We will be in Amsterdam in early September and would like a recommendation for a canal boat tour. I saw postings about the Jordaan area and "hopper" tours. Any other thoughts? We will be there for 2.5 days at the end of a river cruise and need some additional suggestions for things to do. We have never been to Amsterdam before.
Judy
We enjoyed the Blue Boat tour, but there are other choices I'm sure equally good. Don't know about the "hopper" tours -- I guess this is like the hop-on-hop-off bus -- if so, that could be a good way to see a lot of Amsterdam in a short visit. Another option, I believe, is a pass giving you unlimited tram travel for one or more days.
Jordaan is a convenient, atmospheric, relatively expensive neighborhood west of the center. We took a walk through it but stayed near Leidseplein, closer to the major museums. What you want to do depends on your own interests of course, we enjoyed the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Dutch Resistance Museum, Amsterdam (history) Museum, Old and New Churches, canal boat ride, flower market, Vondelpark and various squares, and walking through various neighborhoods. Didn't get to the Anne Frank House because of long lines and stairs. Skipped the coffeehouses and saw a little of the red light district on our way elsewhere. It's a beautiful city, very easy to get around.
One big downer for us was all the bike traffic, which made crossing streets much harder. They have an excellent network of bike lanes separated from the roadways (and also used by motorcycles, which at least you can hear coming). We had trouble staying out of the bike lanes while waiting to cross the major streets, because we weren't used to such an arrangement and the oncoming bikes were quiet. My wife got hit once and I'm sure we slowed down more than a few bike commuters. Don't get me wrong, the bike culture saves a lot of congestion and pollution, but the Yankee pedestrians must be careful!
There are canal tours on offer all over the city. We preferred an evening dinner cruise. You can pretty much do any number of different options as you feel inclined.
The Anne Frank house is one of the best things we have ever done in all of Europe. Get your tickets online ASAP. They give you a very nice pamphlet that goes over each room in detail as you walk thru the house. It was incredible to learn how they lived (and died) - truly life-changing. The history was fascinating. If you get tickets online - you can avoid the main line & go right into the house.
As far as canal tours - there are A LOT of companies at the dock (near the train station) - we just chose one and went with it and it was fantastic - took us on the small canals thru Amsterdam teaching us lots of history and we also went out into the main water area and saw the city from that area. We did do the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum. Another thing we did that we really enjoyed was a Gouda cheese and wine tasting at one of the 100s of cheese shops. I think we picked one of the top ones off of TripAdvisor. We enjoyed the flower district too. We stayed at a B&B, so the owner was VERY helpful on what to do, where to eat, & how to navigate Amsterdam.
You should check on the river cruise itinerary. We took one out of Amsterdam (AMA Waterways) and there was a canal cruise included.
Our river cruise ends in Amsterdam and does not include a canal cruise. However, you can sign up for the Anne Frank House at E44 which is much higher than the online (which is sold out) or walk up ticket.
