Houseboats in Amsterdam

One of the most original ways to spend a holiday in Amsterdam is to sleep in a houseboat along the city’s picturesque and romantic canals.
Designed to cope with the city’s accommodation shortage, many of these have now been converted into modern B&Bs or luxurious boat hotels for the discerning tourist.

If you are looking for atmospheric accommodation for your stay in Amsterdam, this is the best choice. The houseboats are real flats and have a kitchen, living room, one or more bedrooms, bathroom and usually a small terrace from which to admire the canals. Although they are permanently moored within the canals, they are not damp or cold, being very well insulated.

Sleeping in a houseboat in Amsterdam allows you to fully appreciate the slow and quiet lifestyle of the Dutch.

Recommended boat hotels in Amsterdam

Houseboats used as accommodation for tourists are not all the same, the size and location vary. Larger, more modern houseboats are mostly moored outside the centre while smaller, historically significant ones can be found in the centre, even in smaller, more characteristic canals and or even along the Prinsengracht (Prince’s canal).

Below are some of them, choose the one that suits you best.

What are Houseboats?

The moment you set foot in Amsterdam, you cannot fail to notice dozens and dozens of Houseboats, real dwellings complete with every comfort, moored along the city’s maze of inland canals, where many inhabitants live on a regular basis.

Amsterdam’s Houseboats number just under 2,500 and were introduced after the Second World War, both to meet the city’s housing needs and to dispose of, or rather refit, the old cargo ships of the Dutch fleet that were no longer in use. With an average length of 25 metres, the houseboats, called Woonboot or Woonschip by the Dutch, literally houses for living, are usually made of wood and steel.

These little gems embody a refined and elegant lifestyle that the more romantic can experience by renting a houseboat for their stay.

At 296 Prinsengracht you will find the houseboat museum, theHouseboatmuseum, obviously set up inside a boat.