Cruising Amsterdam's Canals

Amsterdam, and indeed all of the Netherlands, is defined by its relationship to water. Chock full of canals, Amsterdam is in many ways a floating city, defiantly built on top of the Amstel River.

It's no wonder that one of the best ways to see the city is via a canal cruise. Fortunately for visitors, there are lots of canal cruises that suit just about every traveler's needs, comfort level, and crowd size preference. Want a bigger boat with lots of strangers? Amsterdam's got you covered. Prefer private cruises, or even drive yourself tours? Yup. Amsterdam's got those, too.

If, however, you want something a little in between, with a few other couples, a smaller boat, but still an intimate experience, then I highly recommend the option that my mother and I went with, Pure Boats. Pure Boats focuses on more upscale, quieter, relaxing tours helmed by captain James, who left his home in the UK to start this boat operation with his partner. Even though James was not a long term resident, he was still quite knowledgable about the city, pointing out interesting facts as we went, sharing his own experience with the city, and just providing a relaxed cruise through the quaint canals.

We sailed on the Geertje on their shared cruise. Leaving out of the upscale Jordaan neighborhood, this all inclusive tour includes food and drink throughout your sailing. Starting things off with glasses of wine, beer and/or water, as well as a food platter with lots of local delicacies (try the stroopwafles if you haven't already) and charcuterie, you begin the tour by getting to know everyone on board. At least, that's what our group did, but that might have been because we were all Americans. And if you know any Americans, then you know we love to make chit chat. Our group comprised of several couples, my mother and I, and another mother/daughter couple, most of us first time visitors to the city. We all finished the tour in good spirits and high praise for the experience we had all just taken together. Below, see some of the sights along the cruise, and when in Amsterdam, make sure you also do a canal cruise!

Due to the city having been built on water, houses have begun to shift dramatically over the centuries, making for some amusing sights, with buildings leaning onto their neighbors, as seen below.

Below, the Muntorren, or "Munt," rises above the flower market area of the city. Originally built in the 1480's, a devastating fire destroyed it in 1618, though it was rebuilt around 1620 in the Dutch Renaissance style. It was named after the mint that operated out of here in the 17th century. If you visit the area, you can hear the tower's bells chime every fifteen minutes.

Cruising through the canals gives you an interest perspective of those going about their lives on the streets above. Revelers (this is Amsterdam, after all), diners, those out for a stroll, sight seers - they're all there for you to gander at, and they you.

Next, we turned into the Red Light District, perhaps Amsterdam's most notorious neighborhoods.

There, the boats were a bit fuller, and we passed by a boat that was having a dance party - however, to keep the noise down, the guests on the boat wore ear phones that allowed each person to listen to their own music, allowing them to have a private dance party, except all as a group. This was my first time witnessing such a thing, known as a Silent Disco Cruise, and I'll admit, it looked quite amusing. I was so surprised by it that I don't even have a picture or video of it, but be sure to keep your eyes peeled when you take your own Amsterdam canal cruise, or join in on the fun yourself!

In both pictures (above and below) you can see the spires of the Basiliek van de Heilige Nicolaas (Basilica of Saint Nicholas), the city's primary Catholic Church. It's relatively new compared to some of Amsterdam's equally famous religious buildings, having been built in the 1880s, compared to the Oude Kirk (Old Church), which was established in 1306. For being such a liberal city, Amsterdam has its fair share of iconic religious buildings, which are great landmarks to use to navigate yourself around the city, never mind to explore their interesting characteristics on their own.

According to James, the photo below is of one of the most photographed corners of Amsterdam's canals, because it doesn't have an outlet and looks closed. As I was editing the picture, I asked Ben's opinion on whether I should do it in black and white. Here is our conversation:

Ben: I like the black and white, it feels very film noir-ish. Like there should be a lady in a black dress walking down the street.

Me: I hear ya, but you know, there are no streets.

Ben: You know what I mean. Like Sam Spade should be just around the corner. It feels very much like the Maltese Falcon.

What say you, readers? Femme fatale right around the corner? Nefarious characters lurking in the shadows? Or just a little slice of Amsterdam life?

View of Amsterdam Centraal Station, a really lovely building that I used to take my trip to Paris, France the week earlier.

Below are a few of the buildings that surround Centraal, right near the border of the IJ, or Amsterdam's main waterfront.

I found it endlessly amusing and endearing how much the Dutch love their bikes (and, to be honest, it's something many of us could learn from). This was one of the biggest bike parking garages I had seen - the city created this bicycle parking garage to curtail the immense amount of bikes parked around Centraal station. For more information, visit here.

Across the IJ is the A'DAM, one of Amsterdam's best viewpoints, that somehow eluded me on this journey. In fact, I never once ventured to the other side of the IJ, though I now have some ideas for how to spend my next two weeks in Amsterdam, should I have the privilege again. Next door to the A'DAM is the EYE Film Museum.

As you enter the IJ and then head back towards the city's more famous canals, you notice the architecture begin to take on a more modern feel. I highly enjoyed it, but I imagine it can feel sort of jarring when you are expecting 17th century, stepped gable style, but I found the juxtaposition intriguing. Below is the Paleis van Justitie (Palace of Justice, or the city's major courthouse).

Next we came across Wolf Atelier, a restaurant located on an old rotary bridge. This is another place on my future travels to Amsterdam itinerary.

But as we dipped back into the city's canals, the familiar Dutch Rennaisance style architecture began to reappear, with its step, bell, neck and other gables to greet you.

Cruising through the canals introduces you to many houseboats, some more intriguing than others.

But ultimately, a cruise through Amsterdam's canals gives you a new perspective on the lifeblood of this water-centric city. Its canals are one of the major factors that intrigue outsiders, and charm all who come to see them. Whether you're admiring the beauty of the buildings, the lovely plants, the interesting life happening above you, or just looking for nothing more than a sail, a trip to Amsterdam is not complete without a canal cruise!

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Cruising Amsterdam's Canals Details

This map above is a general look at the path we took, though because I used it as a walking tour, it followed roads in a more expeditious route than the one we took by water. However, I hope it gives you a general idea of where the cruise went, and the sights we saw along the way.

As mentioned above, we used Pure Boats and would highly recommend them. Our tour, which departed from the Jordaan neighborhood at 5:30pm and returned at 7:30pm was very informative, very comfortable, the folks were easy to communicate with in regards to booking the tour, included good food and drink - really, the perfect way to spend a few hours on the canals of Amsterdam!