Getting the Most Out of Traveling to Amsterdam With Children
We did it! After much research, we narrowed down two locations that we thought would be great for our 11 month old’s first trip to Europe. Amsterdam and Brussels were two places that were continuously talked about as being family friendly locations and we could not agree more. I’m going to break up the trip into two posts, as we did so many things in both cities.
Traveling to Amsterdam with a baby and toddler
First things first, I can absolutely say I was a little anxious about our little girl E’s first red eye 8 hour flight. Our almost 3 year old had his own seat with snacks, headphones, and Mickie Mouse playing on repeat. E crushed it though. Only fussy a few times but mostly from just being a little overtired, but overall slept about 75% of the flight.
How We Chose Locations
When choosing a location in Europe for us to take our 2 young children, a couple things are a must. Number 1, the travel location must be considered safe by our standards. Two, hotels must provide cribs. Three, the public transit must be easy and safe. Amsterdam checked all three boxes. There is a train and bus system from the airport to take you directly downtown. There are numerous options for hotels that offer cribs. This kept us from having to travel with Pack N Plays and car seats, which makes getting around on public transportation and walking much easier.
Of note, our personal decision when traveling with our children to Europe is not to have a slammed pack itinerary. For us, the key to having an enjoyable trip is to be flexible. We typically have 1 or 2 things we want to do or see in a day. If you are someone who likes to who likes to see everything in case you never go back, I recommend combining two days of the itinerary into one. One of my favorite things to do in Europe is sitting at a cafe having a nice cup of coffee or wine. That is our travel style.
Where to Stay in Amsterdam with a baby and a toddler
We stayed at the Hotel de Looier which had everything we needed. It was a close walk to the public transportation. Also it was close to attractions, restaurants and shops. Importantly to me, it was less then a 15 minute walk to the Anne Frank House. They also provided a portable crib and expresso machine in the room.
When we travel, we do a lot of research on where we should stay when going somewhere foreign to us. We chose to stay in the Jordaan neighborhood in Amsterdam after seeing many great reviews about this area. This area is considered the new up and coming area and too me it already is.
We broke up our trip into three parts. We stayed in Amsterdam for 3 nights, took the train to Brussels for 5 nights and ended back in Amsterdam for the final two. The train was only a few hours, and being our son loves trains, it was a nice adventure for him anyway. We did it this way due to award flight availability during our trip dates.
We stayed at a different hotel in the Jordaan for the last two night of our trip, Melrose hotel which is discussed on day 9.
Day 1: Getting from the Schiphol airport to our hotel and exploring Amsterdam
Public transportation in Amsterdam is super easy to navigate. Our hotel gave us instructions via email but it was very easy to figure out. There is actually an app called “9292” that is very accurate with routes and departure times.
Bus from Schiphol airport to Amsterdam
We just followed the signs out of the airport to the buses and found the sign with the “397” bus. We hoped on and stayed on until our stop which was near the end, Elandsgracht. Our hotel was a quick 5 minute walk from the stop. The walk was only through one big intersection so it was easy to do with a double stroller and a huge rolling suitcase with a duffel on top.
Train from Schipol airport to Amsterdam
There is are also train routes that travel from Schiphol airport to Amsterdam but they take you to the Centraal station. This was a long distance from our hotel and we would have needed to get on a bus from there. So we just opted to get right on the bus from the beginning.
The first day we were in Amsterdam, we were expecting to be a lot more jet lagged than we actually were. So decided to go out and walk the area.
For dinner we ate at Café Luxembourg based on a recommendation from a friend. This place was great for children. There was outdoor seating, covered seating, as well as indoor seating. They had high chairs for the kids which we came to find out in some restaurants this was not normal. Because of the time we showed up they were between lunch and dinner so were only doing the snack menu and drinks. This worked out fine being we wanted to try different foods anyway. They were known for their beef stew croquette balls and they did not disappoint.
Day 2 Nemo Science Museum
It is important to us when traveling to make sure we did some activities that the kids would enjoy. There are a lot places to go with children in Amsterdam including parks and museums. We took our kids to the Nemo Science Museum which was great for us since it is free for 3 and under. Most places in Amsterdam are free for kids younger than 3 years old. The museum had numerous areas for all types of ages. There is also a restaurant on the second and top floor for whenever you or the kids get hungry. Both restaurants have high chairs.
