Beachy side trip from Amsterdam?

For that group and for a trip that short, I’d limit to Belgium as max distance away. What kind of “beachy fun” are you thinking exactly? What are you looking for activity wise at a beach?

For such a short trip, I'd stick to one country (or neighboring). I'd think kids would love The Hague. I had a friend who spent a year at a marine institute, so it might be worth researching small towns on the coast.

The Netherlands has beaches https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/more-destinations/beach-resorts.htm

I wouldn't go all the way France to get to the beach with the limited time you have and the size of the group you are traveling with. Spend time between the Netherlands and Belgium.

Do not expect Florida style beaches. The North Sea is cold and beaches can be more gravel than fine sand. Paris and Normandy beaches are too much for a ten day trip. Stick to the Netherlands and Belgium. Fly into Amsterdam and come home from Brussels.

Thanks so much for the feedback! I’ll look into The Hague and beaches in Belgium perhaps.

Mary: the kids like to splash in the water and look for shells or dig holes. Mom likes to go for long walks. I thought July might be ok for a quick dip? We’re from California so we’re accustomed to cold water and the kids are undeterred by gloomy weather. Should we cut it down to one beach day and do more exploring?

Just to pile on. The beaches of Normandy are a very long haul from The Netherlands. Mont Saint Michel is even further (it is on the far Western side of Normandy). Will you have a car? If not, the distances are near impossible.

....Should we cut it down to one beach day and do more exploring? .... IMO --- only my opinion --- Absolutely -- there are many things that are far more interesting than beaches that you can see at home. But I live in the mountains of CO so maybe I don't appreciate time at the beach. Look on the map and realize how much further north you are from where you are in CA. The N Sea winds can be very chilly on the warmest day.

Beaches here are cold/not like say Mediterranean or Hawaii which is why I wondered about spending so much time on North Sea. I’m used to it and know what to expect but it does shock some people. You may have lovely beach weather but not warm water that’s for sure.

I think I’d give that 1 or 2 days at most and really focus on sites and things to do otherwise in NL and/or Belgium

If you want a long stretch of beach with 37 restaurants in the sand for nice drinks and dining take a look at Zandvoort. Quick, direct trains run back and forth from Amsterdam to Zandvoort every half hour. While the town won’t check your quaint box, it has a lot to offer families who want a beach experience with the locals. Google some images and see what you think.

We stayed in Haarlem in 2019 and went to Zandvoort and were seriously underwhelmed by the beaches. There were a few people kite surfing but the beach itself was pretty dull. But we are adults and thought it too cold to swim and didn't feel the urge to build a sandcastle. It might be a totally different experience with kids in tow.

July is high season and that means beaches that are easy to reach are overrun by sun worshippers. You can find sandy and clean beaches everywhere along the Belgian and Dutch coast. In July it can be hot and beaches can just give that cooler weather you are looking for. All in all not world shocking but good enough for us locals and our eastern neighbours the Germans.

With all those appartment blocks along the coast most places in Belgium lack charm, with the exception of De Haan, easy to reach from Oostende or Blankenberge by coastal tram and fun to do. Both places a quick ride with the train from Bruges. However for finding a quiet spot you have to walk a bit outside the beach of De Haan. Further is Knokke (also to reach by train and coastal tram) close to the Dutch border posh and not so bad too.

Dutch seaside places actually lack charm either, with the exception of Domburg in the province of Zeeland. Or one of the Waddeneilanden like Texel north of Amsterdam, but need some time to get there. For Zeeland you will need a car with the risk of traffic congestion as everybody likes to spend a day on the beach. Scheveningen can be attractive but very busy and a quiet spot not so easy to find, nevertheless your hotel can give hopefully some good tips where to go.

Beaches itself are perfect (no gravel like Frank notes), good for the kids for building castles. Shallow water, but be carefull with the undercurrent at some places, signals warn for this. Le Mont-Saint-Michel is surrounded by tidal muds, so for beaches you have to look elsewhere there. Closer to St. Malo for instance like Rothéneuf, very charming.

I have visited several beaches near Haarlem and den Haag and never experienced any gravel. Nice sand at each. Usually pretty good transport too.

With an 11 year old and a 9 year old you may find that some folks wear a bit less on the beach than in California. Just a word to the wise....

Here’s another idea that we did once from Leiden, a very charming college town with a lot to see on its own. We rented or borrowed bikes at the train station and rode on designated bike paths about 45 minutes through the pastures, canals and cows to the beach. It was a great long stretch of sandy beach with a couple of cafes in sand and a stand or two to rent beach equipment. It was a really enjoyable bike ride although you might be peddling against the wind heading west. I think it was the Wassennaar beach just west of Leiden.

alicarey, we might understand your beach wishes better if you filled out your Home City in the newsboard profile for yourself. As a coastal US resident, I would not waste any time on North Sea beaches. And I would not knuckle under to young kids when I paid for transatlantic air fare to a place that has a lot more than beaches. There are not a lot of quaint beach towns. I suppose St Malo and Dinard qualify, but I would not go to those on my first trip to Europe.

Since we like to spend 3-4 nights in one place on a "train vacation", it's not unreasonable to have 3 sleeping places in a ten day trip. But you failed to say if those ten days include your flights from and to the USA. Just because Amsterdam and MSM are both on the North Sea does not mean that they are "close to" each other. They are not. Did you plan to include the WW II sites too?

Paris is such a rich destination that a 3-night stay (?) is pretty short for someone who (again, ?) for someone who has never been to Europe before. You need to look at Google Maps for some (inaccurate!) estimates of your local travel desires. Then go to the real train company websites. You don't have to buy to learn the prices, elapsed times, and number of seat changes.

Have you done some general research, like the menu top left, https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips ?

There are a lot of historic smaller cities (often surrounded by ugly postwar prosperity) easily visited by unreserved daytrip train from Amsterdam. Is that what you have in mind? Delft, Amersfoort, and Alkmaar come to mind. But these are not undiscovered wooden villages that Band Of Brothers just pulled out of. They are popular destinations, mostly brick and stone. They can require a lot of walking. It's worth noting that Delft pairs well with Den Haag, which also has a "beach" suburb, Schveningen. (I haven't been to that beach.) I rate The Girl With The Pearl Earring ahead of Schveningen, but that's a personal opinion.

Everything that Tim said.

My husband and I spent the month of April in The Netherlands and Belgium to celebrate our 25th anniversary (1 April 2013).

We spent our first week in an apartment in Zaandvoort, within walking distance of Circuit Zaandvoort:
https://www.circuitzandvoort.nl/en/
There's a picture of it that shows how close it is to the beach. It wasn't an F1 track in 2013.

Now that it is, I expect there are many more places to stay. It definitely was a lot colder then than it will be in July, but I still wouldn't expect it to be very warm at any beach on the North Sea.

As others have said, you have very little time to spend on the ground, even if you have 10 full days, not counting your jet-lagged arrival day or the day you depart. Try to think in terms of nights you will spend, keeping in mind that moving from one home base to another will take at least half a day and that 3 nights in one place really only equals 2 full days there.

There's plenty to see and do in the Netherlands alone. This is a link to info on it right here on the RS website -- Netherlands:
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/netherlands

By the way, I hope your mom was not thinking she'd be able to see tulip fields in bloom or visit Keukenhof in July. "In 2023 Keukenhof will be open daily from 23 March – 14 May from 08:00 – 19:30."

The whole family might enjoy a visit to Kinderdijk more than the beach:
https://fullsuitcase.com/kinderdijk/

You all also might enjoy going to Arnhem, especially to visit the Open Air Museum:
https://www.openluchtmuseum.nl/ontdek?taal=en

Of course it will look a lot different in July than it does now in winter:
https://www.openluchtmuseum.nl/plan-je-bezoek?taal=en

I agree with those who've said that you really don't have enough time to go from Amsterdam to Mont-Saint-Michel. It's about 800 kilometers and 8 hours driving time. By train and bus it's likely to be an even longer journey.

If you really have a hankering to go to France, a short trip to Paris, especially if you fly home from there, might be doable. It's about 3.5 hours with no train changes by Thalys train from Amsterdam Centraal to Gare du Nord. You would be able to be there when they "create" a beach on the Seine that will be much warmer that any on the North Sea. Paris Plages:
https://rove.me/to/paris/beaches-on-the-seine

Flying multi-city (often called open-jaw) into Amsterdam and home from Paris would give your group a taste of two totally different cities and cultures. You'd need to figure out what's most important to see and do in each location and how many days/nights you need for that in order to divide your time between them.

Good luck with your planning. The less time you have, the more strict you need to be with prioritizing what you want to see and do. This RS Paris link could help with that:
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/paris

Beaches in July will be very busy, so I don't know if quaint will be found. Scheveningen has a boardwalk like Santa Monica or Santa Cruz. It was quaint when I visited it 25 years ago. www.holland.com has other suggestions also.
Another idea, different from a beach, is to visit the North Sea mudflats in northern Netherlands: https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/regions/wadden-islands/mud-flat-walking-1.htm Think the mudflats at San Francisco Bay. I've done this in Germany and The Netherlands. I don't know how long of a train trip this is from Amsterdam.