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Open today

10:00-17:00

Visitor information

Welcome on board of our Houseboat Amsterdam!

At the Amsterdam Houseboat Museum, you get the chance to experience first-hand what it’s like to live on the canals in a houseboat in Amsterdam. The museum is located in the “Hendrika Maria”, a former cargo ship built in 1914. The cargo hold is now a cosy living space featuring all the conveniences and a surprising amount of space and comfort.

Owing a houseboat in Amsterdam ourselves, we noticed how curious passers-by were about its interior. We were bombarded with questions. How are you supplied with water and electricity? Where does the waste water go? Isn’t it cold, damp and dark onboard? All questions to which people desired an answer. And so the idea to open up a Amsterdam houseboat to the public arose.

Amsterdam Houseboats - the unique way of living

The houseboats in Amsterdam reflect a spectacular form of living on the water. Visiting the boat house in Amsterdam will give you a insight of this lifestyle. Many Amsterdam houseboats look similar from the outside, but are completely different from inside. The majority of the boats are older (100+ years) freight ships which are turned into floating houses. You will be surprised how spacious and cozy it is on board. Of course, the space needs to be used efficiently so you dont waste valuable squaremetres on the popular city center area called Jordaan.

In the city center, the squaremetre price can be around 10.000 EUR and higher. Houseboats in Amsterdam started as a cheap way of living back in the day, but transformed into an equally expensive housing alternative nowadays.

Have a look inside our boat museum and feel like a houseboat local for a while! Buy your tickets.

Boat Museum of the canals Amsterdam

The Boat Museum of the canals was initiated in 1996 from Vincent van Loon. It is located in the most popular canal of Amsterdam – the Prinsengracht. The idea behind was to provide visitors entrance to the first boat museum on the canals and an insight of how it feels like to live on the water. Featuring a diashow, video animations as well as interesting books about old as well as modern canal boat houses, the museum highlights the advantages and disadvantages of this way of living. But also a lot of other questions about canals in Amsterdam are answered in this museum. Located on the canals, it will also explain more about the rich history of the canal system and how it developed into a city full of houseboats. Don’t miss out your chance – as in which other city will you have the opportunity to visit a canal museum then in Amsterdam?

case galleggianti amsterdam

Robert & Carl
Houseboatmuseum