The stroopwafels, skeletons, shopping and sights of Amsterdam make for a surprisingly tween-friendly city
The news that I was whisking Riley away for a last minute getaway to Amsterdam, a city associated with sex, drugs and drunken stags and hens, was met with a fair share of raised eyebrows. Yes such ‘adult’ entertainment can be found if that’s your thing (or accidentally stumble into the red light district) but there is so much more to this unique and surprisingly tween/teen friendly.
Amsterdam is a popular and beautiful city packed with history, yet has a modern live-and-let-live attitude and high (not literally) on acceptance. Its residents have an average age of under 40 years old so unsurprisingly make this a vibrant and creative city that emanates cool. It’s packed with culture, world-class museums and art galleries, great parks and green places to chill, fab places to eat and shop and of course its famous canals.
Rather than provide a long rambling blog about what we did (a lot!) we’ve listed some of the sights, activities, eats and drinks we experienced and recommend in around the canal ring, Jordaan, Museum quarter and Centrum neighbourhoods of the city.
The Canals
It really goes without saying that any trip to A’Dam should include the UNESCO World Heritage canal ring, whether on foot, bike or boat. We took a guided canal cruise on our first afternoon, partly as it’s a fantastic and easy way to see the sights and hear about the city’s fascinating history, but also because we were knackered from all the walking we had already done. Navigating around the narrow cobbled streets and bridges, can be a tad confusing on foot (google maps is your friend!) but we loved roaming around, getting lost (often) and finding cool eating and retail spots, and taking in the lovely architecture … an instagrammers dream! Our boat trip was with Reederij P. Kooij and cost €12 adult and €8 kids under 12 years.
The Art
Museumplien, itself a cool space to hang out on a sunny day, is where you will find the Rijksmuseum (one of the largest art museums in the world), the Van Gough Museum, the Stedelijk Museum (looks like a giant bath tub) and the MOCO Museum. We felt obliged to visit the Van Gough Museum (when in Amsterdam and all that) but wished we hadn’t bothered – too samey and too many people pretending to be interested and ticking off that bucket list. The MOCO on the other hand was amazing and right up our street with its collection of modern and contemporary art that includes a whole load of Banksy, Basquiat, Haring, Koons, Warhol and our favourite KAWS. We went first thing in the morning before it got too busy and Riley especially loved the small garden packed full of sculptures and art some of which you could climb on. Best to book in advance for any of the museums to get the time slot you prefer and save needless queuing. MOCO cost about €13 an adult/ kids under 13 free and Van Gough Museum about €19/ kids under 18 free.
The NEMO Rooftop
Only a short tram ride away (itself an experience) and one of the best things we did was visit the iconic NEMO building which houses what I’m told is a fantastic science museum. However, as it was such hot and sunny Saturday afternoon we gave this a miss and instead checked out a bit of a secret spot (shhh don’t tell anyone!) – the free NEMO rooftop with amazing views over the city. We spent a fabulous few hours here, Riley became, well a boy again stripping off to splash about in the cascading water play features, while I sunbathed on the wooden loungers sipping local beer from the excellent bar and café.
Biking ride in Vondelpark
A perfect Sunday morning was spent riding around Amsterdam’s largest park on the Omafiets (Grandma’s) bikes we hired. This was a much safer option for a nervous rider (and mother) as while the roads are all very organised with specific lanes for vehicles, trams, cyclists and pedestrians it is still a tad crazy for the inexperienced. Although, once Riley felt confident we did ventured out of this lovely green space and onto the roads. We even rode along the cycle tunnel that cuts through the middle the Rijksmuseum which was a pretty unique opportunity. We hired bikes from Black Bikes (Vondelpark branch) located round the corner from our hotel for about €10 adult/€6 child for 3 hours.
#TWMT Tip – Bikes have right of way so be aware and stay in your lane. It’s just not cool nor safe if on foot to be wandering into the cycle lanes or tram ones either!
The Gunther von Hagen’s Body Worlds
Ok this is perhaps a bit of a random one but was a surprising hit and well worth the admission fee (€20 adult/€13 child) for Riley’s face and comments during this fascinating anatomy museum (“frozen porn” was particularly good one). The Amsterdam version of Body Worlds (there are numerous others worldwide) is The Happiness Project and takes you through the impact of happiness on our health using the inner workings of real human specimens. As macabre as this sounds it really is a weirdly wonderful way to spend an hour or so, plus you also get an in depth body scan which promptly made me want to go on a diet!
The Eats and Drinks
Wherever we go we like to try the local cuisine and we certainly sampled a lot of traditional and not-so authentic Dutch foods. Despite the initial trepidation Riley really enjoyed a pickled haring (herring) sandwich, many authentic stroopwafels and I of course enjoyed the locally brewed Heineken. We also ate Dutch apple pie (with cinnamon, raisins and a smothering of whipped cream) and a good old hearty stamppot (mashed potatoes, vegetables, meat and gravy) in a traditional restaurant – we tried De Blauwe Hollander, but there are others. It goes without saying that we of course enjoyed the frites from Vlaams Friteshuis Vleminckx the oldest and arguably best hole in the wall, but a special mention must be made for FEBO, outlets of which are dotted around the city. We unfortunately didn’t discover the joy of Dutch fast food out of a vending machine until our last day but made best efforts to try most of the menu and Riley particularly enjoyed the frikadel and the burgers. I also found too late that the reason the boy flat refused me to stop off for a coffee was because he thought I wanted to go to a “coffee shop” and didn’t want us to get high!!
The Shopping
As you’d expect for any major city the choice of main brands, up market and quirky boutiques, vintage, design, books, flower and food markets etc makes Amsterdam a superb place to shop. Where once it used to be toy shops, the boy is now into clothes and trainers. We spent hours looking for an elusive pair of Nikes that I eventually discovered only existed in the boys head!
The Practical Part
Getting there
So last minute was our trip that I ended up paying over the odds for flights and not from our local airport. Nonetheless, the EasyJet flight out was, well… easy and short despite a plane full of stag and hen do’ers. We sat next to ‘Noodle Man’ a reluctant stag dressed as a box of Chinese noodles who seemed to prefer chatting to us rather than his party hitting the drink early. We got the sense he was dreading what was inevitably planned for him for the weekend – poor Noodle Man!
#TWMT Tip – Amsterdam is a popular weekend destination with regular flights, but best book early for cheaper fares.
Arrival at Schiphol was straightforward especially as we only had on carry-on luggage. What took more time and much grumbling from the boy was trying to find the ticket booth and the No.397 bus stop for the Amsterdam Airport Express. Both were eventually found and a return fare for the pair of us cost around €23 for an adult and €1 each way for a child (4-11 yrs). The ride into the centre of Amsterdam only took about 35 minutes and passed the canals and houseboats on the outskirts and the art deco inspired buildings and stadium built for the 1928 Olympic Games, now turned into a vast residential area.
It’s worth mentioning that Schiphol is a massive airport with tonnes of facilities including a mini Rijksmuseum art gallery and very kid-friendly. There’s a great kids plane to play on/in (under 12s), huge cuddly toys to climb over and even mini NEMO science area – enough to keep everyone occupied while you wait in departures.
Sleeps
Our digs for the three nights was the newly opened and mid-budget The Ed Amsterdam, on the edge of the canal belt and central attractions. Our double room in this cool boutique hotel while compact was certainly comfortable with a massive bed (probably one of the best we’ve slept in), creative décor and nice touches like a refilled Nespresso machine, air-con, a fridge, free wifi, safe and decent toiletries. To keep costs down and to avoid having to get up early we opted out of paying for breakfast and instead brought pastries and juice from a local shop. We booked using expedia.com for approx. €100 per night.
#TWMT Tip – Amsterdam is one of the most visited cities in Europe and accommodation is both easy to find and varied but it’s still advisable to book in advance, especially during the main tourist season or weekends for the best prices.
What we missed but still on our A’Dam to do list…
Anne Frank’s House – as our trip was last minute we missed out on getting tickets for this popular and important museum. Tickets sell out weeks/months in advance so book early.
More Museums – Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum
Exploring other neighbourhoods – especially trendy De Pijp and over the river to Buiksloterham Amsterdam’s northern shoreline a former industrial district that has rapidly become a new urban and cultural centre with two architecturally cool buildings: the EYE Film Institute and A’DAM Toren with its open-air observation deck.
Koningsdag (King’s Day) celebrations – held late April is apparently quite an orange clad knees-up in honour of the king.
More Food – Bitterballen ground meat croquettes and ideal bar snack, Poffertjes mini fluffy Dutch pancakes and Tompouce cream-filled puff pastries.
Thanks for reading and here are a few useful links
Culture Trip Guides to Amsterdam
TWMT visited Amsterdam in late August 2019 and some of the prices and details given may have changed.
Travels With My Teen 