Hi all,

My 16 year old daughter and I have the opportunity to travel to Europe while my husband is there in October. Some of his trip plans changed, so it turns out we will only have a day or two with him, but thats OK He has been to Amsterdam several times and I have never been, but it has been high on my list for a long time! In total we have just about a week (its Fall Break for my daughter ). We are tentatively planning on 3 days in Amsterdam, then Cologne and spending either one or two nights there. We fly out of Frankfurt on a Sunday AM so I am thinking we just stay at the Frankfurt airport hotel Sat PM.

We love: history, walking tours, churches, food (but not long, fancy meals - prefer a quick bite or a casual scenic spot), she loves shopping - not upscale, but markets / vintage shopping; I love quirky and offbeat tours and don't hate me but we are not really interested in art museums. Some things on our "to do list": Anne Frank House, Anne Frank walking tour??, Lord in the Attic museum (hidden church), canal and/or harbor cruise, Albert Cuyp market. My daughter loves cute little towns.

Tentative Itinerary:
Tues: arrive at 2PM AMS: need some activity to push us through until dinner / bed. Maybe a canal cruise? Or a light walking tour - I always think a little outdoor exercise helps regulate and avoid jet lag
Wed: Anne Frank (10 AM tickets). Lord in the Attic museum. Lunch: Pancake Bakery or similar. Boat Tour or Anne Frank walking tour (whichever we didn't do the day before)
Thurs: Markets / shopping/ another tour or activity?
Fri (or late Thurs)? leave Amsterdam - at this point we are thinking of meeting my husband in Cologne. He can meet us anywhere between Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Cologne looks like a convenient meeting place for a short visit - the Cathedral and a bike tour both appeal but I can't really see if there is anything else that would appeal or another location that would be better to meet than Cologne. But I do think the 3 days in Amsterdam is plenty, there are many things I would love to see / do there on another trip but not really with a 16 yr old in tow. A day or so with some touristy stuff and some light souvenir shopping may be just enough to wrap up the trip.

Our flight back home is Sun AM from Frankfurt.

Appreciate any input!

This has the makings of a good trip. You have not tried to fit in too much; in fact I think you need another activity for the day that you go to Albert Cuyp market (which is the market I assume you are talking about). On the day you go to Anne Frank, it makes sense to go to the Pancake Bakery next as that is just down the street. You can visit the attic church after lunch. However, you might like to fit in the Nine Streets (Negen Straatjes) while you are still in the Prinsengracht area.

For Cologne there are some really excellent museums. Your daughter would love the chocolate museum there, and we also visited one of the perfume museums - we went to Farina, which is the older establishment. However, you need to book an English-language tour for this museum, which you can do on the day if you get in there early. The shopping in Cologne is very good too, just fabulous department stores and interesting chain stores all in the centre. Nothing is too far away. We stayed in the City Class Hotel Alter Markt which is close to the museums, the shopping and the Cathedral. At first I thought the area was grotty but in the evening the area comes alive and it doesn't look so awful. It's in an area where there are lots of restaurants and bars, but there is no noise from these in the rooms. Our room was a bit small but I was trying to be a cheapskate as we were only there one night. If I stayed there again I would probably get a bigger room. The breakfasts there were awesome, huge buffet and interesting inclusions. Cologne is an excellent visit, go for it!

Lavandula

Thanks, Lavandula! I am glad to hear Cologne is worth a visit - the cathedral and bike tour appeal to all of us, and thanks for the tip about the Chocolate Museum. Also Nine Streets in Amsterdam - I forgot I had read something about that. I do feel like that last day with the markets could use some shaping - I usually like to have something planned that we can kind of set the day around.
Have you (or has anyone reading this) done the Anne Frank walking tour? Or are there any walking tours that stand out?

Make sure you have booked Anne Frankhuis asap if you haven't already done so.
Bear in mind October may not be great weather for either a walking or a bike tour, and days are getting much shorter. I don't know your dates but summertime (daylight savings) ends in Europe on 26 October this year.

You could head over to NDSM on the free ferry for a different look at Amsterdam.

https://www.ndsm.nl/en/over

We have Anne tickets 10AM Wed thank goodness. Our trip is Oct 13 - hoping for decent weather! Thanks so much for the tip on NDSM! I have to admit I have seen it referenced but my eyes sort of glazed over at the expanse of it - but looking into it from your tip I saw some things that will really appeal to my daughter especially - the IJ-Hallen flea market and vintage clothing space is right up her alley

You can take the metro across to NDSM, it's faster and better in wet weather, but the ferry is nicer, and free.

My birthday week! We often have nice weather then so fingers crossed for you.
Nice train journey to Cologne too. Book your tickets online - the earlier the cheaper. First class is quieter, reserved seats etc etc, but up to you if you want to spend the extra money.
The station brings you out right by Cologne Cathedral!

So much to edo in Amsterdam, including the Rijksmusem, the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedjilek. There is the Spanish and Portugeuse synagogue as well as the Jewish Museum or simply strolling along the canals and seeing the architecture. Although I haven't been there yet, I understand the Museum of Dutch Resistance is pretty outstanding.

The Portugese Synagogue is really worth a visit. If you are going to Anne Frank huis, the history of what happened to the Jewish population of Amsterdam during the war is harrowing. There is also the Holocaust museum nearby and the memorial in the theatre opposite. This is the area where most of the Jewish population of Amsterdam lived before the war. It is also a pretty and quiet part of the city, with the botanical garden there as well, and the zoo Artis. You don't need to go in the zoo, there's a large terrace for coffee and snacks right next to it if the weather is good, which it can be in October.

You could add context to the Franks' story at the Museum of Resistance (Verzetsmuseum) and round the corner the Hollandse Schouwburg, which I assume is the theatre referred to above.

Opposite the Hollandse Schouwburg is the Holocaust museum. The Verzetsmuseum is good too, but more focussed on general resistance. These are all in the same area. If you are going to the Holocaust museum, prepare your daughter for that, it is truly harrowing.

Thank you all! We will definitely add the Holocaust Museum to our itinerary. I am considering an Anne Frank walking tour as well.

Please also consider visiting the Jewish Historical Museum. Amsterdam and Jews is not just about the dead ones, although viable jewish life now happens in Buitenveldert and Amstelveen, not in Amsterdam anymore.

Amsterdam is vintage heaven.


There are the ubiquitous Episode stores all over town, pretty on trend, but there are more specialized thrift stores, like Zipper, the BIS shops on Jodenbreestraat etc. There are good website with vintage listings. The IJ-markt over at NDSM is worth the ferry ride (and so is the entire NDSM area, pretty cool, with a huge street art gallery and an Art City.).Noordermarkt on saturdays has a great organic/farmer' s market, and there are a number of good vintage stalls there too, and more craft stuff. Finally, do visit Mouse Mansion.