Open Boat Canal Tour with Live Guide Utrecht

The Oudegracht and its Wharves

The Oudegracht, or Old Canal, winds through the centre of Utrecht and is unlike any other canal in the Netherlands. In the Middle Ages merchants built wharves at water level and dug vaulted storage spaces beneath the streets, so goods could be unloaded straight from boats into their warehouses. The result is a canal on two levels: the street above with its shops and houses, and below it a quay lined with old brick vaults just above the water.

Today many of these wharf vaults have become cafes, restaurants and terraces, and from a low open boat you see them at eye level, which makes an Utrecht boat tour so special. Your captain explains how the canal worked, why the wharves were built and how the city brought them back to life. Summer evenings and sunny spring days are the best time to visit, when the terraces are full and the water sparkles.

The Dom Tower

Rising 112 metres above the old town, the Dom Tower is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands and the symbol of Utrecht. It was built between 1321 and 1382 as the bell tower of St. Martin's Cathedral. In 1674 a violent storm destroyed the nave of the cathedral, leaving the tower standing alone, separated from the rest of the church by what is now the Domplein square.

From the canal you catch the tower between rooftops and trees, one of the classic views of the city. If you want to go higher, Dom Tower tickets give access to a guided climb of 465 steps to the top for views as far as Amsterdam on clear days; it makes a perfect pairing with your cruise. The captain points out how the tower dominates the skyline and shares stories of the storm that changed the cathedral forever.

Sonnenborgh Observatory and the City Moat

The tour continues along the Singel, the moat that once protected Utrecht and now forms a green ring of parks and gardens around the old town. Here stands Sonnenborgh, a bastion built in the sixteenth century as part of the city's defences and turned into an astronomical and weather observatory in the nineteenth century. Its white domes on top of the old earthworks are a surprising sight from the water.

Part of the moat was restored in recent years after decades as a road, bringing water back to its original course around the city. Gliding along the Singel is a quieter, greener contrast to the busy Oudegracht, with trees reflected in the water and herons often standing on the banks.

The Stadsschouwburg and Practical Tips

Near the end of the route you pass the Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, the city theatre opened in 1941 and admired for its clean modernist lines beside the moat. The boat then returns through the canals to the wharf at Oudegracht 99, next to where you boarded, after about an hour on the water.

Because the boat is open, dress for the weather: warm clothing on cool days and sun protection in summer. Utrecht is only about 25 minutes by train from Amsterdam, and the boarding point is a 10-minute walk from Utrecht Centraal through the old town, so a day trip to Utrecht with this cruise is easy. Crew dressed in blue wait for you on the dock.