Has anyone had experience with staying on a houseboat in Amsterdam? We are going at the end of August for three nights. Good idea or bad? Wondering if it would be safe and would one sleep well. We would appreciate any input on this. Thanks in advance
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Madison, WI, USA
101 posts
We (4 adults) rented one in June 2009 & it was great! It was safe- the one we rented had an outer gate on the short walkway between the sidewalk & the front door. It could be locked easily, though mostly we didn't, we just kept the front door locked. Then, we just made sure the windows on the water were locked either completely closed, or 2-3" open for ventilation while we were gone. As for sleeping- we all slept better than in a hotel because there weren't people on either side slamming the doors or playing the TV loudly all night. The only comment I would make is that if you go to bed very early (before 9:00PM or so), you may want to consider how close your houseboat is to the nearest bridge across the canal. Because there is a much more pedestrian-centric culture there than here & we were so close to the bridge, we could hear conversations between groups of people crossing the bridge if they spoke loudly. This is the site we rented from, & the boat we rented was called the Christiaan. I don't see it on the site, though the exterior photo & description of being right on the water & near the bridge is exactly the same: http://www.amsterdam-houseboat.com/site/boat-eng.html