Long Weekend in Amsterdam

For the long (five-day) Easter weekend we drove to Amsterdam. From Zurich, Amsterdam is an eight-and-a-half-hour drive – 850 kilometers – or a one-and-a-half-hour flight. We broke our no-iPad rule for the long drive and enjoyed the views while the kids enjoyed some much-anticipated screen time. We stayed one night in Heidelberg on the drive north; on the way back we drove a full day straight home. We stopped along the highway for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The rest stops along the way are actually quite nice, full of toys, chocolate and decent meals.

We stayed in an Airbnb flat in the center of the famous canal rings, on Prinsengracht. This location was perfect for exploring the city on foot. Our neighborhood included a pizza restaurant, chocolate shop, playground, grocery store, gelato shop and cheese shop. The best breakfast we had was at the Pancake Bakery on Prinsengracht, located next to the Anne Frank House. They have special pancakes for children that come with a box full of accessories to keep them entertained.

A canal ride is a must in Amsterdam and the kids loved it. We bought our tickets from a corner store, and five minutes later we were touring the city by boat. It was very informative and exciting. Bring a coloring book and a few snacks with you to keep the kids busy in their booth while you enjoy the narrated history of Amsterdam. Top tip: there was a Waterstones bookstore on Kalverstraat, where we loaded up on Usborne sticker books and U.K. and U.S. magazines before getting on the boat. It’s always worth knowing about an English bookstore!

The main reason we went to Amsterdam in April was to see the famous tulips at Keukenhof gardens. With over seven million bulbs in bloom and over 800 varieties of tulips, Keukenhof is an amazing wonderland of color and beauty. I am from a small tulip town outside of Seattle, so this was a longtime dream come true. There is ample parking at the gardens with plenty of signage. We bought our tickets online, so that we could jump the queue on the way in.

Grab a coffee from the bike espresso place before you enter, as the coffee was amazing and made by a person and not a regular restaurant machine. Keukenhof is a kid wonderland with far too many activities to list. Your children will be thoroughly entertained for a full day at the gardens. There are fun kid lunch packs from the restaurant at the playground. The petting zoo, windmill, rope tying, wooden shoe pictures and playground will keep your children busy for hours. Keukenhof is open from March until May, so check their website before planning your trip.

Top tips:

• Canal ride (the canals in the city center have corner shops to buy tickets)
• Keukenhof (a 40-minute drive from Amsterdam)
• Pancake Bakery (located next to the Anne Frank House on Prinsengracht)
• Waterstones Bookstore

Text and photos by Kate Prinsloo

Kate is an American from a small town near Seattle. She has two daughters ages five and three. Kate and her family have most recently moved from London to Zurich. They love to travel: you can most often find Kate planning her next adventure with a cappuccino in hand.