Brilliantsulk

I'll be traveling to Paris in June for a week with my 7 & 9 year old daughters. We have the Paris part covered - but have another week to explore Europe.

I was thinking of taking the train to Amsterdam, I've been before, but am unsure if we'll have enough things to do around the city to warrant a one week stay. Any Amsterdam experts out there? We did London last year and the kids loved it but we're open to other cities as well...

Thanks!

hetismij2

Within Amsterdam you can visit NEMO, which is a superb science museum, very hands on for the children. There is Artis, the zoo, picnics in Vondel Park, even the major museums would be good for short visits. They are probably too young for the Anne Frankhuis.

Outside the city you could visit Den Haag - go to Panorama Mesdag, see where the King works, and then head out to Madurodam.

Zaanse Schans, and/or the Zuider Zee museum in Enkhuizen.


Maybe hire a whisper boat from somewhere like Holyboot.nl

Further afield they may enjoy the Batavia in Lelystad.

You could get brave and visit one of the islands - Texel is the easiest from Amsterdam. It would be a long day out but could be fun. Hire bikes and explore it a bit - very quiet and bike friendly. Or alternatively head to Hoge Veluwe and ride through the national park, visiting the Kroller Muller museum too.

Utrecht has the Speelklok museum, www.museumspeelklok.nland also is the home of Nijntje (Miffy) at the Dick Brunahuis, which is art of the Centraal Museum http://centraalmuseum.nl.
There is also Domonder http://www.domunder.nl/, and the railway museum. http://www.museautrecht.nl/ has a full list of museums in Utrecht.
You can also take a boat trip around it's canals.

Zandvoort or Bloemendaal for a day at the beach perhaps.

bvlenci

I lived in the Netherlands for a year, almost 30 years ago, when my children were just a little older than yours. We lived in Rotterdam, and I worked in the Hague, where we house-sat for a friend for one month, but there's little difference as far as things to see and do.

There are many things to do in the Netherlands that will interest kids. All kids are different, of course, but there are do many varied things to do that it's easy to satisfy all tastes.

You might want to consider staying in a smaller town than Amsterdam. The train system is so efficient that you can easily get from small towns to larger centers in little time. There were at that time (and I hope there still are) day trips proposed by the railway, which included train fare and local transportation, (and entrances, bike rentals, coupons for a snack, depending on the trip). We had a lot of fun with these day trips, especially the ones that included a bike rental. I remember one included a boat ride and a ride on a steam train. That was also a big hit.

We also made lots of day trips on our own on weekends when I wasn't working. My kids really liked Utrecht, Delft, Gouda, Leiden, and Haarlem. Each town has a tourist office near the train station, so you just head to a town, visit the tourist office, and follow one of their recommended self-guided tours.

I've just looked on the Dutch rail site, and it seems to me that most of the information about the suggested day trips is only in Dutch.

fourfortravel

We spent 6 days in Amsterdam when our children were 9 and 14, and thought city touring and days trips filled our time well. We took advantage of the nice spring weather for bicycle riding in Broek in Waterland; very flat, scenic, and with easy trails to follow; combined with a stop for lunch that filled a day. We also spent the better part of a day exploring Amsterdam by bicycle, stopping in parks and wherever for ice cream.

Day trips included The Hague and time at the beach; and Brugges, which is a tough day trip as it's 3 hours one way by train. In retrospect we should have spent the night, but enjoyed our day nonetheless.

greg

Open Air Museum at Arnhem http://www.openairmuseum.nl/, is a large family friendly mostly outdoor exhibit of all things Dutch. The place was full of Dutch families with children as well as senior groups reminiscing the way of life from the past. Since the train passed through Utrecht anyway, I had a dinner in Utrecht, took a pleasant walk through the city, and hopped onto a train back to Amsterdam.

cmsteer

Muiderslot castle was so fun! We took our kids there when they were a bit younger than yours and they loved it. The castle has interactive activities for the kids to try on medieval clothes and armour. They can do a pretend joust on stationary horses. There is a falconry with demos, knight demos and a place where they can learn some archery. Not sure how far out of Amsterdam it is. We were staying with some Dutch friends and they drove us there.

http://www.muiderslot.nl/english

The Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam had, at one point, children's activities as well.

Our kids also loved going to Gouda and the Kinderdijk.

https://www.kinderdijk.com/

hetismij2

I forgot Muiderslot! excellent suggestion.

hetismij2

There is a ferry from Amsterdam to Muiderslot in the summer: http://www.amsterdamboatexcursion.com/ so it would be a great day out all together.

menachem

Enkhuizen is nice in summer too. Zuiderzeemuseum is really interesting, there are ferries across the IJsselmeer (one is a sailing barge that sails across to the former island of Urk)

I second Texel as an option for an excursion, but maybe make that an overnight, to have a bit more time.

menachem

And why not do what lots of us do: visit the Efteling amusement park in Kaatsheuvel?

It's beautiful, scenic park, really nicely laid out. The Fairy Tale forest is a cherished childhood memory for whole generations.

Rides like Dream Flight, Flying Dutchman, Fata Morgana, the little trains you can drive yourself, all good fun and a wonderful day out. All of these would be well suited for your daughters. There's rowing on a lake, pretty good park restaurants. In june, the holidays haven't yet started, so if you go on a week day, there's the minimum of lines.

http://www.efteling.co.uk/?l=14645&_...333.1422637345

Tulips

I was just going to say Efteling as well. My kids are students now, and still love it. They adored it when they were little.
It's beautifully laid out, with lovely gardens.

You've gotten some really good tips here - too much for just a week!

menachem

I still go with my son, who is 17. We do Dream Flight every time, going all nostalgic.

Elizabeth_S

If you're considering an apartment in Amsterdam this is a lovely 2 bedroom in a great location. It has twin beds for your girls and a lovely terrace. We stayed there for 5 nights

http://www.amsterdamcanalapartment.eu/en/home

hetismij2

If you are travelling by train buy Railrunner tickets for your children.

Brilliantsulk

Wow, thanks for all the great suggestions!

menachem

good suggestion, hetismij. With railrunner, your daughters go on trains almost for free, Brilliantsulk.

Also, if the weather's good (always a bit of a gamble, but it can be tropically hot in june), there's a beach in Amsterdam. A tram ride will get you to

http://www.blijburg.nl/blijburg-4.0.

the cool thing about Blijburg is that they're both into giving children a good and interesting time and don't forget parents either. Blijburg started in the Amsterdam art scene and a lot of what they offer is created by artists. It's all terrific fun.

http://www.blijburg.nl/fotos

menachem

And for a sunday afternoon, where you can dine in a very special location, with great, imaginative food, while your children go "foraging" with the chef on a wild island:

http://vuurtoreneiland.nl/


prices seem steep, but it includes the boat to and from the island.

please google translate:

http://vuurtoreneiland.nl/deplek/

menachem

and

http://vuurtoreneiland.nl/impressie/