Amsterdam Canal Cruise

Goedemorgen from Amsterdam, my water-loving wanderers! I've arrived in the Dutch capital, a city built on water and organized around an ingenious system of concentric canals that UNESCO has recognized as a World Heritage Site. There are 165 canals here, crossed by 1,281 bridges, and the only way to truly understand the city is to see it from the water. So I boarded a canal boat, settled onto a bench with a Dutch beer, and spent an afternoon gliding past four centuries of history. It's the best €20 I've spent on this trip.

The canal belt (grachtengordel) was dug in the 17th century during Amsterdam's Golden Age, when Dutch traders dominated global commerce and the city exploded with wealth. The canal houses reflect that prosperity: narrow facades (you were taxed by width, so everyone built tall instead), ornate gables in various styles, and those distinctive hooks at the top (for hoisting furniture through windows—the staircases were too narrow). Each house tells a story. Our guide pointed out the tilting buildings (the wooden pilings they're built on sometimes shift), the hidden Catholic churches (Protestantism was official, but worship was allowed if not visible), and the occasional houseboat where eccentric artists live to this day.

The boat passed through the Jordaan, a neighborhood that was working-class in the 17th century and is extremely fashionable today. Artists and craftsmen originally filled these streets; now it's bougie boutiques and Instagram-perfect cafés. The transition is visible in the architecture: smaller houses, narrower canals, a more intimate scale than the grand merchant canals. Anne Frank's house is here, a solemn reminder amid the charm. I visited the museum separately—the contrast between the cheerful canal outside and the hidden annex inside is devastating and essential.

Beyond the famous center, our cruise ventured into lesser-known waterways. The Eastern Docklands, once abandoned industrial harbor, is now cutting-edge architecture rising from the water. The Amsterdam-Noord, across the IJ river, has become the city's creative hub with repurposed warehouses housing galleries and music venues. And the houseboats! Amsterdam has over 2,500 official houseboats, ranging from rusty old barges to sleek modern floating homes worth millions of euros. Some have rooftop gardens. Some have cats watching from windows. All of them made me wonder why more cities don't embrace water living.

What struck me most about Amsterdam was its livability. Bikes outnumber cars (and will run you over if you're not careful—stay out of the bike lanes!). Public transportation is excellent. Parks and green spaces appear regularly. The famously liberal policies on certain substances create an oddly relaxed atmosphere where people seem genuinely uninterested in judging others. Whether this creates utopia or problems depends on your politics, but the city functions—beautifully, efficiently, and with a tolerance that feels refreshing after more conservative destinations.

If you're visiting Amsterdam, take a canal cruise early in your trip for orientation—you'll understand the city's layout much better afterward. Walk or bike the canal rings; the best views are from the bridges at dusk when the lights reflect on the water. Visit the major museums (Van Gogh, Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House) but balance them with neighborhood wandering. And try the cheese—the Dutch cheese is exceptional, sold from dedicated shops where they'll let you sample a dozen varieties. Amsterdam is tourist-heavy, sure, but it's also genuinely delightful. The canals have been charming visitors for four hundred years. They're good at it. 🌵🚲🇳🇱