days out, tried and tested
A museum with a child in tow is a different proposition to a museum alone: you need somewhere to park the buggy, a toilet you can find, and about ninety minutes of genuine interest before it all falls apart. Seventeen are listed here — fourteen in Amsterdam, including the Rijksmuseum and the Anne Frank House, plus the art museum in Almere, a bakery museum in Medemblik and a farm and carriage museum in Schagen. Twelve have an accessible bathroom, seven do food on site and four have changing tables. The kindermuseum end of the range is where the youngest visitors do best.
20 museums & galleries in the Netherlands
Museums & Galleries
Attractions
Museums & Galleries
Every town with something in this category has its own page. The number is what is listed there today.
The ones built to be handled rather than read. Resistance Museum Junior in Amsterdam tells its story through the eyes of four children and is designed for primary-school ages; the Museum of Illusions and Fabrique des Lumières are immersive rather than label-heavy; and Eye Film Museum has a basement full of things to press. Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum reward slightly older children and a booked time slot.
Twelve of the seventeen listed here have an accessible bathroom and four state that they have changing tables. The large national museums are reliable on this; smaller galleries and the local museums in Almere, Medemblik and Schagen vary more. Each listing shows the facilities the venue publishes, so it is worth a look before a long journey.
Two of the seventeen here are free to enter — ARTZUID, the open-air sculpture route in Amsterdam, costs nothing at all — and most Dutch national museums admit under-18s free or at a heavily reduced rate. A Museumkaart covers hundreds of museums across the Netherlands and pays for itself within a few visits. Free entry is tagged on each listing where it applies.
