On November 11, Dutch kids carry homemade paper lanterns through the dark and sing door to door for sweets. That's Sint Maarten, and it lands in the middle of a season of pumpkin fields, muddy forest walks and warm greenhouses for wet days. Here's what we checked, from lantern walks in the big parks to a pumpkin field where kids pick their own.
Super Sint Maarten is a neighborhood lantern parade that winds through the streets of the Indische Buurt in Amsterdam-Oost. Kids bring homemade lanterns and walk alongside big lit-up light sculptures, Pretvormer's glowing parade animals, costumed neighbors and live brass and percussion bands.
Anyone can join the procession or watch from the sidewalk. It started as a neighborhood addition to the usual door-to-door candy round.
On Sint Maarten, Dutch kids carry lanterns through the dark and sing the saint's songs. This walk loops through the Vondelpark behind Toeters & Bellen, an Amsterdam street band playing in costumes strung with lights.
Bring a lantern, homemade or not, and join in. Kids who want to make one first can start at OCCII, a cultural center by the park, and walk over with the musicians.
A forest ranger leads kids and their grown-ups on an evening loop through the Amsterdamse Bos on Sint Maarten, each child carrying a lantern. After dark the forest feels like a different place, and the lantern glow is the whole show.
There is a treat for every walker along the way. It suits kids who already know the Sint Maarten songs and younger ones walking with a lantern for the first time.
Amsterdamse Bos is a 1,000-hectare forest park, planted by hand from 1934, with lakes, meadows and long walking and cycling routes.
Kids cross rope bridges and a self-operated ferry to the play islands, splash in two paddling pools, and pet goats at the Ridammerhoeve farm. There are canoes and pedal boats to rent, a Fun Forest rope course, and pancakes at Boerderij Meerzicht.
A former rose nursery turned pick-your-own flower garden on the Amstel dike. Visitors get snips and a bucket of water, then cut their own bouquet from the outdoor field or the covered greenhouse.
Spring brings tulips pulled up bulb and all, summer fills the beds with zinnias, cosmos and sunflowers, and autumn has dahlias and a pumpkin field. A garden terrace serves drinks and snacks.
Speelboerderij Elsenhove is a city farm run by the municipality of Amstelveen, on the edge of the Elsenhove recreation area. Kids meet rare old Dutch breeds such as belted cows, spotted goats and North Holland Blue hens, then climb in a large adventure playground and a natural play area. The Peat Barn tells the area's peat history, and the farm sits on cycle routes near the Amstel river.
A botanical garden founded in 1638 as a medicinal herb garden, now growing more than 4,000 plant species.
Kids head first for the Butterfly House, where tropical butterflies fly free and new ones hatch in a chrysalis cabinet. The Palm House holds ancient cycads, the Climate House runs from jungle to desert, and the carnivorous plant bed puts Venus flytraps and sundews at kid eye level.
On November 11, Dutch kids carry homemade paper lanterns through the dark and sing door to door for sweets. That's Sint Maarten, and it lands in the middle of a season of pumpkin fields, muddy forest walks and warm greenhouses for wet days. Here's what we checked, from lantern walks in the big parks to a pumpkin field where kids pick their own.
Super Sint Maarten is a neighborhood lantern parade that winds through the streets of the Indische Buurt in Amsterdam-Oost. Kids bring homemade lanterns and walk alongside big lit-up light sculptures, Pretvormer's glowing parade animals, costumed neighbors and live brass and percussion bands.
Anyone can join the procession or watch from the sidewalk. It started as a neighborhood addition to the usual door-to-door candy round.
On Sint Maarten, Dutch kids carry lanterns through the dark and sing the saint's songs. This walk loops through the Vondelpark behind Toeters & Bellen, an Amsterdam street band playing in costumes strung with lights.
Bring a lantern, homemade or not, and join in. Kids who want to make one first can start at OCCII, a cultural center by the park, and walk over with the musicians.
A forest ranger leads kids and their grown-ups on an evening loop through the Amsterdamse Bos on Sint Maarten, each child carrying a lantern. After dark the forest feels like a different place, and the lantern glow is the whole show.
There is a treat for every walker along the way. It suits kids who already know the Sint Maarten songs and younger ones walking with a lantern for the first time.
Amsterdamse Bos is a 1,000-hectare forest park, planted by hand from 1934, with lakes, meadows and long walking and cycling routes.
Kids cross rope bridges and a self-operated ferry to the play islands, splash in two paddling pools, and pet goats at the Ridammerhoeve farm. There are canoes and pedal boats to rent, a Fun Forest rope course, and pancakes at Boerderij Meerzicht.
A former rose nursery turned pick-your-own flower garden on the Amstel dike. Visitors get snips and a bucket of water, then cut their own bouquet from the outdoor field or the covered greenhouse.
Spring brings tulips pulled up bulb and all, summer fills the beds with zinnias, cosmos and sunflowers, and autumn has dahlias and a pumpkin field. A garden terrace serves drinks and snacks.
Speelboerderij Elsenhove is a city farm run by the municipality of Amstelveen, on the edge of the Elsenhove recreation area. Kids meet rare old Dutch breeds such as belted cows, spotted goats and North Holland Blue hens, then climb in a large adventure playground and a natural play area. The Peat Barn tells the area's peat history, and the farm sits on cycle routes near the Amstel river.
A botanical garden founded in 1638 as a medicinal herb garden, now growing more than 4,000 plant species.
Kids head first for the Butterfly House, where tropical butterflies fly free and new ones hatch in a chrysalis cabinet. The Palm House holds ancient cycads, the Climate House runs from jungle to desert, and the carnivorous plant bed puts Venus flytraps and sundews at kid eye level.
