Amsterdam summers are short, so when the heat comes, families head straight for the water. The city has sandy lake beaches, pools with toddler basins and even a former navy harbor you can swim in, most of them within bike range. Here's what we checked, from the shallow buoy line at Blijburg to the play island at Flevoparkbad.
Strand IJburg is a wide sandy city beach on Strandeiland, the largest island of IJburg, facing the IJmeer lake. It is an official swimming spot: buoy lines mark a shallow zone at 60 centimeters for small kids and an outer line at 1.4 meters.
Beyond that, currents and cold water make swimming a bad idea. On the sand there's beach volleyball, skating, soccer and SUP or surf lessons.
A water playground on small islands in the Grote Vijver pond, next to the Openluchttheater. Kids reach the islands over wobbly footbridges, a rope bridge and a small ferry they pull across themselves.
In and over the water there are ropes, poles to climb, and floating nets and rafts. Between swims there is room to build huts, picnic or lie in the sun on the small beach.
Flevoparkbad is a heated city pool on the edge of Flevopark, surrounded by trees. It has a 50-meter pool for lap swimming, a recreation pool with a play island, and a shallow toddler pool.
Sunbathing lawns and play equipment ring the pools, so families can spread out on the grass between swims and make an afternoon of it.
Brediusbad is a heated outdoor pool on the edge of the Spaarndammerbuurt, near Westerpark, set in a quiet green spot behind two tall hotel buildings. It has a 33 by 25 meter deep basin for swimmers with a diploma, a shallow basin for younger children and a round toddler pool with a spray fountain. A lawn beside the pools has room for towels and snacks, and the whole pool is smoke-free.
De Mirandabad is the city-run pool complex on the south side of town. Its best-known part is the subtropical wave pool under a glass dome with palm trees, where kids go down the high slide and climb on floating toys.
There is also a 25-meter lap pool looking out on the garden, and an outdoor pool with a small playground and picnic tables.
The Gaasperplas is a lake dug for sand to build the Bijlmermeer, now ringed by beaches, lawns and paths. The main sandy beach on the south shore slopes gently into the water.
On the north side, by the Bastion in Gaasperpark, a newer beach has a non-slip mat running into the lake for wheelchairs, near a water playground. Sailboats and canoes use the open water.
The inner harbor of the Marineterrein, a former navy yard, has been an official swimming spot since April 2025. A floating boardwalk closes off the water for laps or floating around on hot days. Water quality and temperature are posted online. Swimming is at your own risk, so it suits confident swimmers.
Nearby, a Sup Sup Club box rents paddleboards and a fitness garden has monkey bars.
Sloterpark wraps around the Sloterplas, a large artificial lake at the heart of the western garden cities. Kids get a petting farm, a nature playground, a skatepark, a soccer field and a sandy city beach on the shore.
The Rondje Sloterplas path circles the water for walkers, bikes and skates. A water sports center rents canoes, surfboards and small sailboats and runs lessons, and the Sloterparkbad pool sits by the beach.
Het Twiske is a 650-hectare lake and nature area just north of Amsterdam-Noord, and about a third of it is water. There are sandy swimming beaches, an adventure and water playground, a diving platform, a marina, day camping fields and the Twiskemolen polder windmill.
A 15 km loop of smooth asphalt circles the area, so kids can bike, scoot or skate it while parents walk.
A 9-kilometer stretch of North Sea sand running from Bloemendaal to Noordwijk, backed by dunes. Between February and October more than 30 beach pavilions line it, several with playgrounds, and five stay open all year.
Kids dig, fly kites and paddle in the shallows while lifeguards watch the north and south beaches in season. Sloping ramps from the boulevard make most entrances easy with a stroller.
Amsterdam summers are short, so when the heat comes, families head straight for the water. The city has sandy lake beaches, pools with toddler basins and even a former navy harbor you can swim in, most of them within bike range. Here's what we checked, from the shallow buoy line at Blijburg to the play island at Flevoparkbad.
Strand IJburg is a wide sandy city beach on Strandeiland, the largest island of IJburg, facing the IJmeer lake. It is an official swimming spot: buoy lines mark a shallow zone at 60 centimeters for small kids and an outer line at 1.4 meters.
Beyond that, currents and cold water make swimming a bad idea. On the sand there's beach volleyball, skating, soccer and SUP or surf lessons.
A water playground on small islands in the Grote Vijver pond, next to the Openluchttheater. Kids reach the islands over wobbly footbridges, a rope bridge and a small ferry they pull across themselves.
In and over the water there are ropes, poles to climb, and floating nets and rafts. Between swims there is room to build huts, picnic or lie in the sun on the small beach.
Flevoparkbad is a heated city pool on the edge of Flevopark, surrounded by trees. It has a 50-meter pool for lap swimming, a recreation pool with a play island, and a shallow toddler pool.
Sunbathing lawns and play equipment ring the pools, so families can spread out on the grass between swims and make an afternoon of it.
Brediusbad is a heated outdoor pool on the edge of the Spaarndammerbuurt, near Westerpark, set in a quiet green spot behind two tall hotel buildings. It has a 33 by 25 meter deep basin for swimmers with a diploma, a shallow basin for younger children and a round toddler pool with a spray fountain. A lawn beside the pools has room for towels and snacks, and the whole pool is smoke-free.
De Mirandabad is the city-run pool complex on the south side of town. Its best-known part is the subtropical wave pool under a glass dome with palm trees, where kids go down the high slide and climb on floating toys.
There is also a 25-meter lap pool looking out on the garden, and an outdoor pool with a small playground and picnic tables.
The Gaasperplas is a lake dug for sand to build the Bijlmermeer, now ringed by beaches, lawns and paths. The main sandy beach on the south shore slopes gently into the water.
On the north side, by the Bastion in Gaasperpark, a newer beach has a non-slip mat running into the lake for wheelchairs, near a water playground. Sailboats and canoes use the open water.
The inner harbor of the Marineterrein, a former navy yard, has been an official swimming spot since April 2025. A floating boardwalk closes off the water for laps or floating around on hot days. Water quality and temperature are posted online. Swimming is at your own risk, so it suits confident swimmers.
Nearby, a Sup Sup Club box rents paddleboards and a fitness garden has monkey bars.
Sloterpark wraps around the Sloterplas, a large artificial lake at the heart of the western garden cities. Kids get a petting farm, a nature playground, a skatepark, a soccer field and a sandy city beach on the shore.
The Rondje Sloterplas path circles the water for walkers, bikes and skates. A water sports center rents canoes, surfboards and small sailboats and runs lessons, and the Sloterparkbad pool sits by the beach.
Het Twiske is a 650-hectare lake and nature area just north of Amsterdam-Noord, and about a third of it is water. There are sandy swimming beaches, an adventure and water playground, a diving platform, a marina, day camping fields and the Twiskemolen polder windmill.
A 15 km loop of smooth asphalt circles the area, so kids can bike, scoot or skate it while parents walk.
A 9-kilometer stretch of North Sea sand running from Bloemendaal to Noordwijk, backed by dunes. Between February and October more than 30 beach pavilions line it, several with playgrounds, and five stay open all year.
Kids dig, fly kites and paddle in the shallows while lifeguards watch the north and south beaches in season. Sloping ramps from the boulevard make most entrances easy with a stroller.
