Italy, France, and, Amsterdam with kids,young teens
Aug 11th, 2009, 08:06 PM
#21
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You mention that you love to ride bicycles.
A great afternoon while you're in Amsterdam would be to ride bikes to the village of Muiden and see the Muiderslot castle. Muiden is a lovely small village on the River Vecht - which evidently both the Romans and the Vikings used to sail down to cause trouble at various points in history. The castle was built in 1280. They have a number of exhibits geared towards children. Here are some views of the castle:
http://home.kpn.nl/tette029/Muiderslot.jpg
http://www.kasteleninnederland.nl/foto143.php
The bike ride would take an hour or so each way. You can tour the castle (the Amsterdam Museum Card works at it) and you can eat lunch or dinner at one of the riverside cafes in Muiden. There's a great ice cream place right there too. Whenever we've taken visitors on this jaunt, they are just blown away by the countryside, the village, the castle - everything!
There are excellent bike maps you can get at the VVV (tourist info offices) and most bookstores. Bike path junctions are numbered and you can plot out a route on the map and then just follow the numbers - although you may need to get someone to show you where to look for the number signs. There are also signposts to Muiden. Once you understand how it works, the whole country is yours! ;->
We like to start the Muiden trip at Amstel Station - a metro/train station about 10 minutes by metro from the main Centraal Station in Amsterdam. You can rent bikes at the station (much cheaper than the touristy bike rental places downtown - although the bike rental shop at Amstel is not open on Sundays). Then you can follow the Ringdijk - the Ring Canal -(a few blocks from the Station) - until you reach the Rhine Canal, where you can ride along a tree-lined path by the huge canal and watch big barge traffic glide by on their way to Germany. There are several different bike routes to Muiden from there - some through lovely countryside. Just look at the bike map. The wonderful thing about biking in Holland is 1) there are miles and miles of completely separate-from-the-road bike paths and 2) they're all FLAT and easy.
Since almost everyone in the Amsterdam area speaks truly excellent English and are, in our experience, unfailingly polite, good-humored, and helpful, do not be afraid to venture out on your own. Just stop some other bicyclist and ask questions if you need help orienting yourself. It will be a wonderful family adventure (assuming that isn't too long to bicycle for your 9-year-old). We've taken senior citizens with bad knees and they had no problem doing it. It's a wonderful counterpoint to the city of Amsterdam.
A great afternoon while you're in Amsterdam would be to ride bikes to the village of Muiden and see the Muiderslot castle. Muiden is a lovely small village on the River Vecht - which evidently both the Romans and the Vikings used to sail down to cause trouble at various points in history. The castle was built in 1280. They have a number of exhibits geared towards children. Here are some views of the castle:
http://home.kpn.nl/tette029/Muiderslot.jpg
http://www.kasteleninnederland.nl/foto143.php
The bike ride would take an hour or so each way. You can tour the castle (the Amsterdam Museum Card works at it) and you can eat lunch or dinner at one of the riverside cafes in Muiden. There's a great ice cream place right there too. Whenever we've taken visitors on this jaunt, they are just blown away by the countryside, the village, the castle - everything!
There are excellent bike maps you can get at the VVV (tourist info offices) and most bookstores. Bike path junctions are numbered and you can plot out a route on the map and then just follow the numbers - although you may need to get someone to show you where to look for the number signs. There are also signposts to Muiden. Once you understand how it works, the whole country is yours! ;->
We like to start the Muiden trip at Amstel Station - a metro/train station about 10 minutes by metro from the main Centraal Station in Amsterdam. You can rent bikes at the station (much cheaper than the touristy bike rental places downtown - although the bike rental shop at Amstel is not open on Sundays). Then you can follow the Ringdijk - the Ring Canal -(a few blocks from the Station) - until you reach the Rhine Canal, where you can ride along a tree-lined path by the huge canal and watch big barge traffic glide by on their way to Germany. There are several different bike routes to Muiden from there - some through lovely countryside. Just look at the bike map. The wonderful thing about biking in Holland is 1) there are miles and miles of completely separate-from-the-road bike paths and 2) they're all FLAT and easy.
Since almost everyone in the Amsterdam area speaks truly excellent English and are, in our experience, unfailingly polite, good-humored, and helpful, do not be afraid to venture out on your own. Just stop some other bicyclist and ask questions if you need help orienting yourself. It will be a wonderful family adventure (assuming that isn't too long to bicycle for your 9-year-old). We've taken senior citizens with bad knees and they had no problem doing it. It's a wonderful counterpoint to the city of Amsterdam.
Aug 11th, 2009, 08:26 PM
#22
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Oh - I forgot to say, if you're asking people about these places, the pronunciation (approximately anyway) of the castle name Muiderslot is "mowdersloat" (the "ow" is pronounced as in "cow", and the "o" in the "slot" part is a long "o".) The village of Muiden is pronounce "mowden", again with the "ow" being like "cow".
Also I believe there are organized bike tours conducted to Muiden/Muiderslot, so if you don't feel brave enough to strike out on your own, that might be an option. May be pricey, though - not sure and not sure how often they are offered.
Also I believe there are organized bike tours conducted to Muiden/Muiderslot, so if you don't feel brave enough to strike out on your own, that might be an option. May be pricey, though - not sure and not sure how often they are offered.
Aug 11th, 2009, 09:01 PM
#23
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I wrote a treasure hunt for teenagers in Venice - see if it interests your kids. No glass blowing, no lace making, only one church (which has a bomb mounted on the wall. Cute). It takes them to an internet cafe, has them discover why a particular statue is known to Venetian kids as the "book shitter".
You'd find it here.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-teenagers.cfm
You'd find it here.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-teenagers.cfm
Aug 12th, 2009, 06:35 PM
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Dear Jh
We just returned from a trip that was one week in Rome, four days in Venice and four in Paris. My DH and I have two kids, ages 14 and 12. While it was brutally hot in Rome (in July), they very much liked the tour we took of the Colosseum, the Forum and Palantine Hill. I highly recommend taking a tour as I find it much easier to understand something being told to me rather than reading it out of a book. We also liked Castell San Angelo, riding the bus system, and Ostia Antica.
We took the train to Venice, and met a nice young Italian man with whom we talked the entire ride. In Venice, we liked the boat trip to Murano (more than Murano itself), and the Frari Church. St. Marks was pretty great too. We downloaded Rick Steve's audio tours and used those -- although the kids weren't that interested in what he had to say, my DH and I enjoyed his insight.
We flew Easy Jet to Paris (approx. 50 euros each) which was very easy. Our four days in Paris wasn't anywhere near enough. We saw many sights including Versailles. I think the highlights were Versailles and the Eiffel Tower, perhaps seeing Notre Dame (without going in) -- what an icon! Paris is so beautiful that we enjoyed just walking around.
I wasn't quite prepared for my teenaged son wanting to walk ahead of us and generally pretend he wasn't part of our family. Be prepared!
Sounds like you have a great trip planned. I support keeping it as simple as possible. Traveling is exhausting and I re-discovered how difficult it is to be with each other 24/7 for 16 days! Glad to be home but already wanting to go back!
We just returned from a trip that was one week in Rome, four days in Venice and four in Paris. My DH and I have two kids, ages 14 and 12. While it was brutally hot in Rome (in July), they very much liked the tour we took of the Colosseum, the Forum and Palantine Hill. I highly recommend taking a tour as I find it much easier to understand something being told to me rather than reading it out of a book. We also liked Castell San Angelo, riding the bus system, and Ostia Antica.
We took the train to Venice, and met a nice young Italian man with whom we talked the entire ride. In Venice, we liked the boat trip to Murano (more than Murano itself), and the Frari Church. St. Marks was pretty great too. We downloaded Rick Steve's audio tours and used those -- although the kids weren't that interested in what he had to say, my DH and I enjoyed his insight.
We flew Easy Jet to Paris (approx. 50 euros each) which was very easy. Our four days in Paris wasn't anywhere near enough. We saw many sights including Versailles. I think the highlights were Versailles and the Eiffel Tower, perhaps seeing Notre Dame (without going in) -- what an icon! Paris is so beautiful that we enjoyed just walking around.
I wasn't quite prepared for my teenaged son wanting to walk ahead of us and generally pretend he wasn't part of our family. Be prepared!
Sounds like you have a great trip planned. I support keeping it as simple as possible. Traveling is exhausting and I re-discovered how difficult it is to be with each other 24/7 for 16 days! Glad to be home but already wanting to go back!
