Amsterdam Houseboat

We've stayed on two houseboats while visiting Amsterdam - once in 2011 and again this past April. The first one we rented was "On the Water Studio" and was on a typical canal in the heart of Amsterdam. It was lovely and had a nice deck on which to enjoy the boats and swans racing by. The neighborhood is quite traditional -- just what you'd expect in Amsterdam -- we really enjoyed it. I looked it up on Google recently and didn't see recent reviews, so I'm not sure they're still aggressively renting it out, but I'd recommend it. It is a studio and had a separate bathroom, so perfect for two people.
The one we stayed in this past April was in North Amsterdam on a more industrial canal, but it was lovely. You can see it on VRBO - #945023. my review is the one for Diane C., and a more recent one gives much the same information. The free ferry across to N. Amsterdam is fun and runs every 5 minutes. There's a 10 minute walk from the ferry to the boat, and there are actually two apartments -- we had the 2 BR/1.5 bath one. The owner, Sander, was great, and we loved staying there! Both rentals are arks and are on concrete piers, so there is no rocking that might turn off those who get seasick....like me. We felt like locals -- a couple of great restaurants nearby and a supermarket 5 minutes away. There were three of us -- my husband and myself and a great friend of ours, and we had plenty of space. Realize, though, that it is not in a typical Amsterdam canal neighborhood.....we loved it, but I feel that I must mention this. As I said there are two apartments, but we never heard the other renters, and they had a couple of young children. Renting a houseboat just caps off the Amsterdam experience.

We were lucky to have two weeks in Amsterdam. The first week we rented a houseboat in the center, very close to the Rembrandt House. The second week we rented a houseboat further out--in the area of the Tropical Museum, but city center could still be reached with a long walk. Public transit readily available. We loved starting in city center and touring all that was close by, but were ready for a more quiet venue the second week. Lucky Piper also came with a full-sized kitchen and an outdoor grill and we were ready to make our own dinners. Houseboat in Old Center www.rentahouseboat.com--I think this is also on vrbo. Google houseboat apartment Lucky Piper.

I have heard that Amsterdam is similar to Paris in that it is cracking down on illegal short-term rentals, which often includes houseboats. If that is true it could mean that you are out of a place to stay at the last minute so I would do some more research on this and be careful from whom you rent.

We stayed here a few years ago...it was awesome!... http://phildutch.net/

Excellent communication by the owner. We rented the entire houseboat for 4 days. Close to the tram, restaurants, a super market...and much more. Feeding the swans everyday was a highlight, as well as the passengers on the tourist boats waving to us as though we were locals was fun, too.

Good Luck!