I had heard good things about the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam so we decided to check it out. I will say that trying to find out if it was a family friendly event was a bit challenging. The websites were a bit confusing so I used TripAdvisor and found out that it was not only family friendly but that kids enjoyed it. I was recently told by one person they missed out because she said the website [Read more…]

While planning our Amsterdam trip I found this gem and just had to visit the life sized replica of Noah’s Ark! While we were super impressed with the enormity of it, it was also one of those ‘bust’ attractions for us…I’ll explain shortly. It’s located in Dordrecht, Netherlands. We drove here after visiting Clara Maria on our way back home, it was bit out of the way but I wanted to see it.

I’m a very visual person so it was amazing to see a full sized replica in real life! We were impressed with the enormous boat and that was worth seeing however we didn’t not feel like the visit inside was worth it…for us at least. It was €45 just for the 4 of us! Which may have been ok if I felt like the visit was worth that…it wasn’t in my opinion.

There is a large parking lot and it only costs €1-2 to park for a few hours.

Where you purchase your entry tickets.

The displays were a bit cheesy and fake looking. There were random bible scenes in weird places, like they were trying to fill space. And the mannequins were kinda freaky, LOL.

I wish they had utilized the space better and made it more ‘realistic’ instead of these random scenes. I’m assuming on the real ark there wasn’t a ton of free space.

The fake animal displays did not fully depict how they could’ve gotten all the animals on the ark, I would’ve loved to seen a replica of that.

There were some live animals as well but they were apparently closing an hour early the day we went so everything was put up and they were starting to close stuff down.

Bea making friends.

You follow these prints around but at times it was hard to figure out which way they were going and it was kind of confusing.

Now if you have little kids there were some neat play areas and things to do but for my 11 & 14 year old they were under impressed as were Mr. B & I. But I just chalked it up to a learning experience and us finding that out the hard way so y’all don’t have to 😉

There are quite a few levels and quite a few stairs so you can get a workout if your doing it quickly 😉

The view from the top overlooks the water area, which is mostly industrial.

Overall I’d say it’s worth seeing if your in the area, but may not be worth making a special trip for. Truthfully we would’ve been happy with just seeing the outside & size for free instead of paying the high cost to see the inside, especially with older kids. If you have younger kids a visit inside for a few hours may be worth it for your family.

Know Before You Go

What: Noah’s Ark in Dordrechet, Netherlands.

How To Get There: It’s about 3 hours 13 mins from Spangdahlem, and 4 hours 18 mins from Ramstein. It’s about 1 hour from Amsterdam. GPS address: Maasstraat 14 3313 CR Dordrecht, Netherlands

Parking: Is abundant and costs €1-2.

Cost: €12,50 for ages 13 and up, €7,50 for kids ages 3-12, and free for kids ages 0-2.

Traveling with little kids: There are lots of stairs here so not sure about strollers, I didn’t see an elevator but I wasn’t looking for one either. You may want to call ahead and ask if you need to use a stroller.

How long: Plan on at least 1 hour if your doing a quick walk through, longer if you want to use the little playgrounds, eat, etc. Could easily spend 3-4 hours here with little kids.

Grote Kerk (aka St. Bavo) is not just ‘another’ church like all the others, it has some fascinating history to make it worth the visit. Who knew that one church could be so full of great history and information! The information desk has some brochures in English but I enjoyed using the Rick Steve’s self guided tour in the Amsterdam book, you can find these at your library as well. If you visited the Corrie Ten Boom house this is where they used to worship as well.

We parked at the Appelaar parking garage which is 2 min walk to the church. It was €9,50 for 3.5 hours. Admission for the church is 2,50 for adults, €1,25 for 12-16, and free for 0-12 so it was €6,25 for our family of 4 (2 adults, 14 & 11).

Know that if your going here during the chilly months it will be cold inside! We were here in April and it was a bit chilly outside and it was also chilly inside! Luckily we had jackets with us but it could be uncomfortable if we did not.

Again make sure to grab one of the free English brochures if you don’t have the RS book, but I found the RS book to be very informative and provide great info, check your library if you don’t have the book and want to use it.

One of the highlights of this church is it’s massive organ! When it was built in the 1700’s it was the world’s largest organ! It was also played by Mozart. Herman Melville also thought it was so impressive that he referenced it in his book Moby Dick, how neat is that?!

You can see the ornate wooden pulpit on the left, which is dwarfed by the massive organ.

The choir area is secured but you can peek in through the bars.

I have to say this is the first time I’ve seen miniature ships having in a church, just one of the fascinating finds in this church!

The model of the church is neat as well, I love when these huge older buildings have small models inside.

Another unique thing about this church is all the graves under the floors. The floor is literally covered with graves and markers.

Don’t forgot to stop by and see the cannonball in the wall! Another first for me 😉

I love old wooden doors and the church did not disappoint!

There are several huge stained glass windows, this is in the pendulum area but it was not hanging while we were there.

I also loved the ceiling! The area to the right is normally where the pendulum is hanging from.

This board with keys from all over the church was super neat as well, it’s located near the ‘treasure’ box.

I’m not kidding when I say this church is full of interesting things to look and and history. It’s probably been one of the more fascinating churches we’ve been to here in Europe. It’s certainly worth a visit if your in the area!

Know Before You Go

What: Grote Kerk (aka St. Bavo) in Haarlem, Netherlands.

How To Get There: It’s about 3 hours 40 mins from Spangdahlem, and 4 hours 40 mins from Ramstein. It’s 35 mins from Amsterdam.

Parking: Is hard to find on the street & expensive so use a parking garage. There are 2 that are close to the house, we chose the one near the church & walkplatz. GPS address for parking garage: Appelaar: Damstraat 12, Haarlem

Cost: €2,50 for adults, €1,26 for kids ages 12-16, and free for kids ages 0-12.

Traveling with little kids: Strollers would fit in the church if you really need to use one I’m not sure if they are technically allowed as we don’t have small kids but there is a small gift shop before you enter or you may be able to park it outside if needed. Best bet when traveling in Europe is to bring a carrier if you need little ones contained.

How long: Plan on at least 30-45 mins if your using the Rick Steve’s self guided tour. If you just want to walk through quickly you can as well but you’ll miss some neat stuff.

If your headed to Amsterdam you need to add a stop at Clara Maria Cheese Farm & Clog Factory! She’s an American, he’s Dutch and they run a neat farm making cheese and wooden clogs! The cheese is delicious and the demonstrations are fun to watch. There are also some cows and chickens your kids can see as well.

The best thing about the experience is that it is free! Bring money though because [Read more…]

One of the neat things you can experience at Zaanse Schans is touring a working windmill in the Netherlands! We chose to visit De Kat Windmill which makes paint by grinding chalk.

There are several large windmills you can choose to visit: De Kat paint mill, De Zoeker oil mill, or Het Jonge Shapp sawmill. I had done some research prior to visiting and had read that to get the most out the experience [Read more…]

I often see people asking about what to do on the way to or from Amsterdam so I wanted to share our travel itinerary for drive to or from Amsterdam that can easily be modified to fit your family.

Our Itinerary for the drive to the Netherlands:
Zaanse Shans
In het Fruit B&B (stayed for 2 nights)

Zaanse Shans is 3 hours 50 mins from Spang and can easily be done in a half a day. It could [Read more…]

We recently stayed at In het Fruit B&B in Zuidoostbeemster, Netherlands. It’s a neat little family Bed & Breakfast close to Zaanse Schans, Amsterdam, Haarlem, & Clara Maria’s. It’s worth checking out if your looking for some where to stay in the area, you can read my TripAdvisor review HERE as well.

Another great thing about booking In het Fruit was that I was able to use Booking.com [Read more…]