Canal cruise boats with a toilet and heating in Amsterdam

Shared prices are per person; private prices are for the whole boat. The shared cruises are listed from the smallest group to the largest, and the private boats the same way.

For a specific date, the search has both filters switched on here: canal cruises with a restroom and heating.

Toilet water from a Dutch passenger boat isn't allowed to go into the canal. Since 1 January 2025 the Dutch ban on discharging toilet and sink water from passenger boats covers every boat suited for more than 12 passengers, and such a boat needs either a holding tank or an on-board treatment unit, although older boats get a transition period before they have to convert. So a toilet on board is never just a cubicle: there is a tank under the floor that gets emptied on shore, and on a small open boat that space is usually spent on seats.

A canopy keeps rain off your head while the sides stay open to the wind, so look for the word "heated" on the cruise page; "covered" only describes the roof. The wider trade-off is in our guide to open and covered canal boats.

Often it doesn't. Most cruises here last one to two hours, and on a one-hour daytime trip most adults manage fine if they use the toilet in a café near the dock before boarding. The answer changes with a toddler or a child who is potty-training, with anyone in your group who needs to go more often, on a drinks cruise of 90 minutes or longer, and on most two-hour trips.

A boat without a toilet doesn't always mean holding on, either. Some skippers will make a short stop along the way so someone can use a toilet on shore; on Diana and Curaçao, for example, that's always possible. On other boats, especially private ones, it will often be possible too, but if it matters for your group, ask before you book to be sure.

Heating is a question of the calendar. Light Festival cruises run from 26 November to 17 January while the lights are on, 16:30 to 23:00 (until 21:00 on 31 December), and the festival cruises on this page last 90 minutes to two hours. That's a long time to sit still on the water on a winter evening. Our winter canal cruise guide covers the rest of what to plan for.

With young children. Lucy takes up to six, has her toilet in the saloon area and carries nobody else. Without booking a whole boat, the Stan Huygens winter cruise sails shared from Herengracht 128 in a fully enclosed saloon. More ideas for children are in our family canal cruise guide.

With a grandparent, or someone who is always cold. Pick a boat where the warm part is the whole boat: Stan Huygens, shared or private from Keizersgracht 106, or the Ritz, a 1915 saloon boat whose cabin is heated and covered throughout.

A group of 8 to 12. Giuliana's shared cruise caps at 12, so a group of ten on it leaves room for only two strangers. Ten seats cost ten times €70, while Giuliana private is €390 for the boat; do the same sum for your own headcount before you book seats. Sophie and the Ritz also take 12 privately.

More than 12. Pure Spirit takes up to 20 and Stan Huygens up to 36, both from Keizersgracht 106.

A Light Festival evening. The shared choices are Stan Huygens from the H'ART Museum and Giuliana's 90-minute festival cruise, which takes ten people at most. For a private evening, Leaudine runs a two-hour dinner for up to eight from Amstel 51, and Lucy, Schollevaar, Giuliana and Stan Huygens all have festival versions of their private trips.

The large glass-roofed tour boats that leave from around Centraal Station are big enough to carry a toilet and can suit a family that mainly wants one; check that specific tour's listing before you buy, because we don't sell them. And if your group would rather sit in the open in summer, a boat without a toilet is fine for an hour, as long as everyone goes before boarding.