In a city built on water, getting around is half the outing. Kids can roll a bike onto a free ferry behind Centraal Station, eat pancakes while sailing the IJ, take the helm of a replica East Indiaman, or ride a century-old tram to the edge of the forest. Here's what we checked, from the free IJ ferries to the vintage tram line.
Blue-and-white GVB ferries cross the River IJ from the docks behind Centraal Station to Amsterdam Noord. Kids walk or ride their bikes straight on board and watch the harbor go by from the deck.
The Buiksloterweg crossing is the shortest and busiest, landing by the Eye Filmmuseum. Longer routes run east to IJplein and west to NDSM Wharf, home to the STRAAT street-art museum.
A 75-minute canal tour on a covered, mostly electric boat, passing the canal ring, the Magere Brug and the Montelbaanstoren before heading out onto the open IJ.
Adults listen to the regular audio commentary. Children get their own pirate story, "Wanted: Freshwater Pirates", in English or Dutch, plus an activity booklet with pencils and a pirate spyglass. Kids 10 and up usually enjoy the regular commentary too.
A pancake restaurant on a boat that sails a loop on the IJ, past the A'DAM Tower and the EYE film museum. Bacon, apple and plain pancakes come from a self-serve buffet with sweet and savory toppings, and you go back as often as you like.
Below deck there is a big ball pit and coloring sheets, and the outside deck is the spot for photos after eating.
A volunteer-run line where restored electric trams, the oldest from the early 1900s, run along the edge of the Amsterdamse Bos toward Amstelveen. Kids sit on wooden benches, hear the tram bell and watch the city give way to forest.
Riders can hop off and catch a later tram, which pairs the ride with the Fun Forest treetop courses or the Nature Play Trail.
The National Maritime Museum fills a 17th-century naval storehouse on the Oosterdok with 500 years of Dutch seafaring. Moored outside is a full-size replica of the East Indiaman Amsterdam, where kids swing in hammocks, haul cargo and take the helm.
Inside, Doris the Diver is a story-led play exhibition for the youngest visitors, and The Tale of the Whale lets older kids step inside a life-size whale.
A former cargo barge moored on the Prinsengracht, kept as the family home it was from 1967 to 1997. Visitors step down five steps at the stern into a 23-meter boat whose period rooms keep their original decoration, down to the living-room fireplace.
At the bow, kids can spot the rivets holding the steel plates together. Houseboat models, photos and a free audio guide in 18 languages fill in the story.
Marken was an island in the Zuiderzee until 1957 and is now joined to the mainland by a causeway. The old village is a cluster of traditional wooden houses, narrow lanes and a small harbor, and cars without a permit stay outside.
The Marker Museum fills six connected cottages, one set up as a 19th-century home with local costume. From the harbor, a ferry crosses the lake to Volendam.
In a city built on water, getting around is half the outing. Kids can roll a bike onto a free ferry behind Centraal Station, eat pancakes while sailing the IJ, take the helm of a replica East Indiaman, or ride a century-old tram to the edge of the forest. Here's what we checked, from the free IJ ferries to the vintage tram line.
Blue-and-white GVB ferries cross the River IJ from the docks behind Centraal Station to Amsterdam Noord. Kids walk or ride their bikes straight on board and watch the harbor go by from the deck.
The Buiksloterweg crossing is the shortest and busiest, landing by the Eye Filmmuseum. Longer routes run east to IJplein and west to NDSM Wharf, home to the STRAAT street-art museum.
A 75-minute canal tour on a covered, mostly electric boat, passing the canal ring, the Magere Brug and the Montelbaanstoren before heading out onto the open IJ.
Adults listen to the regular audio commentary. Children get their own pirate story, "Wanted: Freshwater Pirates", in English or Dutch, plus an activity booklet with pencils and a pirate spyglass. Kids 10 and up usually enjoy the regular commentary too.
A pancake restaurant on a boat that sails a loop on the IJ, past the A'DAM Tower and the EYE film museum. Bacon, apple and plain pancakes come from a self-serve buffet with sweet and savory toppings, and you go back as often as you like.
Below deck there is a big ball pit and coloring sheets, and the outside deck is the spot for photos after eating.
A volunteer-run line where restored electric trams, the oldest from the early 1900s, run along the edge of the Amsterdamse Bos toward Amstelveen. Kids sit on wooden benches, hear the tram bell and watch the city give way to forest.
Riders can hop off and catch a later tram, which pairs the ride with the Fun Forest treetop courses or the Nature Play Trail.
The National Maritime Museum fills a 17th-century naval storehouse on the Oosterdok with 500 years of Dutch seafaring. Moored outside is a full-size replica of the East Indiaman Amsterdam, where kids swing in hammocks, haul cargo and take the helm.
Inside, Doris the Diver is a story-led play exhibition for the youngest visitors, and The Tale of the Whale lets older kids step inside a life-size whale.
A former cargo barge moored on the Prinsengracht, kept as the family home it was from 1967 to 1997. Visitors step down five steps at the stern into a 23-meter boat whose period rooms keep their original decoration, down to the living-room fireplace.
At the bow, kids can spot the rivets holding the steel plates together. Houseboat models, photos and a free audio guide in 18 languages fill in the story.
Marken was an island in the Zuiderzee until 1957 and is now joined to the mainland by a causeway. The old village is a cluster of traditional wooden houses, narrow lanes and a small harbor, and cars without a permit stay outside.
The Marker Museum fills six connected cottages, one set up as a 19th-century home with local costume. From the harbor, a ferry crosses the lake to Volendam.
