Blue Boat Company

Blue Boat Company is one of Amsterdam's established canal cruise operators, running guided tours through the city's UNESCO-listed waterway network. The canals of Amsterdam stretch for roughly 100 kilometres and date back to the Dutch Golden Age of the seventeenth century, when merchants built the concentric ring of waterways that still defines the city's layout today.

The company's 75-minute small open boat canal cruise takes passengers along the principal waterways of the grachtengordel, passing the Westerkerk, the Anne Frank House, and the grand merchant houses of the Herengracht and Prinsengracht. The open boat format keeps groups small and offers unobstructed views of the canal facades, bridges, and houseboats that line the routes. It is a practical and well-regarded way to understand Amsterdam's urban geography from the water level at which the city was always meant to be seen.