Panorama Glass-Roof Canal Cruise with Open Deck Amsterdam

Prinsengracht and Westerkerk, the departure point

The default 75-minute cruise starts on Prinsengracht right beside Westerkerk, one of the most beautiful spots in the Canal Ring. Completed in 1631, the church has an 85-metre tower topped with a blue crown, the tallest church tower in the old city, and its carillon chimes over the water while you board.

Prinsengracht is the outermost of the three main canals of the 17th-century ring and the most relaxed, lined with elms, colourful houseboats and canal houses with every kind of gable. Boarding here, away from the busy station area, makes for a calm start. If you choose the one-hour option instead, you board at Central Station and see the same highlights in a different order.

The Jordaan, Noorderkerk and the Nine Streets

From Westerkerk the boat turns into the Jordaan, a 17th-century district built for craftsmen, workers and immigrants, with narrow streets named after flowers and trees and many hidden almshouse courtyards. Once crowded and poor, it is now one of the most charming and sought-after neighbourhoods in the city, full of galleries, small shops and cafés.

At its heart stands the Noorderkerk, completed in 1623 on a simple Greek-cross plan for the people of the Jordaan; on the square outside, the Noordermarkt hosts a farmers' market on Saturdays and a textile market on Mondays. The cruise also passes the Nine Streets, short shopping lanes between the main canals, where every bridge offers a picture-perfect view.

Herengracht and the UNESCO Canal Ring

Herengracht, the Gentlemen's Canal, was the most prestigious address of the Golden Age, where wealthy merchants built double-width mansions with grand staircases and decorated facades. The stretch known as the Golden Bend, between Leidsestraat and Vijzelstraat, has some of the finest houses in Amsterdam, and the glass roof lets you look up at their gables without leaning out.

Together with Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht, Herengracht forms the Canal Ring dug from 1613 and listed by UNESCO in 2010 as a masterpiece of urban planning. Your skipper explains how the canals were used for transport and trade, why the houses are tall and narrow, and how hoisting beams at the top were used to lift goods to the attics.

The Amstel, the Skinny Bridge and the H'ART Museum

Leaving the canals, the boat reaches the wide Amstel river, which gave the city its name. The Magere Brug, or Skinny Bridge, crosses it in white painted wood; the current double drawbridge dates from 1934, still opens for passing boats and is outlined with small lights at night, making it one of the most photographed bridges in Amsterdam.

Beside the river stands the long classical façade of the Amstelhof, built in the 1680s as a residence for elderly women and now the H'ART Museum, known for major international art exhibitions. From the open rear deck you get a clear view of both, with the river opening wide in front of you, a good moment for family photos.

The old harbour: NEMO, the Maritime Museum and the IJ

The cruise continues to the Oosterdok, the old eastern harbour, where the green copper-clad NEMO Science Museum rises like the bow of a giant ship over the entrance to the IJ tunnel. Opposite stands the National Maritime Museum in a naval storehouse of 1656, with a full-size replica of an 18th-century trading ship moored outside, a favourite with children.

From here the boat reaches the IJ, the broad waterway behind Central Station, where city ferries cross to Amsterdam Noord and the A'DAM Tower and the white EYE building stand on the far bank. The red-brick station, opened in 1889 on artificial islands, is the starting point of the one-hour option, and the boat then returns through the canals to Westerkerk.