Can anyone inspire me on what to do in Amsterdam with a 9 year old

[bumposaurus]

Am taking DS1 to Amsterdam for a special treat (just the two of us)...we arrive Saturday afternoon and leave on Monday...can anyone inspire me on how to give him a flavour of the city in such a short time (lived there for a fairly lengthy stretch but that was years ago, and my mind has gone blank). Thanks!

go to the anne frank house, my dd was 8 when we went and absolutely fascinated.

She also enjoyed the van gogh musuem.

Canal boat ride, chips and mayonnaise, bike hire if he is confident enough?

Anne Franks house is interesting for older children - if they know who she is.

Hire bicycles and go riding around the city for an afternoon.

Visit Amsterdam Dungeons - just like London dungeons, English speaking tour guides.

Go to the Heineken Factory Exhibition. Good for kids and adults, informative about the history of beer and has a little ride in there too.

We went to Anne Franks house in August and my DD 11 was fascinated by it, but had covered her in school lat year. A word of warning, the queue to get in was about 45 minutes long.

They have also just changed the ticketing system on the metro and it's confusing although there were plenty of people around to help, but not sure if that was because it was the first week.

So Anne Frank House comes recommended. Was also thinking of going to NEMO and Van Gogh Museum could also be good...not sure we are up to The Nightwatch. Any recommendations for restaurants - only remember ones from my pre-child days!

Nemo is really good.

Queue first thing for Anne Frank and have breakfast afterwards!

Hire pedalo boat, great fun. Although if he gives up pedalling you'll get an exhausting work out!

My ds who was 8 enjoyed the van gogh museum, they had a good children's tour/work sheet to fill in.

Can't remember our restaurants, our hotel recommended them and they were all good.

If you prebook what you want to do online you can avoid the queues. We went straight in for the anne frank house (seperate entrance) and fast tracked for the van gogh musuem, waited about 5 mins.

There is a lovely statute of anne frank nearby the house, that we almost missed.

It helps if you can tell them a bit about the history beforehand if they don't already know it. dd and I watched a tv dramatisation of the diary before we went.

There is a lovely cafe next door to Anne Frank's House . It's the one you have to go downstairs into it and a few tables outside on the canal. Their toasties are tasty and very reasonable and orange juice is freshly squeezed.

Nemo is great - v close to Central Station. There is a big wooden ship moored to it which you can also go on. Perfect of your DS likes pirates!!!

Get stoned?