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My Shore Excursion
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Amsterdam Highlights with Private Boat Ride and Museum Visit

  • Private tour
  • Duration: 4 h
  • Up to 20 guests
  • Intense walking
  • Multiple languages

Overview

Amsterdam was built on water and money, and this private tour uses both: two hours in a boat of your own along canals dug in the 17th century, and a guided visit to one of the great museums at the end of it. Your guide walks you between the two through Dam Square and the Jordaan.

The tour covers:

  • A two-hour private canal cruise with photo stops
  • Dam Square, the Royal Palace and the Nieuwe Kerk
  • St Nicholas Basilica and the old harbour front
  • The Jordaan and its canals, courtyards and cafes
  • The Van Gogh Museum or the Rijksmuseum, admission included

Please note that the tour order and the time spent at each venue may vary.

What you will see

  • Two hours on the canals in a boat booked for your party alone
  • The Van Gogh Museum or the Rijksmuseum, with your guide inside
  • Dam Square, the Royal Palace and the church of the coronations
  • The Jordaan, the old workers' quarter Rembrandt died in
  • Gabled merchant houses, hoisting beams and houseboats

Itinerary

  1. Meeting by the ship

    Meeting by the ship. The start time of the tour is given approximately and will be adjusted depending on your ship arrival time. The exact meeting time will be specified on your confirmation letter.

  2. Dam Square and the Royal Palace

    Dam Square, where the dam that gave the city its name was thrown across the Amstel around 1270. The Royal Palace on its west side was built between 1648 and 1665 as the town hall of a republic grown rich on trade, and its scale was meant to say so; the Nieuwe Kerk beside it is where Dutch monarchs are still crowned.

  3. St Nicholas Basilica

    St Nicholas Basilica opposite the Central Station, finished in 1887 and named for the patron saint of sailors and of the city. Its neo-baroque front, with two towers and a rose window, is the first thing most arrivals used to see.

  4. Private canal cruise

    Two hours on the water in a boat taken for your group alone, with stops for photographs. The canal ring, dug in three great arcs during the 17th century and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2010. There are about a hundred and sixty-five canals, more than a thousand bridges and some two and a half thousand houseboats. The tall narrow houses along them were taxed on their width, which is why they are deep and thin and lean forward on hoisting beams.

  5. The Jordaan

    The Jordaan, laid out in 1612 for workers, artisans and immigrants and long the poorest quarter in the city. Rembrandt died here in a rented room. It is now a grid of narrow canals, small galleries, brown cafes and courtyard almshouses, and it shows the ordinary Dutch city better than any monument does.

  6. Museum Quarter

    The Museum Quarter, where the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk and the Van Gogh Museum stand within a few minutes of each other around a green square.

  7. Van Gogh Museum or Rijksmuseum

    A guided visit to whichever you choose. The Van Gogh Museum, opened in 1973, holds about two hundred paintings and five hundred drawings, by far the largest collection of his work, from the dark Dutch years to the sunflowers and the last summer at Auvers. The Rijksmuseum, in Pierre Cuypers' building of 1885, is the national collection of the Dutch Golden Age, with Rembrandt's Night Watch of 1642 at its centre and rooms of Vermeer, Hals and Steen around it.

  8. End of the tour

    The tour ends at Museum Square

Price includes

  • 4h private guide services
  • Van Gogh or Rijksmuseum visit
  • 2h private canal boat tour

Not included

  • Lunch
  • The transfer cost from cruise port to city center
  • Drop off in the port
  • Tips (recommended tips for guide: 10% of the tour cost, for driver: 5% of the tour cost)

Meeting point

The meeting point is located in the cruise terminal building. Please, make sure to read disembarkation instructions sent through email with other documentation.

Prices

PeoplePrice per person
1€861
2€443
3€309
4€238
5€195
6€169
7€154
8€136
PeoplePrice per person
9€125
10€115
11€105
12€100
13€102
14€97
15€92
16€88

Good to know

Visas and tour tickets

US and EU citizens need no visa or tour ticket to come ashore in Amsterdam.

Payment
  • A deposit of 50% is due when you book.
  • The balance is due on the day of the tour, in cash (euros) or by credit card.
  • Full payment is due when you book a single excursion.
  • You receive a confirmation as soon as your online payment goes through.
Cancellation
  • Tell us in writing if you or anyone in your party cancels a confirmed booking.
  • Deposits are refunded in full up to 72 hours before the tour.
  • Deposits are not refunded within 72 hours of the tour.
  • No refund is given for a no-show.
Availability and notes
  • Ask us about availability at least 48 hours before your ship reaches the port.
  • The schedule is adjusted to the arrival time of your ship.
  • The tour involves a fair amount of walking.
  • Wear comfortable shoes, dress for the weather and bring an umbrella just in case.
  • The tour is not suitable for guests with limited mobility.
  • Contact us first if you travel with a wheelchair or a mobility scooter.
  • The group is 20 people at most.
Tips and discounts
  • Children aged 7 to 17 and students pay 10% less.
  • Tips are not included in the price.
  • We suggest about 15% in total, split as 10% for your guide and 5% for your driver.
  • Please carry some cash for this, though tipping is always your choice.

Book this tour

from €88 / person

Estimated total €886

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