Amsterdam is one of our favorite family vacations. Within hours of landing in Amsterdam, we rent Mac Bikes: one with a kids seat and the other a Bakfeitz (wooden box attached to the bike). We pop the kids in their seats and ride around the city for the entire duration of our visit. The best thing about it is that our kids never get bored or whine about walking too much. We make frequent stops to get ice cream, a park visit or restaurant so it's fun for everyone.
Travel tips
How inventive, a green park area inside the airport, just really perfect for those long stop overs at SChiphol or simply just for a little breather. There is lots to do if you want but also nothing to do as in sitting, watching, breathing etc
If you like spending a lush day in a park that offers you a lot of things to do, and fancy blending in more with the locals rather than other tourists, then your best spot would be Westerpark. Only about 10mins cycling from Centraal Station, Westerpark has a wide selection of bars, restaurants and nightclubs, a cinema, huge track for jogging or roller skating, river, many different birds (that look good on photos!), and hosts events such as music festivals and fairs / markets.
Wherever I go, I like to take my laptop or Ipod with me and go online. This is a really usefull link that shows you free wireless cafés. It currently shows 27 spots in Amsterdam, and there are more (for example, every library - Oba - has free internet too).
So if you're an internet addict, you'll do well in Amsterdam :)
In Schipol Airport 2 years ago, while waiting for a transfer, I was deadly tired and desperately wanted a shower, as the hot water in the hostel of Belgium didn't work the day I checked out.
I looked for a shower booth and found one in a fancy airline lounge. (Was more than ready to pay for a shower but it was only open for 1st class clients.)
With disappointment, I started walking around, and found a free shower booth on the 3rd floor!! Many backpackers like me were happily taking showers.
