10 Best Amsterdam Hotels with a Canal View

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Amsterdam Canal View Hotels

Which Canal to Face

The canal ring is the medieval Singel plus three main canals dug from 1613, and UNESCO lists the whole area as a World Heritage site. Each canal looks different from a hotel window.

• Herengracht for Mansions: Built for the richest merchants, the Herengracht has the grandest houses on the ring. A room here looks across at broad stone facades and big sash windows. Pick it for the most formal view.
• Keizersgracht for Open Water: As the widest of the three main canals, the Keizersgracht gives a facing room more water and more light. Tour boats pass all day, and the houses opposite sit further back than on the narrower canals.
• Prinsengracht by the Jordaan: Longest of the main canals, the Prinsengracht runs along the edge of the Jordaan. In its northern half rises the Westertoren, the tallest church tower in the old centre.
• Singel Closest to Dam Square: Once the medieval city moat, the Singel is the innermost canal of the ring. It runs from near Centraal Station down to the Muntplein, so it’s the closest canal to Dam Square.

How to Get a Room That Faces the Water

• Pick the Room Type With the View: Pick a room type with canal view in its name, because a standard room in the same hotel faces the back. If the canal room is sold out on your dates, move the dates before you settle for a back room.
• Go Higher in Summer: Amsterdam has more than 75,000 elms, and many of them line the canal quays. In summer their leaves screen the water from a first-floor window, so ask for the second floor or higher.
• Winter Opens the View: Bare branches in winter open the view from lower floors. At the smaller canal houses, the cheapest midweek nights in January and February cost half the peak-weekend rate or less.

Stairs and Luggage in Canal Houses

Many small hotels on the canals sit in centuries-old houses protected by zoning laws, which makes adding a lift difficult. The top floors have the best views and the longest climb.

• Expect Steep Stairs: Canal house staircases are narrow and close to a ladder in places. Check whether your building has a lift before you book a room on the top floor.
• Pack Light: A big suitcase is hard work up a canal house staircase and over the humped bridges between the tram and your door. Two small bags carry more easily than one large one.
• Ask Ahead for a Lower Floor: Tell the hotel at booking if stairs are a problem. Ask for a room on the first or second floor, and check which floors the lift reaches if there is one.

Busy Days on the Canals

A few times a year the canals fill with boats and the quays fill with people. A canal-view room on those days is a front-row seat, and it sells early.

• King’s Day in Late April: King’s Day turns the canals into a floating street party, with boats packed with people in orange from the morning. Expect music on the water until evening, and book months ahead.
• Canal Parade in Early August: Pride’s Canal Parade runs on the first Saturday of August, with dozens of decorated boats along the Prinsengracht. Hundreds of thousands of people line the bridges and quays to watch.
• Light Festival in Winter: From late November into January, artworks lit up along the canals make up the Amsterdam Light Festival. Evening boat routes run past them, and a walking route links the artworks on foot.

Getting to the Canal Ring From Schiphol

Direct trains link Schiphol and Amsterdam Centraal in 15 to 17 minutes. From Centraal, the canal ring starts a short walk south.

• Take the Train First: Trains leave Schiphol for Centraal every few minutes by day and hourly through the small hours. The platforms are right under the airport’s arrivals plaza, so there’s no shuttle to find.
• Then Walk or Take a Taxi: Hotels on the Singel and the northern canals are a walk from Centraal with light bags. For the southern stretch of the ring, a taxi from the rank at Centraal saves dragging cases over the bridges.

Walks Right Outside the Door

Staying on the canal ring puts some of the city’s best walks at the front step. Both walks are best early, before the crowds.

• Nine Streets for Coffee Stops: Nine short lanes cross the canals between the Singel and the Prinsengracht, lined with small shops and cafes. They’re the easiest place to stop for coffee between canal walks.
• Brouwersgracht at First Light: Linking the Singel and the three main canals, the Brouwersgracht marks the northern edge of the ring. Its old warehouses have been turned into homes, and the corner with the Herengracht is a favourite photo stop.

FAQs

1. Is a canal view room worth the extra in Amsterdam?

Yes, on a first trip, because the canal outside the window is the picture most people came for. Put the extra toward the canal room before a bigger room or a suite. On a short stay spent out sightseeing, a back room matters less. A back room in a canal hotel still puts the canal right outside the front door.

2. Is it better to stay in the Jordaan or on the canal ring?

Stay on the canal ring if the view is the point, because the four ring canals hold the grandest canal houses and most canal-house hotels. The Jordaan is next door, west of the Prinsengracht, with narrower streets, small bars and fewer hotels. It’s a few minutes’ walk from the western canals. So you can sleep on the ring and spend your evenings in the Jordaan.

3. How many canals does Amsterdam have?

Amsterdam has more than 160 canals, adding up to over 100 kilometres of water. Around 90 islands sit between them, linked by more than 1,500 bridges. The four ring canals, the Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht, are the ones lined with canal-house hotels. Smaller cross canals such as the Leidsegracht and Reguliersgracht link them, and the outer Singelgracht marks the edge of the area UNESCO protects.

4. Can you swim in the Amsterdam canals?

Swimming in the canals isn’t officially encouraged, and boat traffic makes it a poor idea on the ring. Locals do swim at a handful of spots around the city. The yearly Amsterdam City Swim takes thousands of swimmers through the canals to raise money for ALS research. For a dip, the city’s lakes and swimming spots outside the centre are the easier bet.

5. How far ahead should you book a canal view room?

Book as soon as your dates are fixed if you’re coming on a spring or summer weekend. At several canal-house hotels, canal rooms sell out on peak weekends while back rooms are still on sale. Midweek dates in January and February are the easiest to find. If your first pick is full, try moving the stay by a day before switching hotels.

6. What is the Golden Bend in Amsterdam?

The Golden Bend is a stretch of the Herengracht lined with the grandest double-fronted mansions in the city. Wealthy merchants built there in the 17th century, and many of the houses have coach houses and long gardens behind them. It’s a short walk south of the Nine Streets, and a canal boat tour shows the facades from the water.

7. Which Amsterdam canal hotels have a lift?

Hotel Estheréa and Banks Mansion both have lifts in their canal houses. Amsterdam Wiechmann Hotel has none, and its stairs are narrow and steep, so ask for a low floor there. Anywhere else, ask whether there’s a lift and which floors it reaches before you book a top-floor canal room.