The City of Canals

In May 2018, Debra and I spent five days in the Netherlands – three days of sightseeing in Amsterdam and two days on tours in other parts of the country. We had a fabulous time! Click HERE to read a short introduction. 
 
This story, which is part of a series, is about the canals of Amsterdam.

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Amsterdam, Netherlands (May 8, 2018) "The City of Canals" is a travel story about Venice, right? After all, Venice is THE city most often associated with canals. Well, yes it is, but no this isn’t. You see, I’ve never been to Venice (maybe one day), so I can’t write a first-person travel narrative (which is what I write) about the City of Water, as Venice is sometimes called. 

I have been to Amsterdam though, so I can write a personal travel story about ITS picturesque canals, which date to the 16th and 17th centuries.

Fun Fact #1
Amsterdam has over 165 canals with a total length of 31 miles.
​(Venice: 150 canals with a total length of 26 miles.)

When I did my research for this story, I learned that Amsterdam was one of many cities in northern Europe with a network of canals, including Bruges, St. Petersburg, and Stockholm. These four cities and a few others earned the moniker “Venice of the North.” 

Some people (mostly Venetians, I suspect!) objected to this nickname. They argued that “Venice was the only Venice” – that it was a unique “aquapolis” (a city on the water), and no other city, with or without canals, was like it. As I said, I’ve not been to Venice, so I can’t say one way or the other. But I’m happy to give Venice its due, and instead call Amsterdam the “City of Canals”.

Fun Fact #2
1,281 bridges transverse the canals.
​(Venice has 800 bridges.)

From the air (a view that Debra and I did not have), the network of canals, which increase in size from the center of the city, looks like the lower half of a spiderweb. Moving out from the center of this “web,” the prominent canals are Singlegracht, Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht. “Gracht,” by the way, is Dutch for canal. (Photo at left is from the website dutchamsterdam.nl.)

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While the canals are an important symbol of Amsterdam, they are also of great historical and cultural value – so much so that UNESCO added the canals to its list of World Heritage Sites in 2010. 

“Amsterdam’s Canal Ring is unique in the world for its
urban development and architectural artwork, as
well as the physical expression of the major economic,
political, and cultural growth of the city in the Golden Age.”
 

UNESCO also said that the Canal District “is the design at the end of the 16th century and construction in the 17th century of a new and entirely artificial port city that bears witness to an exchange of considerable influences over almost two centuries…”.  

Fun Fact #3
The canals cover almost a quarter of Amsterdam, and the
network of mostly concentric arcs divides the city into 90 “islands.”

While in Amsterdam, Debra and I explored many of its sights on foot. We walked alongside the canals and crossed over on bridges as we went from one destination to another. I came to view the canals, which often stretched as far as the eye could see, as “good friends” – always present, great company, and pleasant to be with. And they served as important points of reference as we made our way around Amsterdam, with a city map in hand.

Fun Fact #4
The canals are 2 to 3 meters deep, and because they are not
tidal, the depth is fairly consistent. 

Bicycles were as ubiquitous as the canals in Amsterdam – there’s an estimated 881,000 bikes, or one for every permanent resident of the city! That’s a three-story bicycle garage in the foreground of the left-hand photo below. Located near the Amsterdam Central Station, it has room for 2,500 bikes. It was one of many we saw.

As we wandered the streets of Amsterdam, Debra and I discovered that many cyclists were assertive riders – they traveled at a good speed, rode close to one another, and often ignored red lights – which meant that we had to be “on our toes” when we crossed a street. And, with so many bikes, some are bound to end up in the canal – in fact, as many as 12,000 – 15,000 per year. A local joke, which was as much about the canals as about the bikes, was that the canals were three meters deep – one meter of water, one meter of mud, and one meter of bikes! 

Fun Fact #5
About 2,500 houseboats line the canals, some more than a 
century old. The starting price? Around 280 thousand euro!

“Why so many houseboats?” you ask. Houseboats, it seems, helped address a housing shortage at the end of World War Two. In the 60s and 70s, many were used as cheap housing for artists and hippies. More recently, larger houseboats were purchased as homes by “water-yuppies.” (I LOVE this term!)

On our last full day in Amsterdam, I learned that the best way to enjoy the canals was on the water. No, I didn’t “rent a paddle boat to explore the canals at my own pace,” as one brochure I read suggested. That seem too much like work. Instead, I opted for the number one attraction in Amsterdam – a one-hour guided boat ride through several of the canals. (Debra, on the other hand, opted to sleep in!)  

There were several cruise operators and tours. After reading many online reviews, I booked a “100 Highlights” cruise with Stromma. The cost was about 20 euro.

This cruise, which was sooooooo relaxing, was a great way to experience the scenic canals of Amsterdam, a must-see (IMHO) highlight on their own. And it offered a different perspective of the 17th century canal houses, commercial buildings (both traditional facades and contemporary designs), historic landmarks (including the Anne Frank House), and churches and cathedrals that Debra and I saw when we walked the city. I loved my “line of sight” that angled upward from the boat, which made many of the buildings, like the one in the right-hand photo below, look more imposing!

The canals – each one unique, each one charming – created a distinctive urban landscape in the most populous city in the Netherlands. And while they may not have been the first attraction that came to mind when we planned our trip, it didn’t take us long (or the millions of others who annually visit the canals) to admire and appreciate the canals as THE iconic landmark of Amsterdam, the City of Canals!