Advice on Barcelona + Amsterdam with Kids

Either city could keep you occupied for the entire week, so there's not really a mistake to be made here. You'll need to fly between the two cities, so I'd look at skyscanner.com right away to see whether there's a major difference in airfare on April 4 vs. April 5.

The weather will almost certainly be more pleasant in Barcelona, but this may be flower season in the Netherlands. Otherwise, April is not a time I'd choose for that part of Europe, preferring not to risk an encounter with cold, damp weather.

Barcelona has at least six sights for which tickets need to be purchased in advance to avoid very long ticket lines (and possible sell-outs). That makes short trips to the city very challenging. The six sights are: La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila/La Pedrera, Palau de la Musica Catalana and the Picasso Museum. Except for the Picasso Museum (which is usually absolutely packed so not recommended by me), those are all funky-modernista-architecture sights. I'm not saying that you need to see all of them, or even any of them (though La Sagrada Familia is pretty important), but if you do want to see them, you cannot just wander up when you are in the mood.

I haven't been to Amsterdam in ages, but I think it has been reported on this forum that you need to buy tickets in advance for both the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum. There may be some other sights where you'd do better to buy in advance. I'd check on those right away, because I don't know how early tickets sell out.

Some travelers have opted to stay in Haarlem, which I think has less expensive hotel rates and is a very short train ride from Amsterdam. I have not done that myself, however.

I think 4 nights Barcelona 2 Amsterdam. There is more variety in the former compared to the lattter which seems less kid friendly as you will likely get a wiff of 2nd hand marijuana smoke or see a lady scantily clad in a window if you make a turn down the wrong street.

An inconvenient truth: You have just 6 usable days for your trip, and you're going to burn one of them flying from Barcelona to Amsterdam, so you really have just 5 full days to play with. That's a very, very short trip to Europe. That fact - that you have so few days - should be top-of-mind in all your planning. I suppose it simplifies things, though: 3 days in Barcelona, 2 in Amsterdam. I don't think any other division makes sense.

Weather is likely to be much more conducive to outdoor touristy activities in Barcelona; prepare for anything in Amsterdam.

You're planning on pretty short notice (you're leaving in about 6 weeks) so many of the top choices of accommodations will be long gone, time to get cracking. Also take seriously the advice above about booking Barcelona attractions in advance. Major European cities are surprisingly crowded these days, even in "shoulder season". Giddyup.

David, if the family is landing in Barcelona on March 31 (jetlag day), they have seven full days in Europe since the flight home is on April 8. It's true that most of a day is going to evaporate as they relocate from Spain to the Netherlands, but that's still six usable days.

I would essentially split the time. Certainly considering the timing and cost of the flight from Barcelona to Amsterdam could sway you one way or another. Re where to stay in Amsterdam, I did stay in Haarlem once and it's not a bad idea. It's a cute little town itself and very close to Amsterdam. With kids that age you aren't going to be doing a whole lot of nightlife anyway so less important to be in Amsterdam at night. It will probably be considerably cheaper. And you really should see one small town besides Amsterdam so staying in Haarlem makes that easy.

Re booking sights ahead of time. Think hard about how important it is to you to go inside the various sights. Too many people plan trips around going from one sight/museum to another and miss out on the just 'being there', exploring the city. In Barcelona I would certainly make sure you do a walk by those famous Gaudi buildings (and others as well) but they really are more interesting on the outside than inside. Even Sagrada Famila. Pick one or two at most and spend the bulk of the time exploring. Barcelona is so well know for the moderinista buildings but the medieval old town is delightful and very interesting to wander around. So is the waterfront. And the market. You know your own kids, but for Amsterdam I would not do either a museum or the Anne Frank House.

Here's my photos of both
Barcelona - https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p307332452
Amsterdam - https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p339598977

I have 8 and 12 yo kids and I've been to both cities. I disagree that Amsterdam is a bad place for kids. You really have to seek out the red light district and even then it's not in your face; you will see a couple of signs for businesses that you're like, hmm, this is getting a bit seedy and you can turn around. I think it would go right past most kids' heads, esp. 6/8 yos. Also the coffee shops are highly regulated so I don't think your kids will see or smell much of that.

If you talk to them about WWII in advance they may appreciate the Anne Frank Haus; otherwise it's a little vague for kids that young. The Van Gogh museum is bright, small, and interesting. (Skip the Rijksmuseum for kids this age.) They would like a canal ride and eating french fries with mayonnaise. The Heineken Experience is really neat - I think kids would like it, and kids are free. (Obviously they are not drinking it, but a lot of interesting things to look at in the factory and of course mom and dad get a pint included.)

In Barcelona, my kids loved, loved, loved the Sagrada Familia. They did not care for the Ramblas area - it was sooo crowded and claustrophobic, although they did like chasing the pigeons in the Placa Catalunya. We were only there for 24 hours before a cruise so we didn't get to explore it fully, but S.F. is well worth your time, esp. with kids under 11 being free!

Have taken 3 11yo grandsons' to Amsterdam and the top for them was the museum Nemo right next to the train station, which is a hands-on facility for children of all ages. They were so busy that we lost track of time with all the hands-on exhibits, and the language of the exhibits is Dutch and English. There's experiments to do ( in white lab coats),mysteries to solve and all kinds of fun things to explore. Beyond that, it was the canal boat tour, the bike paths everywhere, and hanging out in front of the "I Amsterdam" sign(?) by the Rykes Museum. Check out the "i Amsterdam" ticket booth in front of Centraal and there are bunches of things geared to them.

Thanks for all of the amazing, prompt feedback. So helpful!

Yes, to clarify our schedule:

• April 1: Arrive BCN in the morning and spend a jet-lagged day wandering around
• April 2-7: Whatever we want, and will try to find an early/late flight to minimize disruption
• April 8: Depart AMS in the morning

I have a bit of regret we didn't just pick Barcelona and explore the region, but Amsterdam has always been high on my list and I hope I can return to both places. Our kids were champs walking around Rome and Venice, so they can handle it.

Your thoughts confirm my initial hunch after watching Rick's episodes on both: Maybe 60/40 in BCN's favor (unless flights / lodging make that impractical). Thanks again, and I welcome more thoughts!

Love AMS, and have been there several times with kids (have family there). NEMO museum for sure. Also the Old Church in the Attic is a very up close, historical experience, and the church is a real surprise and an interesting facet of the city's history- I would choose this over Anne Frank, which I think is over-rated (Holocaust museum is more interesting, but not necessarily for your kids' ages). Biking around Vondelpark (there's a MacBike near the northern entrance, you and your wife can get two-seaters and have a picnic in the park). I dont even go to the center of town (where the red light district is) except for sites (like Old Church). Better is the Nine Streets area and general outer canals for walking/exploring. De Pijp neighborhood has a great breakfast place called Bakers and Roasters, and on the outskirts, the best gelato we've had in Europe called De Lepel. I agree that the Van Gogh is more accessible (the displays follow his life/development as an artist - so top floor is last works - which makes the art also show the story of how life so its easier for kids to 'get it'). Canal ride would be fun, but watch out for pedal boats (meaning dont rent them ;) ) I got suckered not that with my daughter and whoa, was that a long ride

IMO there's more to see in Barcelona than Amsterdam, so use three days in Barcelona.

One day can be for seeing Barri Gothic and las Ramblas area. Another for seeing Modernist sights (Park Guell, Sagrada Familia and Eixample). Both are pretty long days so you may not get through it all. My favorite Tapas place looks like a Catalon spelling of Champagne (El Xampanyet). You're too early for beach weather and Mt. Juic isn't open (or very little) that time of year. My experience with the metro ticket machines there is plan no larger than ten euro notes. The ticket machines say they take 20's but I never got one to accept anything bigger than a ten (coins work fine).

In A'dam, I love the architecture. A walk along canals in central Amsterdam is the best part of the city. You can take a boat cruise to save the legs. I liked Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum. Both are worth seeing if museums seem like a good use of your time. Tulips will be fun to see, you're in Amsterdam so you should make a point of seeing all the tulips they import from Washington state (at least that's what a Tulip grower from Puyallup told me).

I would do 4 days in Barcelona and 2 in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, I think the kids would enjoy a canal boat ride. You know your kids, but I think Anne Frank Huis is tame enough to take young kids and they will come across her in school and it would have been fun to visited. There are some Anne Frank books for younger kids. "The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank's Window" looks appropriate. You could read it before you leave. I would also recommend the Van Gogh museum. Kids seem to really like Van Gogh. You need advance tickets for Anne Frank and they go fast. I did get Van Gogh tickets when we arrived, but I'd suggest prepurchasing if possible. In Barcelona, I think your age kids would love Park Guell and probably La Sagrada Familia. Another thought would be the Bouqueria Market. It won't be great beach weather, but we enjoyed the beach(Barceloneta) and collected a lot of sea glass! I think a day trip to Montserrat would be great fun for the kids (and you). If you buy the ticket with the funicular you could hike and picnic on the mountain top. And I also found Amsterdam hotels to be very expensive and Barcelona not cheap but a fair amount less expensive and with more options than Amsterdam. With the amount of time you have in Amsterdam, I'd want to stay very close to the canals and not further out.

I would do 4 days in Barcelona and 2 in Amsterdam.

4+2=6. They Do Not Have Six Days. They have five (plus one day in transit, so five days plus a few hours).

@OP, clarify your dates. In your description you say you arrive on the 31st. In your clarification you say you arrive on the morning of the 1st. However, if you do arrive in the morning of the 1st, you will have 7 days and will use one of those days travel from Barc to Amsterdam. You still probably have the equivalent of 6 days, you will have some jet lag the first day and you will lose some of a day due to travel between the two cities. @David, check your math.

Sorry for the confusion, guys. Our flight does in fact land in Barcelona on the morning of April 1. So that will be a day to wander the city and shake off jetlag (recognizing that things could go sideways with our kids).

Re: the day we transfer to Amsterdam, we intend to find an early / late flight so we don't disrupt the middle of the day. Departing BCN at, say, 7am or 8pm would allow for a pretty full day in whichever city. Since our first day in BCN will already be weird, I'm inclined to allow three more uninterrupted days there (i.e., Mon-Thu total) and then leave for AMS very early on Fri. That would provide relatively more time in BCN but still 2.5-ish days in AMS. (And shift one night from AMS to BCN, which looks much cheaper on Airbnb.)

There's a slim chance we'd consider the train, perhaps with a night in Paris, but that just seems like insanity. Even with transit, flying would eat about 6 hours, with a train double that.

Fly. Don't even consider the train.

I think 3 full, non-jetlagged days in Barcelona is a good idea.

Forget the train, that's complete madness. Fly.

You will have kids in tow. Your arrival day probably won't be much fun, it will be a struggle to keep everyone awake (adults included) until after an early dinner, then crash and sleep deeply. Stay outside in the fresh air and (hopefully) sunshine as much as possible on arrival day. Resist the temptation to take a nap - on such a short trip, mitigating your bodes' resistance to adjusting the time zone is critical, or else the next few days will not be very useful either.

You can try to do the flight from BCN to AMS early to maximize your post-arrival time, but realistically you will only have a few hours of walking around time after you get there. Trying to push for a super-early departure will just drain more stamina from your group which will still be struggling to recover from the first flight/time change, so don't expect miracles.

Tip: Try hard to start the trip well-rested. In real life, that's often difficult, with last minute work- and travel-related tasks piling up and stress accumulating (despite my best efforts, I always seem to start a trip with a sleep deficit). You are expecting a lot from everyone upon arrival and with each passing day, so its best for everyone to start out rested and unstressed, with "full batteries" so to speak if you can.

Yes, fly from Barcelona to Amsterdam. Both airports have easy access to the downtown areas of the cities. We used a bus between the airport and Barcelona city center and a train from Schipol to the main train station in Amsterdam. DO NOT nap the first day until "bedtime". I adjust my watch the moment we depart the U.S. I'm usually so excited and having a good time at my destination to be too bothered with jetlag, but I do fall soundly asleep by 9pm.

I wish you all the best on this trip. They say it takes one day for every hour difference in time to recover from jet lag. You’ll just be caught up when it’s time to leave. It seems you’ve traveled to Europe before with your kids, so you know how they adjust. That said, I wouldn’t expect an early start those first few days, but I would expect late nights. That works well in Spain, fortunately. I would also suggest flying to Amsterdam in the evening as an early morning when you’re already six plus hours behind schedule will be brutal. When we travel back to the US with our kids, we actually keep them on Vienna time if the trip is short like yours. To make things easier on your kids, allow them to sleep in and stay up late. Try to do only one activity in the afternoon (nothing in the morning) and focus on outdoor activities. Have dinner and family time.

Thanks to everyone for your help. We finalized our plans and will sleep Mon-Thu in BCN, then take a Fri @ 9am flight to AMS. That will give us one more day in BCN, as most suggested.

Points taken about early flights, body clocks, etc., but AMS apartments are $200+ more per night than BCN, so it made more sense for us to fly in the morning. We did Italy six months ago with these kids and did fine, so hopefully that will be the case again.

I look forward to seeing some of you in the country forums, where I may ask some other questions. Thanks again!

Actually, thanks to a technical issue with this website, I'm unable to post the following message to the Netherlands forum. Hopefully the webmaster can help me resolve the issue, but in the meantime, if anyone wants to offer advice here ...

We are looking for a place to stay in AMS in early April (check-in April 5, check-out April 8). It will be my wife and two kids (8,6). We'd like to avoid being in one big room together, so that we don't have to sit in the dark and whisper after our kids go to bed.

I was shocked by the prices on Airbnb and Booking. As much as I'd love stay in Jordaan or other central neighborhoods, I hope to spend $200-$300 per night (less would be great, but looks impractical). Most places right intown are at least $400.

I've read the pros and cons of Haarlem. Here's my question: At what point does it make sense to stay there versus the outer neighborhoods? If it's 15 minutes from Haarlem, but also 15 minutes from a suburb, what's the difference? Is A-10 a good dividing line?

I'd love some advice. If this is helpful context, we took our kids to Rome last fall and stayed in the old core of Trastevere. That was perfect--away from the throngs, yet still walkable, with the occasional bus ride. We rarely returned to our apartment during the day, usually leaving around 10am and returning after dinner.

I have four kids. The age between the oldest and the youngest(twins) is 6 1/2 yrs. I realize that its inconvenient to be in the same room as the kids. However, my advice is that for your short stay, to make best use of your time you need to be in a very central location, and easiest if you are close to the train station. Also, if you are close to train station you could walk and avoid the additional cost of a taxi. If you can't find anything close, I would just stay all in one room. When we did that, sometimes my husband would go sit in the lobby. Also you can be using your electronics while the kids are sleeping.

OK, my post in the proper forum is back up. Thanks again for the help.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/netherlands/staying-outside-the-city-vs-haarlem

We have been to Barcelona three times, spending a total of about 6 days there.

Our first tour there was a half day "Gaudi" tour that was wonderful, however it did not include going inside Sagrada Familia.

You can see the Cathedral and other city sites on a walking tour. Also, there are a couple of museums that are nice. I am not a Picasso fan, so we didn't go there.

This is a must see. Be sure you go up the elevator to the top to look out over the city.

We did Monserrat on our own, it is easy to do, take the early train.

I recommend four nights in the city minimum.

Also, Barcelona is the capital for pickpockets, be sure you have a money belt, neck wallet or hip wallet (that is under your trousers).

Amsterdam is wonderful. Loved the Rijksmuesem with the incomparable Night Watch painting. Also, do a canal cruise, take a day trip to see the Zyder Zee. The Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum and more. Four nights is recommended.