City Sightseeing Amsterdam – Hop-On Hop-Off Boat Tour – review

If you’re visiting Amsterdam and looking for a flexible and scenic way to explore the city, the Hop-On Hop-Off cruise by City Sightseeing Amsterdam is a fantastic option. This tour lets you navigate the picturesque canals of Amsterdam at your own pace, offering both convenience and a unique perspective of the city’s well-known landmarks.

On the City Sightseeing Amsterdam Hop-On Hop-Off tours, you can experience the city over 24 or 48 hours, and you have the freedom to decide from which of the seven points you want to embark or disembark.

The first boat leaves from Lovers, opposite Amsterdam Central Station, daily at 10:00 and the last one at 17:00. A boat then leaves every 25 minutes.

– Book your cruise with our exclusive discount code ‘THINGSTODO10’ and get 10% extra off –

One of the departure points is Central Station, with other strategically placed spots around the city.

The roof of the boat can come off in warmer weather, making this the ideal cruise for all seasons.

What to expect from the City Sightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off boat ride

The Lovers Hop-On Hop-Off cruise takes around two hours if you’re not stopping, and goes through some of the city’s main canals. You can start at any point of the route – you simply show your ticket on your phone, and you hop on. You can also get off at any stop that you like, and you can get back on after you’ve finished exploring or even visiting a museum.

For as long as your ticket is valid (24 or 48 hours) and the boat is running, you’ll be able to get on or off. On board the boat, you’ll also get basic earphones for GPS audio commentary in 18 languages, giving you interesting information and insights on the city and its landmarks.

With a roof that comes off in warm weather, this hop-on hop-off cruise is as suitable in winter as it is in summer. Kids under three can travel for free, while children between the ages of four and 13 get a reduced ticket price.

One of the Hop-On-Hop-Off boat trip stops, close to Leidseplein.

The captain guiding the boat through the picturesque canals.

The beauty of the hop-on hop-off concept is that you get to explore so much of Amsterdam on water.

The route and points of interest on the hop-on-hop-off Amsterdam

You’ll get a free map onboard, but if you want to plan your stops and visits ahead of time (recommended!), then you can download the free City Sightseeing Amsterdam from the App Store or Google Play. Here you’ll be able to see the boat routes, daily departure times, ticket sale locations, and info on the city’s attractions.

There are seven  hop-on hop-off points. The favoured stops are Jewish Historical Quarter, Royal Theatre Carré, Heineken Experience and Museum District. There’s also a stop at Gassan Diamonds, where you can enjoy free entry, and learn more about diamonds.

Great places to stop along your hop-on hop-off Amsterdam cruise include The National Maritime Museum with its replica VOC ship, Albert Cuyp Market, Anne Frank House (make sure you have booked in advance if you want to visit), Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum,

The hop-on hop-off cruise also takes you past other iconic spots like the Skinny Bridge, Westerkerk, NEMO Science Museum, Red Light District, Jordaan and Leidseplein.

An audioguide is available in 18 languages, so that you can learn more about the city as you cruise.

At each departure point, the captain will dock for a short period, allowing passengers to get off, and others to get on.

There’s a very handy free City Sightseeing Amsterdam app, which has great information on the landmarks, and departure points.

Add a Lovers hop-on hop-off bus to your boat ride

In addition to the boat tour, Lovers also offers a combination ticket that includes the hop-on hop-off bus. This is a great way to complement your canal exploration as you get to see the best of the city from land and water. And with the vantage point of a double decker bus, you really do get a great view of things you might otherwise not see from boat, bike or car.

The bus has the same concept as the boat – you can get on and off as you wish when your ticket is valid, you get audio commentary along the way, and the first departure is at 10:00 and the last is at 17:00, from Central Station West. There are 10 stops, and the full loop takes around 65 minutes. If you don’t find a seat on the top, you don’t need to panic – you’ll likely get one as soon as someone disembarks at one of the many points.

A big bonus about the adding the bus segment is that you can mix between land and water. Picture getting off the boat by Museumplein, going to a museum in the area or even lunch in the Oud Zuid neighbourhood, and then hopping on a bus until your next hop-off point.

With a combi boat-bus ticket, you can mix and match between water and land, and enjoy the city from both vantage points.

The bus has the same setup as the boat, allowing you to get on and get off at any of the departure points across the city.

The beautiful Rijksmuseum is one of the landmarks worth hopping off for.

Being high up on the bus means you have another great viewing point from which to see buildings, restaurants, shops and people.

You still get to see a lot of water and beautiful canal sights, even from the bus.

– Book your cruise with our exclusive discount code ‘THINGSTODO10’ and get 10% extra off –

Conclusion

The Lovers Hop-On Hop-Off boat ride through Amsterdam was a fun and easy way to experience the city, combining flexibility, convenience and great sightseeing. While not essential to add on, the bus was also enjoyable, and it was cool to mix and match.

If you have a list of things you “must” see or do in Amsterdam while on the boat or your stops, then it’s advisable to plan your journey with the app so that you can tick everything off your list. We went with the flow, so to speak, getting off the boat at one point to get coffee and snacks before hopping back on a bus to savour a beautiful sightseeing day on both land and water.

While the audioguide on the bus was perfectly timed, the water guide wasn’t as accurate, and we got two repeats of generic Amsterdam info for the first 25 minutes or so, and missed landmark information. However, the app could fill in gaps for us, and it was still happy “sailing” through this magnificent city.