Review: Rederij Plas canal tour in Amsterdam

There are at least six companies offering boat tours of Amsterdam's canals. My family chose the one offered by Rederij Plas, at their dock just off the Damrak (across the street from the Sex Museum). I wish we had chosen differently.

There was nothing awful about this one-hour tour, but the recorded narration
– offered in Dutch, German and English – was rather thin. It noted, for example, that a particular house formerly belonged to a particular Amsterdam businessman, but failed to tell us what was notable about him.

A tour boat view of one of Amsterdam's canals

A lot of the tour had no narration, so there was clearly room to expand what they offered. I'm sure a decent historian could come up with many colorful stories about a city that has such extensive history as Amsterdam.

And frankly, the concept of a single narration tape in which the same thing is repeated in three languages seems antiquated. Wouldn't this be a logical venue for using individual headsets, so passengers could choose the language they want and get more detailed information?

I can't complain about the price of this tour – 9 euros ($12) for adults and 5 euros ($6.65) for kids. Still, I'd suggest trying a different one.

Also, read these articles:

• Review: Sharm Hotel in Amsterdam
• Review: Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam
• What's the deal with breakfast in Amsterdam?

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