Amsterdam Travel Expert. Culture, Events and Apartments

Amsterdam is normally viewed as being less family friendly that other city break destinations. The trip you take there is generally not the holiday kind but you and the family can have a fantastic weekend break or longer holiday there with the kids at any time of year. There’s plenty of cheap flights to get there and there’s loads for both kids and parents to do.

The essential things to do when window shopping down the red light district just doesn’t do it for the kids. Must do’s include my following suggestions below:

NEMO Science and Technology Centre – This is a section of the revitalised harbour. The NEMO Centre is a must for kids of all ages. There are loads of intereactive exhibits, from refilling radio-controlled model oil tankers to conducting light and sound experiments and carrying out your own investigations in a laboratory. (NEMO, Prins Henrikkade, tel: 0900 919 1100; www.e-nemo.nl/; open Jul-Aug daily 10am-5pm; Sept-June Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; entrance charge is 11.50 euros per person and children up to 3 years are free).

Artis Zoo – An interesting animal habitat in the heart of Amsterdam. You’ll see peacocks to polar bears and there’s also a great quarium and planetarium for those stargazers. They even have an African savannah:

Artis amsterdam

a microplain housing zebras, wildebeests, ostriches and other native birds. (Artis Zoo, 38-40 Plantage Kerklaan, tel: 523 3400; open daily 9am-5pm; entrance charge is adults is € 17,70, for senior (65+) € 16,50 and for children from 3 to 9 years € 14,50).

Tropenmuseum TM Junior – There’s an excellent section on life in tropics that will entertain all kids. The Tropical MUseum is shows the lifestyles and problems in many of the world’s developing countries. The Junior section is aimed at children aged 6-12 and comes with lively hands-on features and activities.(Tropenmuseum, 2 Linnaeusstraat; tel: 568 8215: www.kit.nl. Open daily 10am-5pm; entrance charge over 6 yrs old is 4 euros and 7.50 euros for 18+ years).

Electrische Museumtramlijn (Electric Museum Tram Line) – Far from being borning, this is a “moving” museum onboard antique trams. The trams run during the summer, on Sundays and public holidays, from the old Harlemmermeerstation, just north of the 1928 Olympisch Stadion (Olympic Stadium) at Stadionplein. (Looking for Museum Quarter rentals in Amsterdam?

Out cycling in Amsterdam

Last summer I went to Amsterdam and was thinking on how to see most sights, get to know the history, and enjoy the city with a group of friends all at once. Then it hit me, a bike ride! What better way to get to know Amsterdam than by bike. I started looking for operating tours and ended up with an amazing tour guide called Mike’s Bike Tours.

They took us through many great sights within the city where we saw the Rembrantplein, Leidse Plein, red light district, the skinny bridge and much more. Later along the Amstel river and even across the countryside where we visited a windmill, a cheese farm and a clog factory. Don’t how people can walk with them though, they are good for kicking but really uncomfortable. The bike ride was just us much fun as informative. They were able to tell us all the inside scoops about the city and after the ride I really felt I saw what I wanted to see and know about Amsterdam.

After a long day we sat down at a terrace, and enjoyed a smooth Heineken under the sun. Unbelievable how many bikes that city has by the way. They told us it was estimated at about 1 million, meaning there are more bikes than people in Amsterdam. As we did the tour, I got to understand why the Dutch use them so much. It is so much faster! Holland benefits from the fact it is small in size and everything is nearby. In a city busy such as Amsterdam, you can easily reach everything by bike because the distances aren’t that long, and it is often faster as well than going by car or public transport. On top of that it feels good to do some exercise too. I definitely became a fan of the city and its ways and would recommend to go and see Amsterdam by bike to everyone. It is worth booking Amsterdam accommodation in a central area so that you can enjoy all of the facilities and benefits of Amsterdam.