Page 135 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2016 - Amsterdam

Further Afield ❮❮ 133

office in Het Schip and this now A DAY OUT WITH THE KIDS
serves as a small museum. Tours
take you inside one of the restored Max Euweplein
residences and up to the turret.
Vondelpark TRAM Tropen-
museum
Frankendael
9
Middenweg 72 • Tram 9 • 020
423 3930 • Open noon–5pm Sun, Het Amsterdamse TRAM
Bos
garden open dawn–dusk
South of Plantage Middenlaan, BUS
Frankendael Park is Amsterdam’s CoBrA Museum
only remaining 17th-century country
estate. The elegant Louis XIV-style MORNING
Frankendael House, ornamental
fountain by Ignatius van Logteren, Start by taking the Artis
historic formal gardens and coach Expressboot or tram 7, 9, 10 or 14
buildings are all worth seeing. The to the Tropenmuseum (see p127),
a fascinating ethnographic
main building hosts temporary museum that explores various
exhibitions and there are two non-Western cultures, with an
restaurants, the Merkelbach (in the emphasis on former Dutch
former coach house) and De Kas colonies. Afterwards, enjoy an
(see p65). Guided tours of the house exotic lunch in the museum’s
take place every Sunday at 2pm. café-restaurant, Ekeko, and don’t
forget to pop into the gift shop.
AFTERNOON
Outside the Tropenmuseum,
pick up tram 7 or 10 to the
Leidseplein and from there walk
through the Max Euweplein (see
p121) – pausing long enough to
watch (or play) a giant game of
chess – to the Vondelpark (see
p121) where you can take in a
music, dance or puppet show at
the open-air theatre (in summer).
Nearby is the Kinderkookkafé
where supervised children cook
and serve up simple meals.
If park life is a big hit, head to Het
Amsterdamse Bos (see p131). Be
sure to stop at the visitor centre
by the main entrance for a map
Eastern Docklands
of this sprawling woodland park.
Eastern Docklands
0 Rent bikes or canoes, take a
horse-ride or a ride on a historic
Tram 10, 26
A mecca for architecture aficionados, tram. Don’t miss the Fun Forest
treetop course, or the working
this former docklands area to the farm where children can pet
east of Centraal Station has been and feed the animals.
transformed by ambitious urban If there is time, take tram 3,
regeneration plans. Spend a few 10, 14 or bus 170, 172 to
hours admiring the Python Bridge, Amstelveen and end the day
inspired by the reptile, or the apart- with some modern art at the
ment block that resembles a whale. CoBrA Museum. Tram 5 or
Also here is a row of houses, each metro 51 will take you back to
designed by a different architect, the city centre.
and some inspired public art.
See map on p130

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