‘Amsterdam’ and ‘canals’ come in the same breath, the same thought. Once the city’s lifeblood (they were its chief transport system) they are still the flowing framework that holds it all together. There are more than 100 kilometres of them – Amsterdam is in effect a collection of 90 islands, stitched together by some 1,500 bridges. The canals form a giant semi-circular cobweb, suspended from Central Station and the harbour area in the north, with the grand 17th-century canals and the former city moat at the core.
These canals are crisscrossed by smaller waterways, where swans paddle quietly beside houseboats. A hotel in the Canal Belt, with a waterside view, takes you to the heart of Amsterdam. From the bustling grand canals to quieter backwaters, and from sumptuous Golden Age mansions, through quiet chic and zany contemporary interiors, to the cosily domestic, here’s our pick of the best canal hotels in Amsterdam.
