A fantastic 3 days kids-friendly itinerary to Amsterdam

Last Updated on March 3, 2024 by

Golden Age architecture, countless picturesque bridges and a lively atmosphere that makes you want to just hang out on one of its hundreds canals with a fresh beer in your hands. Amsterdam is certainly a multifaceted city that I recently discovered being also children-friendly! Indeed, we recently toured Amsterdam with our little twins and remained pleasantly surprised by its children-friendliness! That’s why I decided to write about it! In this blog, you will discover an easy Amsterdam 3 days itinerary to do with kids. I will take you and your family around the many canals of the city and its museums. Moreover, you will discover a lot of kids-friendly attractions.

Is Amsterdam kid-friendly?

I have to be honest. The words Amsterdam and kids never sounded very well in my head. Indeed, the portrait of the city I had well-impressed in my mind, is the one described by a bunch of old friends. They have been there essentially for the two main reasons most young males visit in their 20′: sex and drugs. So, I always said thanks but no thanks to any possible visit to Amsterdam. In fact, I always thought it didn’t have much to offer or add to my particular perspective.

Oh I was wrong.

Amsterdam and the Netherlands have, indeed, a much more open approach to certain topics that are taboo in other European countries. Nevertheless, there is a balanced and additional cultural “other side”. This is made of museums, historical heritage, architecture and food scene that is often undervalued. Particularly by families. I discovered not only that Amsterdam is kids-friendly, but that is engaged in the promotion of family-friendly activities. These facilitate kids’ engagements in more adult environments, like its numerous museums.

Moreover, to my great surprise, I didn’t have my usual struggles in taking around the strollers as those I experienced in Portugal or Czech Republic. Indeed, each single train, tram, bus, metro, side street, crossover etc. it was accessible. Not only in Amsterdam, but in every place we visited in the Netherlands! This is great, not only for families but also for people with mobility issues!

How many days do you need in Amsterdam with the kids?

There isn’t a limit to the days you can stay in Amsterdam with the kids. The city has so much to offer that the ideal time would be probably an entire week. However, if you want to get out of the city and explore a little more of the Netherlands, 3 days will cover the “Amsterdam essential bucket list”. Moreover, for my personal experience, I found out that a change of scenery for 2-years old toddlers was quite beneficial.

What is the cost of a trip to Amsterdam for a family?

Unfortunately, Amsterdam is not one of the cheapest destinations in Europe. Indeed, high levels of tourism contribute to the high prices all around the country. These below are the prices we more or less paid for our trip for the whole week (not just 3 days).

Train🚄 To get to Amsterdam, we took the Eurostar taking advantage of its cheapest tickets at £39 one way. Children under 4 don’t pay. Total spent £156 a/r. Consider that I’m getting back to Amsterdam by plane in October and I paid more than £200 ALONE!! So if you are traveling from London or Paris the Eurostar is the best option.

Accommodation🏨: € 1000 for a budget accommodation out of the central areas for 7 days. See more details below.

Food: around €100 per day. There are cheaper option tough, we just preferred to stay somewhere seated with the kids.

Local Transport 🚇: Nothing this was included in our 72h I Amsterdam Card (partnership). The remaining days we paid €21 per a full-day ticket. Children don’t pay. To get around the country by train we spent a maximum of €100 in 2. Children don’t pay if under 4.

Museums and attractions 🏛️: Nothing for the first 72h as these were included in our I Amsterdam Card (partnership). However, Keukenhof gardens are not included in this card and we paid €72 to visit on our 4th day.

Souvenirs e other expenses 🛍️: I generally don’t spend too much on souvenirs. I just buy a few magnets and things to take to my family. We didn’t spent more than €60 on this.

What is the best season to visit Amsterdam? 🌸

If you are planning to visit the Netherlands, weather considerations should be part of your planning. Indeed, equally to the UK, the Netherlands is a very rainy country. Nevertheless, the real question one should ask is. Do I want to see the tulip fields???

Well, if the reply to this question is YES. Then, regardless of the rain, the best season to go is spring. Precisely from Mid April to May. Indeed, this his the expected peak period for flower blooming and tulip fields in the Netherlands should be at their best shape. The downside of traveling in the spring months is that sunshine isn’t granted. Indeed, you can expect entire rainy days or scattered rain during the day, that isn’t pleasant to have if you travel with small children and lot of baby equipment.

If the reply the above question is NO. Then, you can consider the actual best season to visit the Netherlands, which is summer. Indeed, in summer you should definitely expect plenty of sunshine and the ideal weather to stroll&dine along the numerous canals of Amsterdam. A second better traveling season might be Autumn (Oct-Nov) to see the foliage in part of the country and experience the best dusk colours. However, autumn like spring carries a certain amount of rain that one should take in consideration. Particularly if planning many outdoor activities.

Our experience with the weather in the Netherlands wasn’t the best. Deciding to travel in April we accepted the risk of possible adverse conditions. Indeed, we got a few days of heavy rain and two days of very strong wind. Nevertheless, this didn’t stop us from pursuing our itinerary the best as we could!

How to get around with kids in Amsterdam 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦

Getting around with kids in Amsterdam couldn’t be easier! As I said before, the city is very accessible and stroller-friendly and we didn’t find any particular difficulty in traveling with two toddlers and a big luggage. Each train/tram and metro have their own accessible entrance that can be used by strollers with facilitated seats/spaces for the trip.

Do Kids travel free in Amsterdam?

All children under 4 years-old travel for free in Amsterdam and the Netherlands. You don’t need to buy a separate card or ticket for them. Children aged 4-11 have a special children ticket that allow them to travel within Amsterdam at € 4 for the whole day. This ticket can be purchased at any tram or metro station.

Baby change facilities in Amsterdam

Traveling with little babies can be sometimes very challenging. Indeed, nappy changes or specific feeding times are not the best friends of travel itineraries. Parents have to stop frequently and not many places are equipped for a sudden nappy change or a hungry screaming baby. As I travel with 2 children under 3, my immediate concern when I plan a whole day out is about nappy changes and food for them.

Food is generally the easygoing part. Indeed, we always try to book hotels that have close supermarkets (for milk and snacks). For lunch and dinners the twins are already used to smaller portions of adult foods or kids choices (when available). Nevertheless, nappy changes are a real struggle. Nevertheless, in Amsterdam, the struggle was less than usual as many places have baby changes facilities. Moreover, when they don’t have it (in restaurants) owners have always been very kind and found a space for us to change the kids.

Where I can find baby changing stations in Amsterdam?

If you are around Amsterdam and don’t know where to look for baby changes, those options below are a safe harbour. Don’t attempt any Mc’Donalds or Burger Kings in the more central areas. They are cramped and they don’t have any baby changing station.

1. The Amsterdam Centraal Station. Most toilets in the Central station have a special “family room”. This is accessible for free and have a space for baby change and feeding. Public toilets staff usually lock the room for security and hygiene reasons. Therefore, you might need to ask them to unlock this for you. We used the one near platform 1 and it was very clean.
2. Wijs West. This is a children shop and cafe in Bilderdijkstraat. It’s one of the few shops/cafe that have a baby changing room.
3. Amsterdam Schiphol Baby Care Lounge. Amsterdam airport has one of the best baby changing facilities I ever seen! Not only there is a baby change in almost every toilet, but if you need more privacy in a more comfortable space, you can use one of their Baby Care Lounges. They are free of charge and located in Holland Boulevard after the security in the Departure Lounges 2 and 3. For older kids who needs entertainments, the airport has numerous play areas (the most famous one is the Kids Forest) where children can play, climb and run. For the most chilled children there is also a library!
4. Any Museum. When in Amsterdam you’ll probably visit some museum. Well, most of them are not only accessible but they have excellent baby change facilities. Of those we visited, NEMO, Rijksmuseum and Artis have all baby change stations.

I Amsterdam City Card. Is it worth?

Despite children travel for free and enter most museums free (until 5 years old). Adults have still to pay the full price! We had the chance to try the I Amsterdam City Card and check ourselves how much a family can save with this card!

The I Amsterdam City Card is the official sightseeing card of Amsterdam. It comes in various length of time from one day to 72h. In our case, 72h was the perfect length for our Amsterdam 3 days itinerary!

What is included in the I Amsterdam City Card?

The I Amsterdam City Card includes free or discounted entrance to more than 70 museums and attractions in and out of Amsterdam. Free use of all the public transport in Amsterdam (metro, bus and tram), free city cruises and food discounts. This includes free entrances to the Rijksmuseums, Artis Zoo, Hortus Botanicus etc. (see our itinerary below to see how we used the card!).

What is the price of the I Amsterdam City Card?

The price of the card, depend on the length of time you want to use it. For your convenience, I summarised the main prices below:

• 24h – €60
• 48h – €85
• 72h – €100
• 96h – € 115
• 120h – €120

How much you can save with the I Amsterdam City Card?

This totally depends on how many attractions you can fit within the validity of your card. I would say there is a general saving of €20-55 per person with the card.

Is the I Amsterdam City Card worth the price?

If you make a good use of it then definitely yes! If you don’t plan to visit any museum than I would opt only for the transport card. In our case it was more than worthy!

5 top tips for traveling with kids in Amsterdam

Each family is different and has its own pace and way of explore places with their kids. Some people pack their itinerary, some other are slow travellers. After 3 years of traveling with my little ones, and being with them in about 8 different countries, I can say I am now confident on the topic. Each time we go away, we learn something different and we try to improve for our next trip. I now know how to keep my kiddos entertained, what makes them nervous or what we have to avoid during a trip.

In the case of Amsterdam, I used all my previous experiences to avoid previous mistakes and possibilities of kids’ tantrums. I have to say we were quite successful and the trip proceeded very smoothly! Please consider this 5 main tips for traveling with children in Amsterdam.

1. Keep your itinerary simple 🗺️

Traveling with kids is not as the same as traveling alone. It’s slower but at the same time chaotic and need seamless planning. We usually schedule a maximum of 2/3 activities or site visit per day. Amsterdam is a busy city with lots of things to do. So, the better thing is to focus on a specific area for a day, or 2 museums. Kids don’t like to jump from one place to another and they feel more stable end engaged in one place per time.

2. Plan your itinerary around children’s schedule and needs ⛺

My little ones needs constant entertainment. A mistake I did during my Belgium trip last winter, was that I didn’t plan enough funny stuff for them. However, you should consider they are travellers too. They want to experience something new as much as you do. It doesn’t matter if they are 2 years old or 15. Therefore, this time I carefully researched places that had a lot of activities for them or can provided them opportunities to play and learn with things they don’t have at home. I honestly wouldn’t visit those places if alone as they are very kids-centred but this paid off! Kids had they play-learn time and were much more quiet during the adult activities too.

3. Book your restaurants in advance 🍝

Working in the luxury sector has taught me only looser don’t have a restaurant reservations! Jokes apart, most restaurants in Amsterdam work on a reservation-only basis and tend to be VERY busy. Tables reservations have actually been one of the best part of our holiday as while I saw many people struggling to enter into places (including families), we skipped the queue with a smile on our face. Tip: if you need a highchair, specify this on the booking.

4. Take snacks and additional entertainment with you 🎮

This is more a general tip than Amsterdam-related. However, in our case it was more than essential! We have 2 little energetic kids but they get tired too! So when they didn’t want to walk we had the stroller with us. During our lunchtime/dinner time, that usually lasts long, we had our beloved Fire HD 8 Kids tablet to keep them entertained. Everything, of course, with plenty of their favourite snacks and fruits with us.

5. Don’t be scared of venturing out of the city 🚗

If you are thinking of a day trip but unsure if this is feasible with kids. Go for it! The rest of the country is not much different (in terms of facilities) than Amsterdam. Transports are safe and kids-friendly and restaurants equipped for families. So, go and explore! One of our favourite place to visit in the Netherland with the kids was Zaanse Schans, the iconic windmill route close by to Amsterdam. It’s perfect for a day trip and we organised a very nice exploration. Discover here how to organise the perfect day trip to Zaanse Schans.

Amsterdam 3 days itinerary with kids

We arrived in Amsterdam around 4.30 pm with the Eurostar. We immediately collected our I Amsterdam City Card at the Central Station shop and by the time we arrived at our hotel was 6 pm. So, we decided to start our itinerary the day after. However, if you arrive in the morning you can plan activities straight away. Remember that if your hotel check-in is around 2-3 pm you can store your luggage in one of the many luggage storages in the city centre. On the day we left Amsterdam, our train was at 7pm so we left the luggage near the station. We stored our luggage at Bike Rental Reine (and storage luggage) at a very convenient distance from Central Station. The booking was easy and the guy at the reception very kind.

Day 1. Plan a museums day

On our first day of exploration in Amsterdam we wanted to do a museums day. Nevertheless, we didn’t want the kids to get bored so we pick-up 2 museums. One for adults but with children-friendly routes and one for children but appreciable by adults as well. As I will return in Amsterdam this October without the kids, I didn’t feel the pressure of choosing a particular museum. I sincerely opted for the ones I thought they would be better for us as a family.

Visit the Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is since ages on my personal bucket list and I couldn’t really skip it once I was in Amsterdam! Moreover, the entrance fee is included in the I Amsterdam Card. Just don’t forget to pre-book your free tickets in advance as it’s not possible to book them on the spot.

Our visit to the museum was very pleasant and the children really enjoyed. We had just one tantrum from Chris who started crying when couldn’t touch some of pieces of an exhibition. For the rest, the children behaved perfectly to be just 2,5 years old!

Is the Rijksmuseum children-friendly?

Yes Yes Yes! People think that museums are boring places for children but it the exact contrary. Children are stimulated by the availability of different resources and the wide environment help them boost their confidence in deciding what to see and what route to take. In this particular case, the Rijksmuseum is thought to host children and families and they have also special tips for your visit here.

Among the top highlights for families in the museum:

• They have a cloakroom where to store your belongings
• The museum is stroller friendly! If you don’t have a stroller you can also rent one at the museum.
• There are special routes for children (aged 5+)
• There is a baby changing station that can be used also for breastfeeding
• Separate accessible entrance for families with strollers
• The cafe’ has a children menu
• Family game with the museum guide (separate price €2,50)

Visit the NEMO Science Museum

Our second museum of the day was the NEMO Science Museum. The entrance to this museum is also included in the I Amsterdam City Card. However, you have to book your slot before by selecting “I have already a ticket”.

If you watched my Instagram stories, you know already the visit didn’t went as expected. Indeed, I chose this museum with all the good intentions despite it’s recommended for children aged 5+. The museum itself is amazing. I loved the concept of explaining science to children in a fun way and I loved that every single piece of the exhibition was interactive. Older children will surely have the time of their life here and I truly encourage you to visit (despite our negative experience).

Our experience at the NEMO Science Museum

Honestly, the only downside for us was the crowd. This museum was so crowded that I could barely see my husband! I really didn’t understand the point of booking in advance if you have to visit with other 5.000 people at the same time. It’s not the Louvre and not really the type of museum it’s enjoyable with all this crowd! Even the Rijksmuseum wasn’t that crowded.

Moreover, the crowd was made of not very polite children (aged up to 17!) with they even worse parents with little or no staff there to prevent rude behaviour. Especially towards the more little kids. Moral of the story, the little twins tried to engage as much as possible with the things they thought were more interesting (most of them including colourful balls or spinning wheels) but older children monopolised the attractions or literally pushed them away without any parents or staff telling them to give space to other people.

The result was that our kids (and a few more I spotted around) that were younger than others, cried most of the time because couldn’t play as expected or never had the chance to do it. Of course, I tried to explain them a little the situation but they are still too young to fully understand. I really didn’t want to engage in fights with kids or their parents for the sake of legitimately give other people space, after monopolising a single spot for more than 10 mins. It’s normal bon-ton to do this in a public space and, eventually, the staff should have timed each group to avoid these situations. In the end, we left in one hour instead of the 3h I had originally planned.

Day 2. Explore Amsterdam canals and Artis

Our second day mixed up different activities. A visit to Artis, a canal cruise and some exploration of Amsterdam.

Visit the Artis Royal Zoo

I have to admit I wasn’t 100% sure about this visit. Indeed, I am strongly against any type of animal captivity and cruelty towards animals. Therefore, I never visit zoo, circus and related. However, this place was very recommended for children. So, before booking our tickets I wanted to get more information about the animal welfare. The Artis Royal Zoo is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands and the 5th oldest zoo in the world. This includes about 27 historical 19th-century buildings.

After a brief research, I learnt that, despite in captivity, most of the animals kept at the Artis zoo come from conservation and breeding projects.

What are the conservation and breeding projects?

Conservation projects aim to protect endangered species and their natural habitats. Indeed, until 1970 it was standard practice to take animals from the wild. However, as more species became endangered this practice is luckily stopped. At least in Europe. Most animals kept in European zoos are part of conservation and breeding projects aiming their protection or reintroduction to their natural habit. With breeding programmes, zoos ensure a “(genetically) healthy population of vulnerable or endangered species outside their original habitat”. Artis is part of EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria). This is an institution that “bring experts to determine whether a species needs a breeding programme and give advice to gardens keeping the specific species, for example in terms of housing or whether or not to breed with a species”. Artis currently hosts about 90 species that are part of European breeding programmes.

Our experience at Artis

After having learnt so, I decided to give Artis a go. Tickets were included in the I Amsterdam Card and, as usual, you have to pre-book your day/time slot. It was a very good day of sunshine so it was perfect to stay outside. Moreover, the twins never seen real-life animals (except our cat) so I wanted to see their reaction.

I was happy to see there isn’t a very large animal population in this zoo. And some of those animals that are there come from very bad situations (e.g. poaching of private users’ collections). Unfortunately, some of them can’t survive in their natural habitats and need constant care. In this case, it’s good the zoo take care of them. We also discovered that birds, including pink flamingos, come there spontaneously for migratory purposes. The park is more like a large botanical garden with a few animals here and there. Kids enjoyed their walk a lot and loved to see the Elephants and lions.

Artis is very children-friendly and expect to find lots of facilities for family. From restaurants to baby changing stations.

Sailing the Amsterdam Canals with kids

There aren’t many children-friendly canal cruises in Amsterdam. Particularly for toddlers. Indeed, sailing can be potentially dangerous for little children in open and semi-open boats. Of all the free cruises provided by the I Amsterdam Card, only the one done by Blue Boat could safely host little children.

Indeed, Blue Boat provides special Kids Cruises tailored for the little ones. Indeed, there is a special audio played for them that entertain them during the cruise. Children will be also provided with a fun booklet, pencils and pirate binoculars. The boat is also safe because it’s closed with no possibility of small children falls into the canals.

Our little ones really enjoyed the cruise (probably more than us!). The cruise last 75 mins and proceed slowly through the most famous Amsterdam canals. Unfortunately, we couldn’t hear much of the audio play because the twins decided to take our earphones. Nevertheless, the cruise was nice and relaxing.

To book a cruise with the City Card, you’ll need to get in person to the cruise office in front of the Hard Rock cafe. It’s not necessary that you go on the same day. Indeed, we booked our cruise the day before.

Day 3. Take a day trip to Zaanse Schans to see the Windmills

We thought a lot about what to do on our third day in Amsterdam. We didn’t want to spend another day at a museum or walking like crazy in any insta spot of Amsterdam. So, I thought that a good day trip could be perfect for us. Zaanse Schans and its famous windmills are at about 35 mins by train from Amsterdam. Moreover, the I Amsterdam City Card gives access to the most of the windmills and museums in the area.

Getting around Zaanse Schans

There are essentially two way to get around Zaanse Schans. On foot or by bike. You can reach the location by car but the actual windmill area is car-free so you’ll need to leave this near the station or out of the village. If you are planning to walk, this is a 15 mins walk from the Zaandijk Zaanse Schans Stations.

Cycling the Windmill route in the Netherlands

If you are planning to get around by bike, as we did, there is just one rental bike in the city. This is called Bike Rent Station Zaanse Schans and it’s located just out of the station, immediately on the left. Be aware that they have a limited number of bikes and they give priority to the people who booked online. Although they mysteriously lost our reservation and given away all the children seats for the bikes. Luckily, the lady had two spares somewhere and we were able to rent those.

Rental price is €5 for the first hour and €3 for the additional hours. We paid a total of €46 and we rented the bike between 11am-5pm.

The windmill route is very easy to cycle. The only problem are people. Indeed, it was very crowded and a lot of people were standing/walking on the bike route instead of the pedestrian none. So I had to constantly ring the bell on the bike to make them move, with the risk of hitting someone.

If you never cycled before, it’s not a good idea to take the kids with you as the bike weight is slightly shifted and the child movements could make you loose your balance. I had a lot of cycling experience as I lived 3 years in Tuscany and only moved around by bike there! Therefore, I was very confident of my skills. But please don’t get children in the bikes unless you are sure of your skills!

You can read more about our experience and how to organise a day trip to Zaanse Schans here.

Visiting Zaanse Schans with children

Visiting Zaanse Schans with children is very fun. The area is very safe and there are a lot of activities to do. Children will be naturally excited to see the windmills, plus there are also some farm animals nearby! Our little ones were also excited about crossing the little bridges of the village.

Moreover, one of the best places to have lunch with children in Zaanse Schans is De Kraii Restaurant. This place serves traditional Dutch pancakes in its original 18th-century granary. The menu is children friendly and the restaurant has a very clean baby changing station in the women toilet.

Eating in Amsterdam with kids

We are not too strict when it comes to book restaurants while we are with our children. Of course, we try to avoid super formal environments. But if a restaurant looks nice and with potentially good food according to the reviews, I generally book it straight away. Our twins eat almost everything so we are always sure to find something suitable for them. If they become too fussy, we’ll head to the nearest bakery to find something else.

This below is a list of places we visited for lunch/dinner in Amsterdam. Some of them don’t have a specific children menu, but dishes can potentially be children-friendly.

• Food Crib – Street food kiosk near Rijksmuseum – they have outdoor tables
• Chimney Cake Bakery & Café – kids loved their cheese croissants. Excellent coffee!
• A Tavola – Nice Italian restaurant near NEMO museum. Very good pasta. Service not the best tough.
• Cafe’ de Plantage -Mediterranean and Levantine cuisine in a lovely historical building near Artis.
• De Waterkant Restaurant – Inside ARTIS zoo. Only vegan/vegetarian food. My husband loved his vegan burger. Nice location with view on the zoo Savannah. Prices are a bit high compared other places. They have kids menu and changing facilities.
• Pizza Project – Best pizza tried in Amsterdam! Staff very friendly and place equipped for entertain the little ones. No baby change. They have 2 locations. We’ve been to the one in Maasstraat 18.
• De Kraai – Traditional Dutch pancakes in a 18th-century granary.
• Omelegg lovely place for breakfast or lunch!
• Pancake Bakery. Best places for pancakes in Amsterdam. They do special children pancakes in different shapes!

Where to stay in Amsterdam with children

Amsterdam (and the Netherlands in general) are not cheap place to visit. Particularly for families. Indeed, prices for a week stay for 4 people (2 adults, 2 children) ranges between €1000 and €5000. This doesn’t include luxury options. As we didn’t want to spend that much for a mid-year holiday, we evaluated what was the best budget option for our need.

I searched for a place that had large rooms, very good connections with the central areas, a supermarket nearby and within the budget of £1000. Ibis Budget City South had all these requirements, plus I am an Accor member so our stay made us also gain some points! We paid slightly more than €1000 for a week and our stay was very pleasant. Initially we thought to have breakfast in the room by buying something at the super-market. However, the hotel has a very nice breakfast area, equipped for little children. So we ended up doing breakfast there every day. Breakfast for 2 people is €23 (little children don’t pay).

The nearest tram station is just a 3 mins walk from the hotel and connects with the central areas with the trams 5 and 25. A supermarket (Albert Heijn) is just at 7 mins walk from the hotel and we used this regularly to buy children’s milk.

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