Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of The Netherlands. Many know about its infamous Red light district and its hash-selling coffee shops, but there are a lot more to Amsterdam than that. We only had one and a half days in Amsterdam, and we managed to visit a number of places in Amsterdam, including the famous Dutch windmills, a diamond factory, the floating flower market and cruising along the Amsterdam Canal.
1. Madurodam
2. Zaanse Schans
A trip to Amsterdam would not be complete without seeing the famous Dutch windmills. Zaanse Schans is a famous tourist spot in Amsterdam. It took us less than half an hour to reach there from our hotel in downtown Amsterdam. We saw different types of windmills and what went on inside some of them. The kids also learnt how clogs and cheese were made. We tasted many types of cheese and bought some. They were all really good. Admission to Zaanse Schans is free, but we had to pay for parking and entrance into some of the windmills.
Beautiful dutch windmills
How cheese were made
Instead of renting a car to go Zaanse Schans, you could also join tours from Amsterdam city. One of it is a Half Day Tour to Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam available on Klook for 31 Euros. If you want to make it a full day tour and cover two other countryside areas called Volendam and Molken, you could join the Countryside & Windmills Tour from Amsterdam, This tour is about 51 Euros per person.
3. Gassan Diamond Factory
Amsterdam is known as the City of Diamonds. Thus, it was only apt that we visited Gassan Diamond Factory, the famous diamond factory in Amsterdam. The free private tour was very educational as we not only learnt about the four Cs, but we also saw actual samples of diamonds with different Cs. The tour guide also showed us diamonds being cut by the master cutter. According to the tour guide, the factory was the only place where you could buy a Gassan 121-cut diamond. The free private tour can be booked at www.gassan.com.
We loved the freshly-made giant stroopwafels at the Gassan Diamond Factory cafe . It was crispy on the outside and sweet with jam on the inside. The lady selling the stroopwafels said that they were perfect when warmed over a hot cup of coffee.
4. Amsterdam’s Floating Flower Market
Being a fan of tulips, a visit to the world-famous Kuekenhof garden with its stunning fields of tulips would have been a wonderful experience, but alas, the tulip season was over barely a week before our arrival. Fortunately, Amsterdam’s Floating Flower Market offered an array of colourful tulips to feast the eyes. A bouquet of 50 tulips costed only 7.50 Euros! Apart from tulips, visitors could buy bulbs, carnivorous plants, and many other gorgeous flowers. At a nearby cheese shop, there was a dutch lady dressed just like the one on the Dutch Lady milk can!
5. Tram Ride
We parked the car at the hotel and took a tram to the cruise departure point. The tram was not only fun for the kids, but it took us along routes where no cars could pass.
6. Amsterdam Canal Sightseeing Cruise
We joined the Amsterdam Canal Sightseeing Cruise and gently cruised along the many canals in the city, admiring beautiful traditional houses, numerous bridges, and unique water homes. You can book Amsterdam Canal Cruise on Klook for around 13 Euros.
Amsterdam Map
View Amsterdam Trip in a larger map
Getting Around Amsterdam
We got around the city area of Amsterdam via public transportation. They are easily accessible and you have a choice of land and water. You can buy the Amsterdam Public Transport 1-7 day ticket.
If you want to combine unlimited access to public transport and free access to 60 attractions, you can buy the I Amsterdam City Card.
If you don’t have the time to plan for travel via public transportation, you can go for the hop-on-hop-off bus with fixed routes to major attractions. You can get the Amsterdam Pass that gives you access to the hop-on-hop-off bus and various tourist attractions.
For travel outside the city, you could join the local tours there. For a family of 5, we found it cheaper to rent a car to travel outside the city area. To compare prices of cars across multiple popular car rental companies and make a booking, we use RentalCar.com.
Other things to do with kids in Amsterdam
Apart from the above, we have also considered visiting these popular places:
- Keukenhof Garden – Many visitors around the world come to The Netherlands in Spring to see the famous tulips in the Keukenhof garden. Tickets can be purchased here.
- Giethoorn – A picturesque Dutch village surrounded by canals.
- Pancake Cruise – Eat all the pancakes that you can while you cruise along the Amsterdam Canal
- Van Gogh Museum – View the art and participate in a treasure hunt and colouring activities
- NEMO – Visit the Science and Technology Museum
- Vondelpark – Have a picnic at the park and and let the kids enjoy at the huge playground
- Kinderkookkafe– Let the kids do the cooking
- Efteling Theme Park – Have a fairytale adventure in the largest theme park in The Netherlands
- Madame Tussauds – Marvel at realistic wax statues
Places to Stay
There are a number of accommodations that can accommodate a family of 4 or more. For a listing of such rooms, click Accommodations in Amsterdam (on Booking.com).
Our trip to Amsterdam was part of our 15-day Adventures in Europe. Our next stop after Amsterdam was Cologne, Germany to see the Cologne Chocolate Museum.
I will be travelling with my family of two young boys to Amsterdam from 28th to 31st August.
Could you advise of the cost of 4 tours.
Hi, the Amsterdam Canal Cruise on Klook is about 13 Euro.
We drove to Zaanse Schans to see the windmills, but you could also join a Countryside & Windmills tour from Amsterdam at 59 Euro. This tour includes Volendam and Marken as well.
If you just want to do the Zaanse Schans windmills half tour, that would be 31 Euro. For the places within Amsterdam city, we did not join a tour. We took the public transportation or explored the areas on foot.