How To Plan A Successful Trip To Amsterdam With Teenagers 

We visited Amsterdam with teenagers when our children were aged 11, 13 and 18.   We were keen to explore the city, but in an organised way, so I put together a busy itinerary for the trip to Amsterdam.  Here are the activities which our kids enjoyed the most.

Staying ‘family friendly’ in Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a truly beautiful city but there may be certain areas that you don’t want to wander into with your children.  As we felt that two of our children were too young for any ‘eye opening window shopping’, we were keen to stay clear of the Red Light District on this trip.  However, as this area of the City is relatively contained, then we were able to plan around it and avoid any unwanted surprises. 

We did have to deal with the “What’s that smell?” question in relation to smoking weed but as that issue is no longer limited to the Netherlands, it was not such a big deal. 

Enjoying the city by different modes of transport

Our teenagers enjoyed moving around the city by different modes of transport, particularly those that we don’t have at home:  we arrived from Schipol Airport on a double decker train (new to us!), floated through the City on an Amsterdam canal boat tour, caught the free public ferries (more of that later), took a couple of trams to the suburbs and walked for hours in explorer mode, so it felt pretty varied.

Take the free ferries to North Amsterdam

Pllek, the container café in NSDM

On a good weather day, take the free public ferry from the back of Centraal Station across the water to the NSDM area in North Amsterdam (15 mins on the ferry) and have a drink at Pllek, the café made of containers on the waterfront with a man-made beach.  Pllek sits alongside the novel ‘crane hotel’ and several huge warehouses where the Holland Line ship liners were once made.  Now the warehouses are used by artists as work and display space.  It has a very urban feel to it with lots of graffiti and the teenagers enjoyed getting some “cool” photos of graffiti artists in action.

The Lookout Swing at the A’DAM Hotel

Take another free ferry from the back of Centraal Station directly across the water to the A’DAM Hotel (it only takes about 5 minutes).  At the top of the A’DAM Hotel is The Lookout Swing, so called because you swing out over the edge of the hotel on an electric arm – not for the faint hearted!   It is advisable to book The Lookout Swing in advance as time-slots can sell out.  After surviving that experience, we picked up some burgers from the restaurant in the basement of the hotel which also had an air-hockey table so the teenagers were occupied whilst we were waiting.

Discover the art of graffiti at the open-air Street Art Museum

As our kids are interested in art and urban graffiti, we booked a walking tour of the open-air Street Art Museum in the Niuew West area of Amsterdam.  This involved a tram journey out to the suburbs and experiencing a different (more low-key) area of the city.  Our guide was very good and we learnt a lot about key graffiti terms, such as stencilling and tagging, as well as offering some superb photography opportunities.  This set us up well for our later visit to the Banksy Exhibition.

Exploring the Jordaan neighbourhood

The Houseboat Museum, Jordaan neighbourhood 

As well as some general wandering around the Jordaan neighbourhood and taking gazillions of photographs, the kids wanted to see inside a houseboat and so we visited the Houseboat Museum which is parked up on one of the canals in the Jordaan neighbourhood.  This does not need a lot of time as the Houseboat Museum is very small but it was lovely to see a houseboat from the inside and imagine what it might be like to live a simple life on the water.

How to enjoy a rainy afternoon in Amsterdam with teenagers

Visit the Filmhallen and Foodhallen 

It rained quite heavily on one of our afternoons and so we caught a tram to the Filmhallen in Amsterdam-West which is a cinema complex housed in old engine sheds.  After seeing a movie, we moved next door to enjoy a fun supper at the trendy Foodhallen – another former engine shed with food outlets around the edges and seating in the middle, with great food and drink options and a buzzy atmosphere.  The advantage of eating at Foodhallen with teenagers was that there was something for everyone – I think we all ate from different food vendors in the end! 

Get to know Van Gogh and Banksy

Another idea if the weather is poor is to visit one of the wonderful museums in the city.   Our teenagers found the Van Gogh Museum very accessible and not too dry – they recognised and liked a lot of the more famous paintings, such as the Sunflowers series.  Next door to the Van Gogh Museum in Museumplein is the Moco Museum which currently houses an exhibition by Banksy and linked nicely with our earlier trip to the Street Art Museum.

Shop on Kalverstaat and dine at the Sea Palace

The shopping opportunities are endless in Amsterdam.  As well as our usual hunt for a Zara outlet, the teenagers enjoyed wandering along all 750 meters of Kalverstraat with its high end and distinctively Dutch shops.  One section of the street seemed to be competing for the ‘best and most original’ Stroopwaffles – the sugary smells in the air made us very hungry.  Along the way we stocked up on Tony’s chocolate, weird flavoured cheese (coconut or blue lavender anyone?) and wooden tulips, as well as some clothing brands we do not have at home.  

Then we headed to the Sea Palace Chinese Restaurant which is the largest floating restaurant in Europe and an Amsterdam institution located near Centraal Station.

Final thoughts on our trip to Amsterdam with teenagers

There is so much more to explore in Amsterdam with teenagers that we barely scratched the surface, but it got the seal of approval from our kids who would love to go back to explore some more.  They also enjoyed the day trips out to the Alkmaar Cheese Market and to see the windmills at Zaanse Schans which were easy to arrange on the trains.

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