Canal Tour Advice

I'll only answer for Belgium. In Bruges, you can see everything you see from the boat while walking around.

In Rotterdam it's not so much canals in my experience, it's the Maas River. There I think a river and docks tour is worth it. I would also suggest going to see the old SS Rotterdam at it's now permanent berth.
She has her own water taxi berth.
I also suggest taking the waterbus from Rotterdam to Dordrecht, coming back by train. The obvious stop off point of course on the water bus is Kinderdijk for the windmills.

Over the years I have done canal tours in Bruges, Ghent, Haarlem and Amsterdam. I would say Amsterdam is best mostly because there are more miles of canals there. Bruges was good but as mentioned you see most of the sights as you are walking around. Haarlem was pretty good too and got me to a windmill I did not see on foot. Ghent (which I know you didn't mention but someone might do a search in the future) was the least interesting as when I went there were a couple of out and back segments instead of a loop.

We did the canal tours in both Bruges and Amsterdam and LOVED both. However, if you can only do one canal tour, do Amsterdam, simply because it's much bigger, as others have noted.

Thanks everyone for your input. We will definitely do the canal tour in Amsterdam. Perhaps in another city as well if the weather and timing are right.

I do all the canal tours I can. Each captain( many female) is interesting and tells different stories regarding the history and culture. Plus, it's a break for my feet! Also, take a small boat, about a dozen folks, not the larger ones.
In Amsterdam, we used the Damn Boat Guys, with more "adult" humor. We saw the bridge where Hanna Waddington fell into the canal, in a Ted Lasso episode.
In Leiden, one must duck down when under the bridges, as the boat roof is electronically lowered.
In Haarlem, Jeroen was the most informative captain about lifestyle and a wide-range of Dutch info, Haarlem Canal Tours.
Just enjoy them all!

Like Pat, I can never say no to a canal tour…especially mid-afternoon when you’re tired from a day of sightseeing, it’s nice to relax and sit while still enjoying the beauty of what ever city or town you’re in.

I did canal tours and Amsterdam, Bruges, and Leiden…and maybe also in Delft? I can’t remember exactly, but it seems like something I would have done :) All three were great, but I want to plug the Leiden one cause my guide was really good. Leiden is a university town & our guide was an engineering student, so in addition to lots of historical context, he had lots of architectural and “how did they actually build that” knowledge to share.