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Amsterdam Canals-Boat tour?

Hi, am headed to Amsterdam in early April...looking for suggestions on boat tours of the canals. Are they plentiful, so just pick one? OR, have any of you had a good experience with a canal boat tour company and can recommend one? Thank you for any suggestions! Karen

Posted by
6733 posts

They are everywhere, and they have always looked about the same to me -- I'm not sure that one needs to pick carefully (I'd be curious to hear if anyone has particular praise for one over another). We just jumped on one when we felt like it.

One tip: assuming the weather is nice (early April it could be doing anything), get on one that has free seats outside in a good position - on a nice day, it would seriously degrade my enjoyment of the ride if I had an inside seat on a crowded boat. If you can get a clear view from a good seat outside, it makes for a great photo platform.

Posted by
10344 posts

Many of the boats have windows in the roof for the inside seats.

Posted by
4025 posts

One small variation is the amount of time spent on the more open waters of the harbour. I'd want a route that gives a good exposure to that historic marine space.

Posted by
7981 posts

I once got locked out of the apartment when my husband decided to take a long walk that I opted out of -- we only had one key which is unusual and I usually carry it but he had it that day and I forgot he did. This was before we had cell phones. I just walked over to the nearest canal with a boat tour and immediately was able to get on a boat and do a tour. I had done this in 1961 and again in the 90s but it was still fun to do it again in 2016. They are plentiful and there is rarely a line; if there is, you can get the next boat. It is a really great way to see Amsterdam and they all travel pretty much the same territory.

Posted by
6431 posts

We used the Blue Boat from around Museumplein, but I'd agree that they're all pretty much the same, and well worthwhile.