank's house.

Can reinforce the tip about Zaanse Schaans - tho it's years since I've been. TBH is you're only there for a day this would take up most of your time with travel from the city etc.

Go to a pancake house too - fabulous!

The Jordaan area was always nice- and the flower market is lovely.

Canal boat trip is great.

scienceteacher - the Rijksmuseum is great but a bit like the British Museum and the Louvre - massive and not do-able in one visit!

How old are your kids? The red light district does have some fascinating areas but probably best not with impressionable kids! Anne Frank's house is inspiring but prob. a bit boring to under-8s.

I haven't done Amsterdam with kids so probably not much help. Everyone is very friendly though, speak English and like English people!

Yes I did wonder about Zaanse Schans takingup all day. DD (7 1/2) has been learning about Anne Frank at school & I'd love to take her but when we were there last there were huge queues and I read in a book that that is usually the case (& I don;t think ds 4 1/2 would be too impressed!)

Apologies for the delay - school run here in colorado. Public transport in Amsterdam is a breeze. Trams and buses everywhere. Buy a strippenkaart - from Centraal Station. Stamp it in the tram and that allows you to travel for one hour anywhere - far better than London. :o. Some trips require you to stamp two or more i.e further out you go, but to be honest one will get you most places. As you will be arriving in Ijmuiden that's about an hour on a bus from Amsterdam going passed Haarlem. So allow for getting into Amsterdam mid-morning. I would recommend you grab a coffee somwhere (uum do watch the windows of the coffee shops for cannabis leaf pictures unless you want to get high on everyone else's fumes . There used to be a great pancake house along side the Krasnapolsky Hotel on the Dam - ones with cherries and whipped cream particularly good. Then I would walk down the Damrak and pick up a boat ride. Then depending on time you could wander around the city. Its a great city for going around and I'm sure the kids will love the tram. Have a great time.

Thanks again, I think I need to plan a return trip and go to Zaanse Schaans then as it looks lovely

just got back.

the amsterdam history museum on kaiserstratt is doing an exhibition of anne franks letters - pretty good - lots of other things too like clothes anne wore and her actual diary, plus videos of people who knew her.

dam square is full of street entertainers over the weekends - can spend a while watching them.

there's also cycle taxis positioned near dam square - you could get one of these out to the flower market, rembrandt square or the van gogh museum - big open park for kids run around.

would it be better to to the canal bus service instead of a canal tour? the bus service you can hop on and off all day and it actually passes by the big sights - does anne frank etc. I've never done it but this last visit wondered whether you actually get to see more, though obviously no guided tour.