Has anyone done Amsterdam with (youngish) teens?

[Tmoto]

Age 12 and 14. Wondering if they would enjoy a city break there.

Yes mine were about that age. It was a good place to visit. We liked the canals and the Anne Frank Museum, hired bikes and headed out the city too.

Thanks. Is it easy to hire bikes? Where did you go? I was looking at possibly a train trip to zaanse schans

Yes, slightly younger but they loved it. Boat trip, Van Gogh museum, Anne Frank House, ate in some traditional places and ate fondue.. did a really amazing escape room too.

Ah I was looking at some of the virtual reality games places that I thought might appeal

One thing we did that they loved was a walking tour of all the Tik Tok famous foods… lots of places with a queue and so delicious. I think it was their favourite thing.

Does Amsterdam cafes appear in lots of tik tok videos?

Yes with my then 14 year old.

He loved it. We stayed just outside the city buy only 10 mins into the centre.
We did the canal cruise twice, once by day and a night cruise, the Zoo and Microbe museum which were next to each other, Science museum and Maritime museum. He tolerated the Van Gough gallery for me

We had a fabulous day out at the Windmills at Zaanse which was really easy to get out to. There's quite a lot to do there apart from the Windmills.

Yes loved Anne Frank house and STRAAT gallery. There's a free ten min ferry across the river to see the latter.

Yes, we took three teens there a few years back, and there's lots to do. Everything listed above....

We did hire bikes, but not in the city centre - too scary!

Make sure you don't do what we did, take a wrong turning, and end up in the red light district....made for a few awkward questions.

Also, make sure you pre-book things like Ann Frank House and the Van Gogh museum, because they are popular.

There was a massive queue outside this place due to TikTok https://vanstapele.com/en/home/

Yes, we had those cookies! Also an amazing sandwich from Chun.

Straat gallery looks good. Do you think 4 nights would be ok, or too long?

I think 4 nights would be fine.

Don't know if it's been mentioned yet on here but if you do go to Anne Frank house it must be booked in advance as it's very popular and was fully booked when we were there.

Thanks for all the tips

Place marking as going with my teens in July to Dunrail but spending two days in the city after that

Yes went with my 12 and 15 year olds. They loved it. Definitely recommend booking Anne Frank house. We did river cruise, maritime museum, Madame Taussauds, Van Gough and windmills. Windmills are a short train ride from city. Mine loved all of it and we may go back next year

Yes, went with our two DC when they were about 13 and 15. We stayed on a canal boat very close to the Anne Frank house, which they loved - it was really comfortable and quite large. We loved having the outside space on the top to sit out with drinks and snacks. There are a few canal boat rentals on airbnb and booking.com, definitely helped elevate the experience for us.

We took the train to Zaanse Schans, which was nice but not a smash hit, they were a bit old for it I think. Boat trip around the harbour, Anne Frank House, cycling, wandering around the restored areas, visiting markets were all good fun (buying pieces of gouda and waffles to eat was good).

We also booked a guide who specialises in working with families for a two hour personal tour in the Rijksmuseum, which was great. She kept us all interested and entertained and we got far more out of being there than we would have done wandering around on our own.

We went when DD was just 12 and stayed for 4 nights. Easy town to navigate and walk or jump on a tram.

We did Anne Frank House, Van Gogh museum, Rembrand House, Canal tour, the Resistance Museum (very good English audio guide and explanations in english) and the Jewish Museum and Synagoge.

The Zoo is also nice and the Micrope museum next door to the zoo.

They’ll love it.
go behind the train station and there are free ferries across to either Iamsterdam with a swing on the top that goes over the edge of the building. And another to the botel and a graffiti exhibition near there.
get a 3day travel pass for all the trams and busses. They also do a card which gets you in a lot of places either free or reduced prices.
try a channel trip on a small boat lots more fun than the big ones near the train station.

Ds loved Ripleys and they enjoyed the FreakShakes at the Corner Bakery

Ooh also placemarking as I’m taking my 12 and 14 year olds this year. The Upside down museum looks fun, as well as the A’dam lookout which has the over the edge swing pp mentioned.

If you do this then make sure you eat at Pancakes Amsterdam behind the station on the water - really great.

Tram 2 goes from Central Station past most of the famous sights and ends up in Sloten where there's a windmill and folklore museum. (Its known as one of the best tram routes in the world).

The Saturday street market in de Pijp is fun - and not too far from the Miffy shop if you have teenage girls...

Yes. We loved it. Bits of it were seedy (and I was consciously avoiding the red light district) but it was mostly lovely. Great museums and parks. Friendly vibe. Easy to walk around. DD really enjoyed it.