What to do in Amsterdam with kids (by Keren)

Today I'm delighted to have a blog post from the author and journalist Keren David. She lived in Amsterdam for eight years, and her children grew up there, so she's the perfect person to give you the rundown on what to do when you're visiting this Dutch city with your family. And it sounds just perfect - from the parks to the museums.

Over to Keren:

For me, Amsterdam is not a city of coffeeshops and dodgy areas, it’s a great place for kids and parents, with lots to do and see beyond the obvious.
Park life

[caption id="attachment_3847" align="alignnone" width="640"] The Vondelpark (pic by Guilhem Vellut, Flickr)[/caption]

The most obvious park is the Vondelpark, which is one of my favourite places in the world. You can hire bikes (try Macbikes in the Leidseplein, which also does kids’ bikes), or roller skates with protective gear (the Vondeltuin at the Amstelveenseweg entrance), or just stroll around. There are playgrounds (we liked the one at the Melkhuis café best), a rose garden, and a good tree for climbing. The Blauwe Theehuis is definitely the best café in the Vondelpark, it’s round and blue and looks like a grounded flying saucer. But for a more active experience, try the Kinderkookcafe where children get to cook and serve the food.

Just north of the Vondelpark is the Hollandsche Manege - a stables and riding school dating from the late 19th century. You can watch the horses training in dressage from the café, tour the stables and book riding lessons in the Vondelpark. The Overtoom, which is the road just north of the Manege has some great furniture shops.

[caption id="attachment_3851" align="alignnone" width="640"] Amsterdamse Bos pic by Matthew Pennell (Flickr)[/caption]

There are other parks too.The Beatrixpark has a paddling pool and a playground, and if you walk around you are sure to see some herons - I once counted 17 in one lake. The Amstelpark is a bit further out, but worth it for smaller children as there is a little train, a crazy golf, ponies to ride, an excellent playground and chickens running wild. But my favourite is the Amsterdamse Bos. The 1,000 hectare forest on the outskirts of the city is entirely manmade (built in the 1930s as a response to high unemployment rates) and is the perfect place to walk, cycle or picnic. There’s a lake with an island which is just for children – the Speeleiland – we used to take a picnic to the artificial beach at the side of the lake, and the kids would swing over to the island on a zipwire. The Bos also has a goat farm where you can feed the animals.

The Artis area

[caption id="attachment_3852" align="alignnone" width="512"] The reconstruction of the book case at the Anne Frank House (pic by Bungle via Wikimedia Commons)[/caption]

Everyone goes to visit the Anne Frank House, and rightly so. But few go to see the monument to the entire Jewish community of Amsterdam, which is quiet and devastating, and, I think, a better place to contemplate the scale of the Holocaust. It’s filled with pictures of a community at work and play, celebrating weddings and barmitzvahs, taking holidays and living their lives. The Hollandsche Schouwburg was once a theatre, but first the Nazis designated it a Jewish theatre and then it became a deportation centre. Some children escaped death by being smuggled by the Dutch Resistance to a nursery across the road.

The Rembrandthuis is one of my favourite museums in Amsterdam. The house where the artist lived and worked has been painstakingly restored, giving a real sense of life in the 17th century. Rembrandt was a keen collector of curiosities, and I never tired of visiting his workshop and looking at all his stuff - from the stuffed armadillo, to Roman helmets and spears. It’s just around the corner from the Waterlooplein market, Amsterdam’s flea market, and then across the road is the Jewish museum and the Portuguese Synagogue - a really beautiful building, lit my candlelight and still in use today.

The Artis itself is Amsterdam’s zoo - quite small, but fun for kids.

Food

Dutch cuisine is mostly mashed potatoes – although you should definitely try poffertjes, little sugar-covered pancakes, and also raw herring with chopped onion, bought from street stalls, for a taste of the local cuisine. Liquorice is the national sweet, and in any supermarket you’ll find dozens of varieties. For the most amazing chocolates you have ever seen, head to Puccini in Staalstraat.

But you can’t go to Amsterdam without trying Indonesian food. My favourite restaurants are Tempo Doeloe (you will need to book) and Sama Sebo, which is right next to the Rijksmuseum. Order a rijstafel for a feast of little dishes so you can try everything. Vegetarians are well catered for.
And for cakes, head to The Pijp, which is full of little shops to explore, and has a thriving street market. My favourite local landmark is a gloriously camp café called De Taart van m’n Tante which is the place to go for the most flamboyant and creamy cakes imaginable.

Museums

[caption id="attachment_3853" align="alignnone" width="512"] The Dutch Royal sloop in the Scheepvaartmuseum, (pic by Hetscheepvaartmuseum via Wikimedia Commons)[/caption]

The Rijksmuseum can be too much for kids, so pick your galleries carefully – the dolls houses were always a favourite for my family. The Van Gogh museum up the road is smaller, and easier to digest. But if your family includes a budding fashionista, then take them to the Tassenmuseum, a comprehensive collection of bags and purses through the ages. When I first visited it, it was displayed in the home of the lady who had collected these bags, but now it has outgrown her, and has its own home in the centre of Amsterdam. Children also enjoy the NEMO interactive science museum. Our absolute favourite though was the Scheepvartmuseum, the maritime museum full of maps and globes, a preserved whale foetus and an 18th century boat to explore.

[caption id="attachment_3860" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Keren's two children and a friend (in their younger days), at the Zuiderzee Museum[/caption]

If you explore outside Amsterdam, then don’t miss Enkhuizen - a short train journey away. From the station you can take a boat to the Zuiderzee museum, a place where Dutch life in times gone by is lovingly recreated. You can sit in the village school and write on a slate, visit a working windmill, and the kids can dress in clogs and traditional clothes.

For a trip to the beach it’s Ijmuiden every time. Just half an hour drive from Amsterdam it’s not as smart as some resorts, but you can walk for miles on the beach, and eat the best fish and chips in the Netherlands near where the Newcastle ferry docks.

The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam’s concert hall, has free lunchtime concerts where you can hear orchestras in rehearsal. And in the summer there are free concerts in the Vondelpark.

[caption id="attachment_3850" align="alignnone" width="1200"] King's Day in Amsterdam[/caption]

Try and time a visit for King’s Day on April 30 when Amsterdam has a giant party, and everyone dresses in orange and sells jumble on the streets. Head to the Apollolaan for the best bargains. Children take over the Vondelpark for their stalls. Or, for a taste of Dutch culture come for the Sinterklaas parade in mid November, when St Nicholas arrives at the harbour on his boat from Spain and parades through the streets of Amsterdam. The tradition has caused controversy in recent years, because of the figure of "Zwart Piet", the Sint’s companion. Now there are moves to change Piet to ‘Colourful Piet.’ You’ll see lots of Piets, some on roller skates, giving out sweets and pepernoten - little spiced biscuits.

Keren David is the author of eight Young Adult novels, including This is Not a Love Story, set in Amsterdam.

More European family guides

To Barcelona (by Ella)

To Vienna (by Robert)

To Paris (by Sarah)

Making music at the Haus der Musik in Vienna

[caption id="attachment_3836" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Trying to conduct the Vienna Philarmonic (which wasn't easy!)[/caption]

 

Robert, aged 11, writes:

During our trip to Vienna, we went to the sound museum or the haus der music. The haus der musik is a large, interactive museum full of things to do and information about music in Austria. We started by walking up a set of very special stairs, piano stairs which made a sound when you walked on them. It was so cool and we spent a long time just walking up and down a staircase!

[kad_youtube url="https://youtu.be/VvUJnJCmb9I" width=200 height=100 ]

 

A lot of the first floor was devoted to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and a composer/conductor called Otto Nicolai who used to live in the space where the museum now is. This section was mainly information but there was a room where you could watch Vienna’s New Year concert (which was amazing) and a game where you threw dice and made your own piece of music. This was really cool – especially when mum and I got to hear our composition at the end.

[caption id="attachment_3838" align="alignnone" width="1200"] We made our own composition by throwing dice![/caption]

The Second floor, called the Sonosphere, was all about sounds and hearing. In the first room we listened to the sounds and vibrations coming from a mother and the embryo inside her; this was interesting but a bit weird. The next room held a row of screens, all with activities and facts about parts of sound (e.g volume, pitch, frequency). I found this section really fun as I liked the activities we had to do. If this room is busy, I would recommend waiting and to go on at least one of the screens.

Inside the Instrumentarium was four giant instruments (a drum, a xylophone, a pipe and some type of stringed instrument) where you are allowed to take part in the plucking and drumming. Next there were more screens about sound, my favourite was one on morphing. In this activity one sound changed into another, it was cool but rather strange. After that we went into a dark room where you pressed buttons and the room was suddenly filled with the sound. A lot of the buttons were unresponsive though and we didn’t spend much time there.

The Polyphonium is a room filled with over 30 speakers, all different shapes and sizes. All the speakers were playing different noises and I liked guessing what they were before I read the sign.

[caption id="attachment_3837" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Mozart composed us a piece called Tottenham Hotspur![/caption]

The next few rooms were all about different composers, the first being Joseph Haydn. The next, rather larger room was on the topic of Mozart. As well as just providing information about the composer, the room included an animated Mozart that copied what you did and a screen that created a piece of music by typing in letters. This meant you could type in your name and get a whole musical piece using those letters which were converted into notes. Beethoven was next, then Franz Schubert, followed by a section on Johann Strauss and the final room was devoted to Gustav Mahler.

After a few more rooms we came to The Virtual Conductor where you chose a piece, picked up the baton and had a go at controlling the orchestra on screen. Unfortunately, all three times I tried conducting, I failed miserably and the orchestra kicked me out. Mum didn’t fare any better though!

There were plenty of things we didn’t have time to do but I really enjoyed the things we did. I would definitely recommend this museum for anyone over 6 as it was fun, informative and very interactive. You can read about our whole trip to Vienna here.

The Haus Der Musik is open from 10am to 10pm every day. It costs €13 and €6 for the under 12s. A family ticket, for two adults and three children under 12 costs €29

Chocolate Galore at the Hotel Chocolat Restaurant

Jess writes: It's no secret that mum and I both love chocolate, so I was really looking forward to our visit to Hotel Chocolat's Rabot 1745 Restaurant in Central London. Mum had decided to treat us, and I was really excited to see how Hotel Chocolat would incorporate chocolate into their food. This is what we thought:

[caption id="attachment_3741" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Rabot 1745 from the outside[/caption]

As soon as we sat at our table, mum and I were given a small dish of cacao nibs to try, which were rich and delicious. This was an unusual touch, and meant that I was looking forward to what happened next. I was also thrilled when our server asked us for a refill (we obviously said yes).

[caption id="attachment_3742" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] We loved the cacao beans![/caption]

Mum and I shared a starter: "Sourdough with three cacao accompaniments: chocolate balsamic, cacao pesto, nib butter - £6". We were interested to see how these tasted, and they were all delicious. We unfortunately didn't have enough bread to lap up all of the sauce, but I was very impressed by how clearly you could taste the cacao, and how well it worked with everything.

[caption id="attachment_3743" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] There were cacao nibs in all three of these dips: pesto, butter, and balsamic vinegar![/caption]

Next came the main courses: I picked "Mac and cheese in cacao nib pastry, smoky cacao nib and almond roast cauliflower - £14". This looked very small on the plate, and I was surprised by how rich it was. I enjoyed the mac and cheese, although it wasn't particularly special. For such a fancy restaurant, it could have been more interesting. Mum tried the "Baked sweet potato gratin with cacao buttered black beans, poached eggs and melting cheese - £15", and she enjoyed it, though she was confused why the cacao was added. I agreed with her - it didn't stand out in either of the dishes, and didn't add anything to the experience.

[caption id="attachment_3744" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Our mains were nice, but not amazingly special[/caption]

We were both too stuffed for a rich, chocolatey dessert, so instead chose "Three home-made sorbets - cacao pulp-soursop, guava, pineapple-lime - £7". These were lovely - the cacao one was unlike anything I'd tried before, and the pineapple-lime was mouth-watering. Had we been in the mood for chocolate, I'm sure they would have been even better.

[caption id="attachment_3745" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The ice cream was delicious - a perfect way to round off our meal![/caption]

Overall, our trip to Rabot 1745 was very nice, but not super special. We both liked the novelty of the chocolate, the atmosphere was lovely, and the servers were great. The restaurant was pricier than usual, but the starter and main were definitely worth it, it was an exciting experience, and also a good conversation starter! We also thought the starter and desserts were amazing and reasonably priced, but we probably could have got a nicer main course somewhere else. I would love to return, but this time just for another plate of the sourdough with dips, a dessert, and a hot chocolate.

More chocolate!

A chocolate walking tour in London

Four days in Vienna with kids (by Robert)

[caption id="attachment_3799" align="alignnone" width="1200"] View of the Stephansdom, which was two minutes from our hotel![/caption]

Mum, Grandpa and I went on a four night trip to Austria. Grandpa was born in Vienna, but had to leave in 1939 when he was very young, and he was taking me there to show me some of our family history.

The plane journey was comfortable and short leaving us plenty of time to check in to our hotel and check out the local area. We stayed in the Hotel Royal, a lovely building that had everything we needed (except for an English TV). It’s situated right in the middle of Vienna meaning we didn’t have many long journeys. It was really easy to walk every where and we were just a few minutes from the Stefansdom (St Stephen's Cathedral) which is a real Viennese landmark.

[caption id="attachment_3800" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Traditional dumplings at Huth Gastwirtschaft[/caption]

We went to Huth Gastwirtshacft , which is a traditional Viennese restaurant, for dinner, and a few drinks as well, and sampled some of the biggest pasta (or dumplings) I have ever seen. They only gave us three pieces but it was more than enough. All the staff were really friendly and the food was very nice. It all seemed very Austrian too.

Day one:

After a filling breakfast of croissants and yoghurt we set out on a tour of Vienna. Our tour guide was Brigitte Timmermann who showed us loads of cool and interesting things. I personally liked the Monument Against War and Fascism, which was made up of four monuments, dedicated to different types of people who suffered from the Second World War.  It is behind Vienna’s opera house, on the Albertinaplatz.

[caption id="attachment_3805" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Part of the memorial against Fascism[/caption]

I also found the archives at the DOW (Documentation of Austrian Resistance) really interesting and it is definitely worth going there and looking at the small exhibition about what happened around the war years. We saw one of the voting cards for the referendum for whether Austria should join Germany under Hitler and it was amazing to see how the “Ja” (yes) was a really big circle and the “nein” very small.  I also loved the view of the city from up high.

[caption id="attachment_3811" align="alignnone" width="1200"] We had lots of delicious cake and hot chocolate in Vienna![/caption]

You may or may not know that Mozart spent many years in Vienna, so there were plenty of shops and buildings dedicated to the composer. After a long time walking we went to have lunch, at Café Mozart. The food served there was great. I had a large portion of crispy fish and chips, heated lemonade (which was really nice) and for dessert a small creamy cake… and half a portion of pancakes! This was probably my favourite restaurant that we went to, so I would recommend going.

Next, we went to the Clock Museum, three whole floors of clocks, watches and sundials. Each room explained how time-telling machines had evolved over time. Although there were some very cool clocks I personally found the museum quite boring but my sister liked it when she went a few years ago.

After we went to synagogue, we had Friday-night dinner at Alef Alef, which is a kosher restaurant. To be honest it was more of a feast. Our table was already covered in bowls and dishes when we sat down and that was only the first course. We were then provided with chicken soup, salmon and vegetables before we even got onto the main course. We had the option of schnitzel or chicken, I picked the schnitzel which turned out to be a very good choice. Dessert was a pudding smothered in sauce but I was too full up to eat any of it!

DAY TWO:

[caption id="attachment_3806" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Outside Time-Travel[/caption]

This was my favourite day of the holiday as it was jam-packed with loads of cool things. First we went to Time Travel which was a bit like the London dungeons (but without being as scary). We were given audio guides that played exactly in time with the tour guide speaking in German -  this was really clever. The experience included a 5D ride where you travel through time, a show about the Habsburg family and a music-off between Mozart and Strauss. There was also a ride that took you on a Viennese waltz, a section where you find out what it was like to be in an air raid shelter during the war and a tour of Vienna on a flying horse. I loved Time-Travel and would definitely recommend it if you go to Vienna with kids. Our hotel also had vouchers for 20 per cent off, so you should look for these in yours!

[caption id="attachment_3807" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert loved the horse and carriage[/caption]

We then went on a 20 minute horse and carriage ride. It was really fun, cosy and exciting and was a really cool thing to do even if it only took a short amount of time.

My great grandparents lived and ran a cinema in Vienna before World War II came along and mucked everything up. It felt really special going into the cinema called the Admiral Kino. I particularly liked the cinema’s old fashioned style which made me think that it hadn’t changed that much since my family had run it. The cinema was beautiful and I loved visiting it. You should definitely go if you are in Vienna.

[caption id="attachment_3808" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The Admiral Kino - the cinema once run by our family[/caption]

The final thing we did was going to the operetta, a light opera, at the Volksoper. We saw the Circus Princess, a lively performance telling the story of love, betrayal and a horse rider called Mr X. The theatre provided the audience with English subtitles on a screen which was very helpful. I really enjoyed going to the operetta as the show was funny and clever at the same time.

[caption id="attachment_3809" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Outside the Volksoper[/caption]

Day three

We visited two different Jewish museums, one explaining the history of the Jews in Austria from Medieval times, and the other displaying people’s stories and objects. I personally liked the latter more become there was a more personal feel. For more on these museums read mum’s post as she explains it in more detail.

Next on the agenda was taking a trip to the Prater which is a large theme park. The Prater is most famous for the Wiener Riesenrad Ferris wheel, which we obviously went on. Like the London Eye it slowly takes you on a vertical circuit giving you plenty of time to take pictures and look at the views. I really enjoyed going on the wheel and couldn’t resist going on some of the other rides too.

[caption id="attachment_3815" align="alignnone" width="675"] By the Ferris Wheel at the Prater[/caption]

Finally we visited Schönbrunn Palace, a beautiful building where the previous leaders of Austria had lived. We had the option of a longer, more detailed tour or a quicker one so we picked the latter as the palace was to close in half an hour. The audio guide was really interesting and I learnt a lot. The gardens were also very beautiful.

Day four

[caption id="attachment_3802" align="alignnone" width="1200"] These stairs were musical keys![/caption]

On Monday we went to the Haus der Musik which was a brilliant museum, all about sound, starting with a staircase which had steps which played musical notes. While we were there we created our own tunes, conducted the Vienna Philarmonic and more. This is a place which families will really love if they come to Vienna and I am going to write more on it in a later post.

Overall I had a brilliant holiday, there was so much to do, and eat. There were so many chocolate shops and bakeries as well as museums, monuments and theatres. I had a great time and can say that there is something for all ages. I also felt very lucky to find out more about my family's history.

[caption id="attachment_3813" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert and Grandpa enjoyed a cake at the famous Demel Cafe[/caption]

We had help from the Vienna Tourist Board while planning our trip, as well as the use of a Vienna Card, which gives you free travel and money off attractions in the city. 

Read the Five Things You Must Do in Vienna, by Jessica (and they are not all the ones mentioned here......)