Amsterdam with teen

[Celiathebanshee]

I'm taking DD3, aged 16, to Amsterdam for 3 days after her exams. Just the two of us. I've only spent one afternoon there myself previously so I don't have much feel for it! I've booked the van Gogh museum because she will love that. I'm hoping to get tickets for the Anne Frank house but apparently we should have decided we were going months ago as they appear to be sold out. Any top tips and hidden gems anyone can recommend? Things we must see and do? I'm hoping to avoid the red light district, which people here seem to think is something to see

Yes that’s the market in the Pipj I couldn’t think of the name earlier!! A fave of mine

I tried to avoid the red light district but couldn't find out where exactly it was, to be able to avoid it! Spent a couple of days skirting around a large chunk of the city centre, but in the end had to walk into it to get to a particular tourist site. The shop windows I saw were fine - it was day time, probably mid morning, and mostly the windows were empty. I only remember seeing one or two with a woman in, and it was just like a shop window for a lingerie display, but worn by a real woman instead of a mannequin. I was expecting Soddam and Gomorrah, 1970s sleaze style. The other pedestrians seemed to be on their way to somewhere else, like me. Maybe the few streets I walked through were unrepresentative but I didn't feel unsafe or uncomfortable, so I wouldn't bother trying to avoid it if I went to Amsterdam again. But only during the day, not when customers would be flocking to the area. I walked past Central Station one evening and there were small groups of men coming from the station and I assumed heading for the red light district. That made me feel a bit uncomfortable, the thought that women would be having sex with any of those men that evening, with no option to reject their approaches as you would in a non-transactional situation. Grim.

Tourist attraction recommendations:

Our Lord in the Attic (hidden church)
Oude Kerk (near Our Lord in the Attic, has displays of contemporary art)
Resistance Museum
Stedelijk Museum for modern and contemporary art

I enjoyed the Maritime Museum, which includes a full size sailing ship you can go inside.

Rijksmuseum was fine, I don't know why a PP described it as dry. "Nightwatch" leaves me completely cold, no idea what the fuss is about.

I'm not a fan of Rembrandt as an artist but enjoyed Rembrandt House Museum, even just to visit a historic house.

Anne Frank museum was very good. I hadn't been enthusiastic to visit but felt it was a must-do. But I was very impressed, in that it was very informative and I learned a lot. (Look out for the impressive toilet.)

Searching for branches of Albert Heijn (grocery store) to look for hardcore liquorice.

"This is Holland" is a fun ride and every few minutes a free ferry departs from Central Station, taking you to the other side, a typical Netherlands experience, then a short 3-minute walk to the location.
One day, make sure you have a breakfast at Oeuf, it's in one of the the nicest street of Amsterdam,
De Frans Halsstraat in the Pijp, and it's great to see what they can do with eggs!

Memo science museum

Nemo

We have just been there! Get the free ferry to Noord from Centraal station and go to the graffiti museum. It’s great, and Noord is a cool area to explore. It used to be a huge shipbuilding complex, and now it’s a home for artists.

Some great restaurants too, including Pllek, which is made out of shipping containers and is on a small beach. The area is very Imstagrammable and much less touristy than central Amsterdam.

We went to Amsterdam with our 16 year old in October. The RLD is OK in the daytime. We didn’t even know we were in it.

We didn’t get to AF house but did the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum. We did a river cruise. Stroopwafel making workshop. Ad’am lookout. Shopping, wandering around and taking in the vibe. We loved it! Enjoy

We really enjoyed the modern art museum - MOCO. It was excellent. I loved Amsterdam - I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time.

If she likes art then the street art museum STRAAT is great. Plus the trip on the free ferry to get there is fun. Like a PP I really liked the Stedlijk too, it’s like a smaller Tate Modern. Next door to the Van Gogh.

The Cat Museum (Kattenkabinet) is a quirky small one. Basically full of art of cats, it’s fun and in a nice house on the canal and never very busy!

Our Lord in the Attic

If you do a river cruise, look for one with the small open boats, you get into lots of smaller canals which I found more interesting compared to the big boat trip we did previously.
There is a stop near the Rijksmuseum.
www.stromma.com/en-nl/amsterdam/sightseeing/canal-tours/small-boat-cruise/

The Rijksmuseum is great if you like this kind of art.

We loved the synagoge, the Resistance museum as well. We didn't see the Holocaust one, it was fully booked when we decided to go at the last minute.

For 3 days I would stay and just enjoy the city, it's very walkable but the trams are also easy to use. I love the surrounding area and it has great day trip options but there is so much to see in Amsterdam itself if you are there for the first time.

For easy food to eat on the go, the Albert Heijn supermarkets are good and everywhere, think like a Tesco Express with plenty of prepared stuff. We took a pocketknife and some spoons with us (hold luggage though).

Red Light District - it's south of the Oude Kerk and along De Wallen. But - I went twice with a female teen and you can avoid it easily. The map we got in our hotel clearly showed the streets marked. It's actually fairly safe as Amsterdam put plenty of restrictions in place and it's also heavily monitored by police.

We go a lot as dd lives there. Her bf always does a touristy thing that hed never normally do with us, so Zaanse Schans, Riverboat, the Zoo(we didn't go in but next door is Micropeia, basically a museum of tiny things.) If she likes window shopping, Hoofstraat has all the high end shops. And Bijenkorf is amazing-massive department store and recommendtheir restaurant. Free ferry over to Noord where theres lots of cool stuff. If you fancy a day out, Leiden is close and lovely or if shes a Miffy fan, train to Utrecht and the Miffy trail. But honestly, you will fill 3 days in the city no problem.

We always go to de Bijenkorf for the loos and coffee and cake on the fifth floor, there’s a little outside terrace.

Just to say OP, we love Amsterdam , it’s my number 1 quick fun break and Netherlands I think is suprisingly reasonable, food used to be awful but these days it’s great and masses of choice in Amsterdam at all budget levels - Haarlem too ( we stayed there last time we went) had fab restaurants and cafes.. - I was drinking really good wine for 7.50 euros a glass that would cost me £11 to £14 in UK. the area round the back of the station leading to canal is a bit ‘weed /coffeshop ( not the drinking kind) central and not very thrilling but it does have my favourite Korean eatery called K . Really cheap, very tidy interior and seriously nice food .

I went end of March with two DS18 and DD15. We stayed in the 9 Streets, which is lovely to just wander and pop in and out of the vintage and trinket shops. Lots of instagram-worthy views if that matters! DD and I had a gorgeous brunch in the Jordaan, lots of locals rather than touristy. There were quite a few along the canals to the west of Anne Frank House. I would leave time to just wander about these areas, they are full of character, history and good cake!

I thought I left it too late too for Anne Frank House, but if you check first thing on Tuesdays (10am Amsterdam time) some tickets for the following week can pop up. I managed to get three that way. It was very sobering and DD found it overwhelming but good to go to. We also had a canal tour and it was freezing! But a nice way to see the city.

I just managed to grab two returned tickets for the AF house (with introductory talk) 🙌 and I've booked a canal tour and the van Gogh museum - I'm going to go through this thread now and map out a loose itinerary around the booked things. Thanks for all the suggestions

Have a fab time !! X

Red light district is easy to avoid. You start to feel it approaching (bongs in shop windows etc) and just take the next turn away. Defo do a canal tour. We loved the resistance museum and the zoo was probably the best one I have ever been to. If you do rijksmuseum/night watch I recommend you sign up for the highlights tour. A guide takes you around the museum and gives you some interesting stories about some of the works and talks about the building. Helps you get your bearings and makes it more accessible. Free ferry from the railway station to the other side is good in the evening. It’s a bit calmer and there are some locks to watch and the adnam tower if you want a good view. If you are there on the right day you can ride in an old fashioned boat to a fortress. There is also an immersive Van Gogh art exhibish which was very pretty - not at the VG museum. They have other shows as well, but if you like art, do that one!

I wouldn’t bother with day trips out of the city on a short visit, but otherwise Utrecht, Delft and Leiden are excellent for a day by train. The Hague is having a lot of work done, so would avoid for now.

The immersive van Gogh exhibit just mentioned is probably the one at Fabrique des Lumieres in the Westerpark. Other artists are showcased there too.
That's on the list for my next visit :-)