Miki2621

My family and I are planning our first trip to Europe this summer. We plan to arrive in the AM on a Monday and will depart on Thursday for Paris via rail.

Monday (day 1) will be a recovery day after having flown overnight. Tuesday and Wednesday (days 2 and 3) will be for exploring. The Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum are on our list. But what else you recommend? Keeping in mind I'm traveling with two teenagers... what are the must sees?

Also, if anyone has a hotel or apartment rental (although it is a short stay) recommendation for families - I'm guessing we would need two hotel rooms. I would like hotels closest to the museums and public transportation. I would also like a place with air conditioning.

I appreciate all insights. Thanks!

Iahawk

Church of Our Lord in the Attic is fun and unique. Take a gin distillery tour, canal cruise, hang out in Dam Square where they have street musicians as well as other squares and if they crave a hamburger, there is a hard rock cafe!

Iahawk

You'll likely need two hotel rooms - i know our teens didn't want to share a bed! quad rooms are sometimes available and I've found them on venere.com. we've stayed at the marriott which is very central and what was a Ramada Inn on Vondelpark (easy tram into the city center)

sandralist

The website of the Amsterdam tourist board is one of the best in Europe. Ask your teenagers to take a look and pick some things they'd like to do. Nobody can pick "must sees" for somebody else. I've been to Amsterdam twice and have yet to see either the Anne Frank House or the Van Gogh museum, but have had a wonderful time in Amsterdam each time and am planning a return trip.

One of my favorite places in Amsterdam is the art deco Tuschinski movie palace.

http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visitin...33;-tuschinski

https://www.pathe.nl/bioscoop/tuschinski

menachem

Visit NDSM

have dinner ar REM eiland

check out Blijburg

Challiman

If you intend to see the Anne Frank House you can buy tickets online and avoid the lines that have been formed every time I've been. Last trip I finally wised up and did that, wanted to be sure the two grandsons I was traveling with got to see that.
Also loved the Old Church and the New Church, and the Church in the attic.
Just be sure to check for air conditioning and elevators if those are something you want. Don't assume they are available.
I loved the museums, Van Gogh and the other one I can't spell, Reijksmuseum or close to that.
Enjoy!

HappyTrvlr

Rijksmuseum should be on your list too. Very near Van Gogh. Get tickets ahead to avoid lines.

PalenQ

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ite-things.cfm - a thread a bit dated in parts but what I and several other Fodorites thought was nice or interesting or dangerous or, etc.

For Thalys train tickets book well in advance to get fares as low as 39 euros (vs about 199 euros full fare walk up tickets! - book on the official site www.thalys.com - prnt your own ticket - but these tickets are non-refundable, non-changeable and since they are sold in limited numbers may sell out months before hand.

For lots on European trains check www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

You will very unlikely need AC in Amsterdam in my experience of years of spending parts of summers there - instead make sure there is good central heating! Houseboats are popular and some are very well equipped - a unique stay not available many places.

menachem

How old are your teenagers? More like 14? Or more like 18?

If the latter, be aware that Amsterdam is a "young" city: student town, a creative magnet and the one city in The Netherlands that has people flocking to it to "make it". This means that cultural life is fast paced, happening all over town and increasingly, because of economic circumstances, pushed outward to the boundaries. So, the interesting things for "teenagers" happen at those locations. It might be interesting to search out at least some of these, as in many ways, this is the essence of Amsterdam, not the museums and the city centre. Also, you get to places where the pressure of tourists is less (sorry)

For instance: keep an eye on the schedule of Volkshotel

http://www.volkshotel.nl/en/agenda/volkshotel/

NDSM I already mentioned: it's losing its edge a little bit, but still nice and interesting, especially on long summer evenings when you have a view off the Amsterdam skyline, while the sun is setting. A real afternoon or evening out

http://www.ndsm.nl/

And one special treat, I've mentioned it elsewhere, might be:

http://vuurtoreneiland.nl/

Please, please google translate and consider booking a slot, on sunday afternoon for instance, but keep an eye on the site, because places go quickly. The whole thing starts with a boat trip on a historic ferry that departs from Central Station and takes you along the IJ, through the Oranje locks system, to the Buiten IJ and the island, which for centuries guarded the Zuiderzee approach to Amsterdam. There, every summer, a temporary restaurant is built, open only for a few months over summer. The location is wonderful. I used to have my boat at Nieuwe Diep for years, and passed it many times on my way to Marken and Enkhuizen. I always wondered what it would be like to be on it, and in 2013 I had my chance. Can't recommend it enough.

http://vuurtoreneiland.nl/impressie/

Challiman

Pal has much, much more experience in Amsterdam than I have but I still suggest that you check the availability of a/c if that is something you are used to. I have been to Amsterdam only three times, once in March, once in October, and once in early June. In March we needed heat. In October we were miserable in our third floor room, it was very warm and no way to open windows as we were on a busy street with a carnival in Dam Square. We did finally get a fan but it was not a pleasant experience. In June I can't even describe how miserable we were in our room, day and night. Perhaps June is not usually that warm but my grandsons wore shorts and short sleeves the whole time and I don't think I ever even wore long sleeves.
Our hotel location was perfect, an old canal house, but certainly not on the upper expensive list. Maybe paying more would have at least given us more circulating air.

Miki2621

Thank you! Thank you!

The information is fantastic and I actually believe I can manage this.

As for the a/c, if I don't get a hotel with a/c and there is a heat wave, I might as well tear up my return ticket, because I don't think my wife would let me come home. Thanks everyone!

menachem

There's a greater likelihood of rain in june and these circular depressions that give you lousy weather during the day with cleas skies in the evening. Then towards friday the weather slightly improves, but no, during the weekend it's starting to be lousy again.

If you want a/c, get a chain hotel, don't go for smaller, privately owned hotels on the canals, because it's most likely they won't have a/c