With kids · Amsterdam · Netherlands
Amsterdam with kids
Family-tested sights, a calm base and the practical details that make travelling with children easier.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Deerpeter, CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answer
Amsterdam is compact, and children love the canal boats, NEMO's hands-on science, Artis zoo and the Vondelpark's playgrounds. Bike culture adds fun — cargo bikes with child seats are easy to rent — but busy bike lanes and unfenced canal edges need care with small children. Top picks: NEMO Science Museum, Artis Zoo and Vondelpark. Families usually base themselves in Plantage and Oost.
Key facts
- Family picks
- 5
- Best area for families
- Plantage and Oost
- Rainy-day options
- 1
- Busiest months
- April and June–August
Best things to do with kids
Museum · Oosterdok
1.NEMO Science Museum
Renzo Piano's green copper building rises like a ship's bow over the IJ tunnel, with five floors of hands-on science exhibits for children of all ages. Its sloping roof is a public terrace with views across the harbour and the old city.
Climb the outside steps to the roof terrace even if you skip the museum, and avoid Dutch school-holiday afternoons.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
- Views
- Architecture
Zoo · Plantage
2.Artis Zoo
Founded in 1838, Artis is one of the oldest zoos in Europe, set among 19th-century buildings and mature gardens in the Plantage. Beyond the animals it includes an aquarium, a planetarium and Micropia, a museum of microbes beside the entrance.
Buy tickets online and combine with the Hortus Botanicus a few minutes' walk away.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Nature
- Outdoors
Park · Museum Quarter
3.Vondelpark
Amsterdam's best-known park stretches about 1.5 km west from near Leidseplein, with ponds, a rose garden, playgrounds and cafés. On summer weekends it fills with picnics, cyclists and skaters, and the open-air theatre stages free performances.
Pick up picnic supplies in Oud-West and head for the lawns by the central ponds.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
- Couples
Experience · Canal Ring
4.Canal cruise
An hour on a canal boat passes the Golden Bend, the Skinny Bridge (Magere Brug) over the Amstel and the harbour front, with commentary on the history of the canal houses. Smaller open boats reach narrow canals that the large glass-topped boats cannot.
Choose a small open boat on a fine evening or a covered boat in winter, and compare operators rather than booking from touts at Centraal Station.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Couples
- Views
- Iconic
Viewpoint · Amsterdam-Noord
5.A'DAM Lookout
The observation deck on top of the A'DAM Tower, a former Shell office beside the IJ, gives a 360-degree view over the canal ring, the harbour and the flat polders beyond. Its rooftop swing, Over the Edge, rocks riders out over the edge of the roof about 100 metres up.
Take the free ferry from behind Centraal Station to Buiksloterweg, a five-minute crossing, and go up for sunset.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Views
- Couples
- Kids
- After dark
Rainy-day ideas
- NEMO Science Museum — Climb the outside steps to the roof terrace even if you skip the museum, and avoid Dutch school-holiday afternoons.
Where families should stay
$$ · Best for families, quiet stays and budget
Plantage and Oost
East of the centre, the Plantage has wide streets and 19th-century villas around Artis zoo, the Hortus Botanicus and the Dutch Resistance Museum, with the Jewish Cultural Quarter close by. Further east, Oost centres on Oosterpark and the Dappermarkt street market, and hotels are often better value than inside the canal ring.
- Good
- Family attractions within walking distance; Calmer and greener; Good-value hotels
- Watch out
- 15–25 minutes' walk to the canal ring; Quieter in the evenings
- Nearby
- Artis, Hortus Botanicus, NEMO Science Museum, Jewish Cultural Quarter
Family travel tips
- Children under 4 travel free on GVB trams, buses and the Metro.
- Many trams have low floors for strollers, but canal-house hotels often have steep stairs and no lift; check before booking.
- Pancake houses (pannenkoekenhuizen) are reliable, child-friendly places for lunch or an early dinner.
- The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum are free for under-18s, though a ticket must still be booked.
- Hire a cargo bike with a child seat for a family ride through the Vondelpark or along the Amstel.
Day trips for families
- Zaanse Schans (About 20 minutes by train plus a short walk) — A collection of working 18th-century windmills, green wooden houses, a clog workshop and a cheese farm along the Zaan river.
- Keukenhof (About 1 hour by bus) — Open for only about eight weeks each spring, usually from late March to mid-May, Keukenhof's 32 hectares of gardens display millions of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, while the surrounding bulb fields bloom in stripes of colour.
- Volendam and Marken (About 30 minutes by bus) — Two former fishing villages on the IJsselmeer: Volendam with its harbour promenade and smoked-eel stalls, and Marken with green wooden houses on mounds and a lighthouse.
- Utrecht (About 30 minutes by train) — Utrecht's two-level canals have old wharf cellars at water level converted into cafés and terraces.
- The Hague (About 50 minutes by train) — The seat of the Dutch government holds the Mauritshuis, home of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and View of Delft, and the seaside resort of Scheveningen with its pier and long sandy beach is a short tram ride away.
When to go with children
The best months overall are April–June and September. April and June–August are the busiest, so book the big sights early. Weather by month.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Amsterdam good for kids?
Amsterdam is compact, and children love the canal boats, NEMO's hands-on science, Artis zoo and the Vondelpark's playgrounds. Bike culture adds fun — cargo bikes with child seats are easy to rent — but busy bike lanes and unfenced canal edges need care with small children.
+What can kids do in Amsterdam?
NEMO Science Museum, Artis Zoo, Vondelpark, Canal cruise and A'DAM Lookout.
+Where should families stay in Amsterdam?
Plantage and Oost: Leafy streets around Artis zoo and the Hortus Botanicus.