Comparisons & Decisions
Open Boat vs Covered Boat Canal Cruises: Which Is Right for You?
One of the first choices you'll make when booking a canal cruise in Amsterdam isn't the route or the operator — it's the boat itself. Some cruises run on fully open boats with no roof at all, great for unobstructed photos and fresh air on a sunny afternoon. Others run on covered, and sometimes heated, boats built to keep you dry and comfortable no matter what the sky is doing. Neither is objectively "better" — it depends on the season, the forecast, and what kind of experience you're after. Here's how to tell the difference and pick the right one, using real cruises and real specs rather than guesswork.
Open boats: better photos, but weather-dependent
Open boats have no fixed canopy over the seating area, so there's nothing between you and the canal houses, bridges and sky above. That makes a real difference for photos — no reflections off glass, no roof line cutting into your shots — and it's why open boats are popular for golden-hour and sunset cruises. The Amsterdam Flower Boat (starting at €22.50, 1 hour, rated 5 with 1,188 reviews) is a good example: it's built entirely around open-air views, with an onboard bar and a live guided tour. The trade-off is exactly what you'd expect — no roof means no shelter. If it rains, you get rained on; if it's cold and windy, you feel it. Open boats make the most sense from roughly April through September, on days with a decent forecast, or for shorter cruises (most run around an hour) where a bit of weather is easy to shrug off.
