Amsterdam · With kids

Amsterdam with kids: things to do

By Ramya ChinnaduraiPublished 13 October 2026Updated 13 October 2026

Buy the GVB child day ticket before anyone boards a tram. It is 5.00 euros for 2026, it covers ages 4 to 11 for 24 hours, and GVB sells it as presale only. There is no ticket machine rescue on the platform when a four-year-old is already in the doors.

This is a first family visit to Amsterdam: zoo, science roof, ferries, and the cards that actually pay for themselves. Official pages were opened on 13 October 2026. Where a figure was missing, it is omitted.

Trams, metros and the 5-euro child ticket

The GVB Day ticket child covers trams, night buses and metros in Amsterdam plus Diemen, Duivendrecht, Amstelveen, Uithoorn, Schiphol and Weesp. The adult day ticket was 10.00 euros. GVB prices also list a pay-per-kilometre discount for ages 4 to 11 (0.77 euros base plus 0.143 euros per kilometre in 2026). If you will make more than a couple of hops, the day ticket is the simpler product.

The fetched GVB pages did not state that under-4s travel free. That claim is left out. If you have a three-year-old, ask at a GVB point or check the live fare page the morning you ride.

Ferries across the IJ are part of how the city works. They are useful between NEMO, the north bank and a restless toddler. They are not a sightseeing cruise. Keep the pushchair brakes on.

ARTIS as the long outdoor day

I amsterdam puts ARTIS Royal Zoo, NEMO Science Museum and Wereldmuseum Amsterdam at the top of the family list, and lists them as free with the I amsterdam City Card. That is the card test: if you will enter two of those plus ride GVB, run the numbers.

ARTIS ticket prices: ages 0 to 2 free; ages 3 to 12 from 25.50 euros online or 27.50 at the counter; ages 13 and over from 29.50 online or 32.50 at the counter. Aquarium and Planetarium are inside the zoo ticket. Micropia and the Groote Museum are free through age 12 (from 17 euros online from 13). From September, a Late Afternoon zoo ticket from 16:00 was listed at 15 euros.

Opening hours listed the zoo daily 09:00 to 18:00. Artisplein, outside the paid fence, is free from 07:00 to 23:30. Use the square as a meeting point if one adult needs a coffee and the other is still inside. Christmas Eve to Boxing Day were listed 09:00 to 17:00; 31 December 09:00 to 16:00; 1 January 10:00 to 17:00.

You do not walk the whole zoo. Pick one loop, the playground, lunch, and leave. Micropia is a microbes museum: fascinating for some 10-year-olds, a hard no for a queasy six-year-old. Read the room.

NEMO on a start time

NEMO tickets listed ages 0 to 3 at 0.00 euros and everyone from 4 at 21.50 euros, including teenagers and adults. Under 13s enter only with an adult. Visitors aged 13 and over may go in unsupervised but may not supervise younger children. Book a start time.

The shop page states Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:30, with Monday opening in school holidays and on public holidays. Extra Mondays listed for late 2026 included 12, 19 and 26 October. The roof terrace is the reason families stay after the exhibits. It is also the reason you pack a layer.

NEMO sits on the harbour east of Centraal. It is a tram or a walk, not a mystery. Pair it with a ferry, not with ARTIS, unless you have teenagers and a high tolerance for transit.

The City Card and two famous houses

I amsterdam City Card child cards cover ages 4 to 17. They must be bought with an adult card. You cannot buy a child card on its own. Total Experience includes one-time entry to more than 70 sites, GVB metro, tram, bus and ferry (including night buses), one canal cruise of about 60 to 75 minutes (daily 10:00 to 18:00, no timeslot), and one 24-hour bike rental.

Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House are not on the card. If those two are the reason you came, book them on their own sites and treat the card as optional. A canal cruise with a toddler who wants off after 12 minutes is a poor use of the inclusion.

One canal, one zoo, one roof

A working first visit: GVB tickets bought the day before, ARTIS or NEMO (not both), a playground on Artisplein or the NEMO roof, an early dinner. The canal houses can wait until someone in the group can look up without being carried.

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