LANDMARKMagere Brug
The white wooden drawbridge over the Amstel, lit by 1,200 bulbs at night.
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Canal cruises in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is worth seeing from the water at least once. A canal cruise takes about an hour, leaves from jetties all over the centre and passes the sights below: the seven bridges in a row on the Reguliersgracht, the Magere Brug over the Amstel and the merchants’ houses of the Golden Bend. Here is how to pick your boat.
- Tap the heart to put a spot on your list
- Open your list on the map: your own tour
- Tick each one off as you go
Filters
LANDMARK
LANDMARKBrouwersgracht
Often voted the prettiest canal: warehouses, houseboats and no tour-boat crowds.
LANDMARKSeven bridges view (Reguliersgracht)
Stand on the right bridge and you see seven arched bridges in a row.
LANDMARKBlauwbrug
The ornate stone bridge over the Amstel, modelled on the Pont Alexandre III in Paris.
LANDMARKGroenburgwal
The quiet canal Monet painted, with the Zuiderkerk tower at the end.
LANDMARKGouden Bocht (Golden Bend)
The widest, grandest stretch of the Herengracht, where the richest merchants built double-wide mansions.
ODD FINDHuis aan de Drie Grachten
A 1610 house with a canal on three sides, one of the most photographed corners nobody can name.
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Which cruise is for you
Most people take
Covered glass boat
The classic one-hour tour in a big boat with a glass roof and a recorded commentary in several languages. Runs all year, in any weather.
On a sunny day
Open boat with a guide
Smaller open boats with a live guide, often with drinks on board. They fit into canals the big boats cannot.
After dark
Evening cruise
The bridges are lit after sunset, and the canal houses show their windows. Many boats add candles and a drink.
In winter
Light Festival cruise
From late November to January, artists hang light works along the canals. The evening boats follow the route.
Hop on, hop off
Hop-on hop-off boat
A boat on a fixed route with stops near the big museums and sights, on a ticket for the whole day.
Dinner on the water
Dinner cruise
Two or three hours on the canals with a meal served on board, usually in the evening.
With friends
Drinks cruise
Wine and cheese, beer or cocktails on a small boat, mostly in the late afternoon and evening.
For a group
Classic saloon boat
A wooden saloon boat from the early 1900s with a skipper, for just your group: a birthday, a family or a slow evening.
Be your own captain
Self-drive boat
Rent a small electric boat and go where you like. Small, slow boats need no licence in the Netherlands.
Fast and private
Water taxi
The water taxis take you from one quay to another, or around the canals for as long as you book them.
With children
Pancake boat
Pancakes on board while the boat sails the IJ, the wide water behind Centraal Station, rather than the canals.
Beyond the canals
Harbour and IJ cruise
Tours that leave the canal ring for the IJ and the harbour, with the EYE film museum and the A’DAM tower on the far bank.
Photos: Covered glass boat: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Open boat with a guide: RoderickvanderLaan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Evening cruise: Radek Kucharski from Warsaw, Poland, CC BY 2.0 · Light Festival cruise: Andy Li, CC0 · Hop-on hop-off boat: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dinner cruise: RoderickvanderLaan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Drinks cruise: RoderickvanderLaan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Classic saloon boat: Jorge Royan, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Self-drive boat: Frank Markesteijn, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Water taxi: thierrytutin, CC BY 2.0 · Pancake boat: Alf van Beem, CC0 · Harbour and IJ cruise: Kleon3, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Before you board
Where boats leave
Most leave from Centraal Station and the Damrak, from Stadhouderskade by the Rijksmuseum, and from the Prinsengracht near the Anne Frank House. Pick the jetty nearest to you: the routes overlap.
How long
The classic tour takes an hour to an hour and a quarter. Evening, dinner and private cruises take longer.
Book or just turn up
The big boats leave often and rarely sell out outside summer weekends. Small open boats and evening cruises fill up, so book those.
Steer yourself
You can rent a small electric boat and go where you like. Small, slow boats need no licence in the Netherlands.
What you see from the water
Most routes loop through the canal ring, where the merchants of the Golden Age built their houses along the Herengracht, the Keizersgracht and the Prinsengracht. Look for the gables, the hoisting beams under the roofs and the houseboats moored along the quays. Many tours also cross the open water of the IJ behind Centraal Station or turn onto the Amstel for the Magere Brug and the Blauwbrug. After the cruise, every sight on this page has its own page and a pin on the map, so you can walk back to the ones you liked.
Questions people ask
How long is a canal cruise in Amsterdam?
About an hour for the classic tour. Evening, dinner and private cruises usually take one and a half to three hours.
Which canal cruise is the best?
It depends on the day. A covered boat with a commentary when it rains or for a first look; a small open boat with a live guide on a sunny day; an evening cruise for the lights.
Where do canal cruises leave from?
Mostly from Centraal Station and the Damrak, from Stadhouderskade by the Rijksmuseum, and from the Prinsengracht near the Anne Frank House.
Is a canal cruise worth it?
Once, yes. The city was built to be seen from the water, and an hour on a boat shows you the canal ring in a way walking does not.
Can you do a canal cruise in winter?
Yes. The covered boats run all year and are heated, and from late November the Light Festival makes the evening cruises special.