Family friendly Amsterdam? (Edit: been, briefly)

EricTheWeary

I did look at a couple of previous Discussions on here about Amsterdam but they mostly involved live sex shows and drinking. All being well I'll have a couple of days there in February with MrsTheWeary and our 16 year old son so the red light district and wacky backy are off the list ( even though that's what my son will tell his mates he saw...). 
At the moment I think it's Anne Frank and canals. Any other must sees? We will be in the camper so self catering with a chance of cheap eating out ( and not in the live sex show way  ). 
Ta.

Iamnobody

The boy is 16 take him whoring and make him a man...

Then take him for a post coital smoke in a cafe.

Eating you say - try the bannana bar...

Sorry I don't have a useful post!

EricTheWeary

I'm liking the effort and the honesty Steve 

Iamnobody said:

The boy is 16 take him whoring and make him a man...

Then take him for a post coital smoke in a cafe.

Eating you say - try the bannana bar...

Sorry I don't have a useful post!

Fretwired

I love Amsterdam .. worked there for a while. Go to Volendam .. lovely place .. windmills, old architecture and plenty to do. Take a boat trip out to the island area.

http://www.vvv-volendam.nl/nl/welcome/

EricTheWeary

Cheers. We should be ( you can't book it in advance)on the Amsterdam City Camp which is a maximum stay of two nights so it will be a bit rushed unfortunately. Looks like there is a place we can overnight in Volendam that's walkable into the town so that might be an additional night. I hadn't heard of it before but it looks interesting.

Modulus_Amps

Been to Amsterdam once, for a wedding anniversary, got there to find out it was the Gay Pride Weekend... was a very entertaining weekend.
Just to warn you there are red lights outside of the red light area.... we walked past one several times before we realized what it was though.

DLM

Volendam, Edam, Marken, Alkmaar cheese market 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marken

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkmaar

Cheap eating out in the Netherlands is not gonna work well, I'm afraid, unless you can get some really good inside tips. Even non-touristy places are pricy.

You have to do a pannenkoekenhuis. Met stroop! :slurp:

http://www.pannenkoekenpagina.nl/images/schaapsbel.jpg

Also, poffertjes!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poffertjes

For shock value: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEBO

Do you like Indonesian scran? The large number of immigrants make NL a good place to sample it.

EricTheWeary

Cheers both, I'll check out the links. Don't think I've ever eaten Indonesian food but we might like to.
We've had family outings ( possibly pun intended) to the Birmingham gay pride march so that would be fine for us, very PC family! 

Sporky

Also remember to bring home bokkenpootjes.

Snap

Having been to Amsterdam without kids many many times, I was cautious about going on a family holiday there, but 8 years ago we took our then 9 and 4 year olds and had a few nights there. We went in February, and had the good fortune of having friends to show us around. There's tons to do apart from drugs drinking and sex (actually where's the fun gone....)

Vondelpark
There was a thing in the dock called Nemo, which was a big science museum thing
TOns of galleries and museums
Lots of good places to eat and drink, squares and that
All the canals
Zoo
Shopping. Posh shopping on Hoofstraat (spellcheck)
Cycling - you have right of way over just about everything, good way to get about

coffee shops, sex museums, clubs, bars, windows, filth shows......sorry, slipped into it, force of habit

actually, I did notice that the red light district has distinct zones. So there is your high class section, mid class and reasonably attractive, rough as hell, fatties, grannies & last but not least, trannies.

YOu know how HMV has their stuff in sections: metal, rock, urban? Same thing.

But no reissues for a fiver.

Fretwired

You must try some Indonesian food - Rendang is a popular spicy meat dish. Just think of a typical British curry house with a different menu. You can get cheap meals from the street food traders. Traditional Dutch food is a little bland ...

EricTheWeary

Yes, science museum looked interesting. Not too sure I can get MrsTheWeary excited about that though.

bbill335

Body worlds is good craic. My squeamish gf nearly had a panic attack as I lingered about thoroughly checking over all the viscera.

There was a great crêpe place on the corner directly opposite the main train station. I was gluten free when I went (tragically) and that was a standout eatery. 

sgosden

EricTheWeary said:

Yes, science museum looked interesting. Not too sure I can get MrsTheWeary excited about that though.

its even more interesting if you accidentally go into a café first...

Hootsmon

EricTheWeary said:

I did look at a couple of previous Discussions on here about Amsterdam but they mostly involved live sex shows and drinking. All being well I'll have a couple of days there in February with MrsTheWeary and our 16 year old son so the red light district and wacky backy are off the list ( even though that's what my son will tell his mates he saw...). 
At the moment I think it's Anne Frank and anals. Any other must sees? We will be in the camper so self catering with a chance of cheap eating out ( and not in the live sex show way  ). 
Ta.

sorted

Axe_meister

I think you should give your 16 year old at least a bit of an education. Window shopping and sex museum

sev112

There is a fabulous floating chinese restaurant in the harbour.  27 years ago it was very good

id be tempted to have a word with your son before yo go  as you will find red light activities on seemingly boring village streets !  And you might then wish to discuss with your wife whether you might have a walk around the "canals ". - it is one of the life experiences  and at 16 he is probably quite old enough if the pair of you are with him, and it might be a great opportunity to have a sensible discussion about ladies who do that sort of thing etc

sev112

PS Indonesian reisstafel - you won't need to eat for a week after

Iamnobody

sev112 said:

it is one of the life experiences  and at 16 he is probably quite old enough if the pair of you are with him

Are suggesting a family visit? A group thing?

Well as long as father and son don't cross swords I guess it's ok?!

Trying to be serious for one moment  - it is difficult to avoid. You don't have to wander too far from the centre before you see semi-naked ladies in apartment windows etc.

EricTheWeary

My son has seen naked ladies on screens at least, I'm not too worried about it but I'm also not going to be heading straight for a red light district or sex show with him, the tutting from MrsTheWeary alone would make it an unbearable experience. 
Amsterdam seems like an interesting place, none of us have ever been and it's an achievable round trip for February half term. 

duotone

http://www.amsterdamcitytours.com  A good selection of stuff on here.  Really enjoyed the canal cruise & Ajax stadium tour, although The Ajax tour isn't on that website, but can be booked online if your into football.