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Rotterdam Kids
In Rotterdam you will find fun things for kids of all ages that won't bore the adults. Rotterdam has much to offer the travelling family on a quest for fun! No matter what your skill levels are or what you truly enjoy to do, you'll find your favourite activities, as well as some new ones to enrich your vacation!
Rotterdam with babies and toddlers
When you travel with young kids to Rotterdam you don’t have to bring everything you need from home. You can buy babyfood, disposable diapers and other baby supplies in several (at almost every corner of the streets) suoer markets (Albert Heijn, Plus, Jumbo, C1000) or drugstores like Kruidvat and Etos. These stores probably sell the same brand as you’re used to at home!Most hotels offer cribs for free; you just have to make sure that you ask for one when making the reservation. And if you rent a car you can rent a car seat at the rental company as well. Beware that all children in the Netherlands shorter than 1.35 m must sit in an approved car seat.
Great family attractions
There are lots of attractions in Rotterdam that are fun for the whole family. There’s a huge indoor playground next to the Central Station called Ballorig. Ballorig offers many bouncers, slides and for kids between 0 and 13. All kids need a supervisor to stay with them while they’re playing so you might want to bring a book with you! Plaswijckpark
is an outdoor theme park for kids between 0 and 13. There are a small zoo and a number of big playgrounds including a traffic playground and a harbor playground. One of the best family attractions is Rotterdam Blijdorp Zoo .
You can see many different sorts of animals from all over the world and visit the impressive Oceanium acquarium with real sharks! Kids will love the big outdoor playground as well! A visit to the Euromast lookout tower is also a great attraction for the whole family. Children will get excited by the high-speed elevators and amazing view. Kids that love football can join the Feyenoord Kids tour in the Feyenoord Stadium . They will be taken on a tour through the five star football stadium, that hosted most European finals ever and the Euro 2000 final between Italy and France. The tour includes a visit to the Home of History museum were the world cup for club teams, the European Cup I and the UEFA cups are shown that Feyenoord Rotterdam won.
Spido and Tropicana offer water fun for the family, both in a different way! With Spido you and your family can tour over the river Meuse and enjoy the skyline and the best sights of the city like the Euromast, the Erasmus bridge and hotel New York. In Tropicana you can swim in a tropical paradise and enjoy big waves, slides, a jungle river, hot tubs and more!
Most museums offer free admission or special prices for kids and some of them have got special tours for kids as well. In the tax and customs museum kids can enjoy an exciting smuggling tour. The historic museum Rotterdam, the Maritime museum and the museum Boijmans - Van Beuningen all offer special programs for children.
On a hot day you and your family can visit one of the beaches in or around Rotterdam. You can enjoy Rotterdam Beach in the middle of Rotterdam centre or make a small trip to Hoek van Holland or Rockanje, which are great beaches for families. Scheveningen Beach is also a great option to spend a day during summer. Besides the beach there are many restaurants and attractions in Scheveningen Beach.
Families that stay a few days or more in Rotterdam or around can spend one of their days on a day tour to one of the great attractions close to Rotterdam. You can visit the Maeslantkering storm barrier , which is one of the modern wonders of the world and protects Rotterdam and surroundings from flooding. Themepark Duinrell is a great family attraction and offers many attractions for the whole family. One of the top attractons of Duinrell is the Tikibad swimming pool with many great slides. If you would like to see all the famous sights of the Netherlands in just a few hours you can do so by visiting miniature city Madurodam , which is a very nice attraction and attracts many tourists. Themepark De Efteling is one of the best biggest themeparks in Europe and one of the best attractions in the Netherlands. In 1992 De Efteling was rewarded with the title ‘Best theme park of the world’, so you can imagine there are lots of amazing attractions including roller coasters, a flying ship and a ferry tale forest.
Eating out with the family
Most of the restaurants in Rotterdam aren’t very formal and it’s no problem to bring your kids with you. Most of them\ offer high chairs for small children and have got special menus and prices for kids. A great attraction is De Pannenkoekenboot (the pancake boat): during a boat trip on the river Meuse through Rotterdam kids and adults enjoy traditional Dutch pancakes – all you can eat! You can taste all sorts of pancakes: regular ones, pancakes with apple, pancakes with bacon and others!
The bear restaurants (Betty Beer, Brutus Beer, Bennie Beer) are great family restaurants. These restaurants are covered with toy bears everywhere! Kids get colours and a colouring picture and there small playgrounds as well. Beware that you can’\ make a reservation for these restaurants and they get very crowded during weekends, so you might want to go a bit early with small children. Tell the waiters when you are there to celebrate a birthday party and they will organize a nice surprise!
DIRECTIONS Rotterdam Kids
At the map below you can see the location of the best attractions for kids in Rotterdam. You can zoom in and zoom out to see a particular attraction. Select a attraction in the menu at the right to show it on the map. When it shows on the map you can follow the link to get more information about the attraction.
MORE INFORMATION Rotterdam Kids
More information about the attractions can be found at the City Guide Rotterdam website:
Themepark Plaswijckpark
Rotterdam Blijdorp Zoo
Euromast lookout tower
Stadium Feyenoord
Spido Tours
Tropicana
Scheveningen Beach
Maeslantkering storm barrier
Themepark Duinrell
Madurodam miniature city
Themepark De Efteling
More information about the Pannenkoekeboot and the Beren restaurants can be found at their websites:
Pannenkoekenboot
De Beren restaurants
