De 10 beste rondvaarten en boottochten in Amsterdam in 2026 (door mijzelf getest)

📌 Meeting Point

• 🗺️ Near the Rijksmuseum: Museumbrug 2, 1073 AX Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 🗺️ Near Central Station: Prins Hendrikkade 33b, 1012 TM Amsterdam, Netherlands

🗼 Itinerary

• Captain Jack canal cruises follows a standard Amsterdam inner-city itinerary, but unlike most companies, they cruise the route counterclockwise, which I found quite enjoyable.

🚢 The Ship

• The boat has a capacity for up to 20 passengers. The sides are 50–50% split between semi-permanent wooden sidewalls and a temporary winter cover. The entire roof is also temporary.

• There’s comfortable padded seating with (Flagship branded?) pillows and a mini bar table in the middle where you can access snacks and drinks.
• Winter: The ship is well insulated but not heated, which on the positive side means there is no fogging of windows. I did not feel cold when I was in November. You get 360° panoramic views through the large windows.
• Summer: Both the wooden sidewalls and temporary covers are removed, and the boat becomes fully open-air.

📌 Food And Drinks

• I have tried several “unlimited food and drinks” cruises, but this one had the most extensive selection of all.
• They had a variety of typical Dutch food that everyone would love to taste, such as stroopwafel, Christmas ginger cookies, Gouda cheese, sausage, crackers, and more.
• The cruise also offered a wide range of soft drinks, wines, beers, and possibly even Prosecco.

📌 Crew

• On this particular canal cruise, there was only a captain on board, instead of the usual captain and service crewman who serve food and drinks.
• I really enjoyed the experience. The captain was an old-school sailor who fit the role perfectly and was a great storyteller, with a deep and distinct Arnold Schwarzenegger-like voice and accent. The pace of the stories was relaxed, and I appreciated the personal style of storytelling.
• Additionally, the cruise took a counterclockwise route in the canal, which was a refreshing change from the usual clockwise route taken by most cruises.

🎙️ Live Commentary by Skipper

• Instead of a fixed audio guide, Captain Jack offers live narration in English on their cruises. The skipper I got was an older guy who exactly fit in the role of Captain.

• He was quite charismatic and his storytelling was informative and pleasant to listen to. He was happy to answer any questions we had during the cruise.

📌 Meeting Point

• 🗺️ Near Central Station: Prins Hendrikkade 20B, 1012 TL Amsterdam, Netherlands

🗼 Itinerary

• Lover’s Canal cruises follow the standard Amsterdam inner-city itinerary without any major differences from most other companies.
  

🚢 The Ship

• The boat has a capacity for up to 60 passengers. There’s a main indoor passenger area with tables and seats (4 and 6 seats/table) and also a covered but open-air area in the back. The seats were comfortable.

• Winter: The ship is well-insulated and heated. In fact, I felt it was a bit overheated, so I had to open the windows. You can enjoy a 360° panoramic view through the large windows.

• Summer: The ship is permanently covered, so it doesn’t change in comparison to winter. To stay cool, the windows can be opened. The back open-air area loses its temporary cover, which means clear panoramic views.

📌 Food And Drinks

• Not available during this cruise.

📌 Crew

• During the canal cruise I went on, there was only one crewmember on board, the Captain. He introduced himself as Captain Sparrow and had a laid-back personality that made everyone feel at ease. Throughout the trip, he kept us entertained with his humorous remarks about the various sights we saw along the way.
• He also made sure to point out where we needed to look to see what the audio guide was explaining at any given time. Overall, Captain Sparrow really set the tone for a fun and enjoyable canal cruise.

📌 Audio Guide via Earbuds

• There’s an audio guide available in 12 languages (Arabic, German, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Portuguese, Japanese, English, Italian, French, Dutch, Spanish). The content quality is great, and I found it interesting.
• The Captain (“Jack Sparrow”) was a cheeky fellow. He really set the tone with his introduction and shared funny and interesting comments during the cruise.

• There are disposable earbuds available that you can plug into the audio guide on the walls at each table. It’s nice, but not too environmentally friendly. You can also use your own earbuds.
• I missed some of the narration due to a bad connection between the earbud cable and the audio guide. I tried both the disposable and my own earbuds, but I got the same effect.

📌 Meeting Point

• 🗺️ Near Central Station: Stationsplein 26, 1012 TM Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 🗺️ Near Rijksmuseum: Museumbrug 1, 1017 RW Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 🗺️ Near Anna Frank House: Prinsengracht 263, 1016 GV Amsterdam, Netherlands

🗼 Itinerary

• Flagship cruises follow the standard Amsterdam inner-city itinerary without any major differences from most other companies.

🚢 The Ship

• The boat has a capacity for up to 30–35 passengers. The sides are 25–75% split between semi-permanent wooden sidewalls and a temporary winter cover. The entire roof is also temporary.
• There’s comfortable padded seating with pillows and a mini bar table in the middle where you can access snacks and drinks.

• Winter: The ship isn’t well insulated or heated, and I felt cold during my cruise in November. It was raining, and the water leaked in at certain spots.
• The visibility was not great through the plastic covers due to the darkness and rain. The views were slightly better through the glass windows.
• Summer: The ships become fully open air during the warmer seasons, and this is when this cruise becomes a hundred times better. They may switch up the boats slightly, but you can expect something similar to what you get in winter.

📌 Food And Drinks

• The drink selection on board includes a variety of beers, wines, spirits, and even prosecco.
• Only Gouda cheese is available during the cruise, in soft and hard variety.

• Attending the cruise doesn't require purchasing the unlimited food or drinks option; you can opt for a regular sightseeing cruise and buy what you need on board.
• Alternatively, if you originally purchased the cheaper option, you can upgrade your ticket on the spot.

📌 Crew

• During the cruise, there was a full crew consisting of a captain and service crew woman.
• The crew made sure we were entertained and well taken care of throughout the journey. I cannot recall the name of the female crew member, but she was extremely accommodating and ensured that we always had food and drinks in our hands. Overall, it was a fairly decent experience.

🎙️ Live Commentary by Skipper

• Instead of a fixed audio guide, Flagship offers live narration in English on their cruises.
• The narration was both entertaining and informative and the skipper was happy to answer any questions we had during the cruise.
• The cruise had more of an “eat, drink, and get drunk” vibe, and not so much on sightseeing. However, this was heavily influenced by the fact that the weather was dreadful, and couldn’t see anything outside.

📌 Meeting Point

• 🗺️ Near Rijksmuseum: Stadhouderskade 501, 1071 ZD Amsterdam
• 🗺️ Near Heineken Experience: Stadhouderskade 550, 1072 AE Amsterdam

🗼 Itinerary

• Blue Boat cruises follow the standard Amsterdam inner-city itinerary without any major differences from most other companies.

🚢 The Ship

• The boat has a capacity for up to 55 passengers. There’s a main indoor passenger area with tables and seats (4 seats/table) and also an uncovered open-air area in the back.

• Winter: The ship is well insulated and heated, which on the positive side means there is no fogging of windows. I did not feel cold when I was in November. You get 360° panoramic views through the large windows. The seats were comfortable.

• Summer: The ship is permanently covered, so it doesn’t change in comparison to winter. To stay cool, the windows can be opened.

📌 Food And Drinks

• The regular sightseeing cruise ticket does not come with any food or drinks. However, I decided to upgrade my ticket for an additional cost of 10 euros, which included a snack box.

• The snack box had a soft drink (or beer or wine), chips, popcorn, peanuts, and stroopwafel. It wasn’t anything exceptional, but if you want some snacks to munch on, it’s a decent option.

📌 Crew

• During the cruise, there was only one captain on board. However, he didn’t introduce himself or engage with the passengers in any way. He was solely focused on driving the ship. As a result, the atmosphere on the boat was duller compared to other cruises where the captain was more interactive and entertaining.

📌 Audio Guide via Earbuds

• There’s an audio guide available in 19 languages (Spanish, Turkish, Traditional Chinese, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian).
• The sound and content quality are great, and I found it interesting. However, the narration is too sparse (at least initially), and I felt the narration parts were too short. Additionally, it doesn’t point out which side to look at when discussing buildings.
• The Captain didn’t introduce himself and wasn’t an active participant in the cruise. As a result, the cruise felt flatter.
• There are disposable earbuds available that you can plug into the audio guide on the walls at each table. It’s nice, but not too environmentally friendly. You can also use your own earbuds.

📌 Meeting Point

• 🗺️ Near City Center Oudezijds Voorburgwal 230, 1012 GK Amsterdam, Netherlands

🗼 Itinerary

• Friendship cruises follow the standard Amsterdam inner-city itinerary without any major differences from most other companies.

🚢 The Ship

• The boat has a capacity for up to 24 passengers. It’s fully covered by a temporary winter cover, including the sides and the roof. It was the flimsiest cover out of all the cruises.
• There’s comfortable padded seating with pillows and a mini bar table in the middle where you can access snacks and drinks.

• Winter: The ship is not well insulated and isn’t heated. I was freezing during my cruise in November, which detracted a lot from the experience. I couldn’t see much over the plastic windows and it was leaking in many spots.

• Summer: The temporary covers are removed, and the boat becomes fully open-air when this cruise, like all the others, becomes a lot more enjoyable.

📌 Food And Drinks

• This cruise offers a variety of drinks, including cocktails, wines, beers, prosecco, and energy drinks. Guests can purchase drinks individually or opt for the unlimited consumption package.
• Food is not served on board.

📌 Crew

• We were fortunate to have a captain and two servicemen on board, which made our cruise experience all the more enjoyable.
• The captain himself narrated the entire cruise and made it an interactive experience. We were able to ask questions and engage in conversations with him during the cruise.
• Additionally, we were well taken care of when it came to food and drinks. All in all, it was a decent cruise.

🎙️ Live Commentary by Skipper

• Instead of a fixed audio guide, Friendship offers live narration in English on their cruises. Each skipper is different, and I enjoyed our young skipper’s narration, mostly because it was like a conversation. Naturally, he was happy to answer any questions we had during the cruise.