Amsterdam, from the water
The canals, slowly
Small open boats under the bridges of the canal ring, by day and by lamplight. Scroll, and sail along the houses.
Departures
Next boats from the quay
Every departure of the day, from the first canal ring at ten to the last lights cruise at half past nine.
| Time | Cruise | From | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 | The canal ringNext | Prinsengracht | 75 minutes |
| 10:15 | Jordaan by small boatNext | Prinsengracht | 45 minutes |
| 11:00 | The canal ringNext | Prinsengracht | 75 minutes |
| 11:00 | Jordaan by small boatNext | Prinsengracht | 45 minutes |
| 11:45 | Jordaan by small boatNext | Prinsengracht | 45 minutes |
| 12:00 | The canal ringNext | Prinsengracht | 75 minutes |
| 13:00 | The canal ringNext | Prinsengracht | 75 minutes |
| 14:00 | The canal ringNext | Prinsengracht | 75 minutes |
Cruises
Three ways onto the water
The canal ring by day, the lit bridges at night, and the narrow canals in a silent electric boat.
Daily, every hour from 10:00 to 17:00
The canal ring
The classic: the Westerkerk, the Golden Bend and the seven bridges, under a hundred bridges in an open boat.
- Duration
- 75 minutes
- Distance
- 6.1 km
- Price
- €26
Daily at 19:30, 20:30 and 21:30
Lights on the water
The evening cruise: the bridges lit with strings of lamps, the old harbour and the Amstel after dark.
- Duration
- 60 minutes
- Distance
- 4.3 km
- Price
- €32
Weekends, mornings and afternoons
Jordaan by small boat
A small electric boat into the narrow canals: low bridges, house boats and the corners big boats can't reach.
- Duration
- 45 minutes
- Distance
- 2.5 km
- Price
- €22
Along the way
What you see from the water
Towers, bridges and merchants' houses, and what the skipper does at each one.
Houses & museums
Anne Frank House
From the boat: A quiet minute on the water; the museum is booked separately
- seats at most
- 12
- our oldest boat
- 1898
- diesel engines
- 0
- skippers
- 4
Since our first boat in 2016.
Skippers
People who grew up on the water
Four skippers, a house boat childhood and twenty years on the Rhine between them.
Femke de Vries
Skipper, founder
Femke grew up on a house boat on the Prinsengracht and got her skipper's licence at eighteen. She started Slow Water with one boat and a thermos.
Skippers: De Reiger, an 1898 salon boat
Joost Bakker
Skipper
Joost knows the height of every bridge in the Jordaan to the centimetre, and which ones to duck under.
Skippers: The electric sloop Kwikstaart
Amira Haddad
Skipper, evening cruises
Amira skippers the evening cruises and tells the stories of the merchants' houses as their windows light up.
Skippers: The salon boat De Reiger
Sem Visser
Skipper
Sem was a cargo-barge skipper on the Rhine for twenty years before he came back to the canals he grew up on.
Skippers: The open boat Meeuw
Journal
Notes from the water
What to wear on the water
It is always a little cooler on a boat. Bring one layer more than you think.
Tips
Why the houses lean
Some lean forward on purpose, some lean sideways by accident. A short guide.
Stories
A letter from the canals, once a season
New cruises, the best weeks to come, and a story from the water. Four emails a year.
See you at the quay
Every hour from ten, by the Westerkerk. Bring one layer more than you think; we bring the blankets.