Amsterdam: Luxury Light Festival Cruise Unlimited Drinks Included

Badge of Excellence

Amsterdam, Netherlands

1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

Skip crowded streets and escape to Amsterdam's well-known waterways on this cruise along the city's canals. Taking place during Amsterdam Light Festival, enjoy the illuminations on display from your comfortable seat onboard an electric canal boat. Stay cozy with the blankets provided for you to snuggle under, and choose whether to refuel by purchasing snacks and drinks at the bar.

Enjoy the lights displays from a unique vantage point on the water
Learn about what you see thanks to the insight of the crew onboard
Experience Amsterdam's waterways like a local by cruising along them
The concise duration keeps your schedule free for other activities

What's Included

Covered canal boats for a comfortable experience
Great 360° view through our large windows
Cruise along the most beautiful light artworks
Hear all about the exciting stories behind the art as told by your crew onboard
Our bar is always stocked with a dazzling variety of drinks and snacks
Warm blankets to snuggle under

Snacks and other drinks than the welcome drink are available
Gratuities (for the team on board)

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Oudezijds Voorburgwal 230, 1012 GJ Amsterdam, Netherlands
Departure location: Oudezijds Voorburgwal 230, 1012 GK Amsterdam, Netherlands. Directions: Close to Dam Square at the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky dock. It is only a 5-minute walk from Dam Square. You can recognize our crew, onboard and at the dock, by their white polos and red jackets.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Amsterdam Light Festival

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Infants must sit on laps
Service animals allowed
Most travelers can participate

Near public transportation
Not wheelchair accessible
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 50 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

ktsoukalas

Great experience to see the lights on the river. The staff was friendly! Easy to find had a great time.

Reviews

4.3

based on 213 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Great experience to see...

ktsoukalas, Nov 2025

Great experience to see the lights on the river. The staff was friendly! Easy to find had a great time.

Was a nice tour but...

Dave_T, Jan 2025

Was a nice tour but extremely cold. I thought we were gonna be on a hard covered boat. But was open.

Great staff! Not so great in cold weather

Brittny_T, Jan 2025

This was a really good experience. The guides and captain were awesome and very knowledgable. However, it was rainy and cold and there was no heat at all. The boat is partially open. That took away from the experience in my opinion. I think this needs to be clearly stated when booking.

Art to make you think with a boozy drink!

Oliver_M, Feb 2024

The joining instructions were simple and easy to follow, and the team met us at the location and were very welcoming. They helped us on to the boat, which was cosy with blankets and a fully stocked bar. The boozy coffee certainly helped to warm us from the inside and is recommended. The tour itself was interesting with a few facts about the area thrown in for good measure on the way. We would recommend this company for a light festival in the future, and should we find ourselves in Amsterdam at any other time of year, we would use them for a normal tour.

An amazing must do during Amsterdam Light Festival

Chris_C, Jan 2024

This tour exceeded my expectations. The tour operators were very knowledgeable about the area and the Amsterdam Light Festival. Despite the rain and the cold, we were very comfortable and enjoyed the banter between the two guides.

Response from Host, Jan 2024

Dear Chris_C, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a 5-star review! Your feedback is really important to us as it keeps our crew motivated to continue delivering high quality services! We hope to welcome you back on our boats for another out-standing experience! Kind regards, Team Friendship Amsterdam

Lovely evening cruise

Kristina_C, Jan 2024

This was a delightful way to see the Festival of Lights in the quaint and relaxing canal cruise. The guides were very informative and prompt. It was lovely.

Response from Host, Jan 2024

Dear Kristina_C, Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us and the community! We are delighted to hear that you had an amazing tour with us! If there is more about your experience that you would like to share with us, we are all ears. We are looking forward to have you back again on our boats! Kind regards, Team Friendship Amsterdam

A Beautiful Night.

Esther_H, Jan 2024

We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and knowledge of our tour guides. We learned some unique facts about the canals and the artworks on display.

Response from Host, Jan 2024

Dear Esther_H, Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us and the community! We are delighted to hear that you had an amazing tour with us! If there is more about your experience that you would like to share with us, we are all ears. We are looking forward to have you back again on our boats! Kind regards, Team Friendship Amsterdam

Underwhelming

Aldrin_P, Jan 2024

While the staff onboard is great and friendly, the cruise is underwhelming. It was rainy and the cover used for the boat is NOT clear at all hence we as guests did not experience anything related to the Luxury Light Festival & Evening Cruises. It just became an evening boat ride on a rainy evening. Also, this tour did not take us to the Light Festival. We just cruised through canals and saw art installations that are lit up at night. Or they are the same thing? Anyway, would have expected that the tour company would have been more prepared when it's raining. The covers are not transparent so we could not see anything.

Response from Host, Jan 2024

Dear Aldrin_P, Thank you for sharing your feedback. We're sorry to hear that your experience fell short of expectations. We value your input and would like to understand more about what aspects you found lacking. Feel free to reach out at office@friendshipamsterdam.com so we can understand better and maybe offer you a solution. Your insights are crucial in helping us improve, and we hope to have the opportunity to better serve you in the future. Kind regards, Team Friendship Amsterdam

Boat bait and switch

Douglas_H, Dec 2023

The pictures are deceiving. I booked a boat that had seating at tables, and hard top and glass windows as shown in the pictures. The boat we got had seating around the edges that was very cramped, the bartender was tripping over the guests feet. The roof and windows were plastic that needed to be rolled up to see the light sculptures. We did not get the boat that was shown in the photos. The only reason I give this review 3 stars is that I thought the crew were excellent and very friendly.

Response from Host, Dec 2023

Dear Douglas, Thank you for sharing your feedback. We're sorry to hear that your experience fell short of expectations. We value your input and would like to understand more about what aspects you found lacking. Your insights are crucial in helping us improve, and we hope to have the opportunity to better serve you in the future. If you would like to share more with us please reach out at office@friendshipasmterdam.com Kind regards, Team Friendship Amsterdam

A warm and glowing experience.

Delene_B, Jan 2023

Loved the warm interior of the boat, the entertaining guide and the Hot Chocolate with caramel infused vodka, albeit that if you wanted vodka in your Hot Chocolate it was an extra charge. The light displays were most interesting and unique.

DONT RECCOMEND

Taylor_S, Jan 2023

Really disappointed by this tour… the boat was too full, leaving half of us outside in the rain and unable to see any of the light festival. The guides constantly made remarks about the young age of the guests on the boat and how we wouldn’t find this information interesting. They guides also made comments about giving us free alcohol to cover up the fact that the boat was too full and they did not have any blankets, as promised. The guides seemed more interested in the profit and tips than making sure their guests were happy and comfortable. Very disappointing. Do not recommend.

Staff made the cruise

Emily_D, Jan 2023

Brilliant experience and the staff were so friendly and insightful. Really enjoyed seeing the lights

Great tour, thank you.

Timothy_R, Dec 2022

It was a great tour, thank you for the nice trip. We had hot schoko lots of fun on our tour and seen a lot. Very friendly captain and a nice little group of German, English, and Belgium guests.

Light festival canal cruise

Kathleen_D, Dec 2022

The tour was well done. Boat companions were very fun. Hot chocolate very good and other drinks were inexpensive.

Light displays were very...

paul_w, Dec 2022

Light displays were very limited, tour guide barely talked, drinks and snacks listed but not provided

Response from Host, Dec 2022

Dear Paul, First of all, thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We regret to hear that you did not fully enjoy the canal cruise during the Amsterdam Light Festival. As a small-scale and cozy shipping company, we do our best to offer everyone on board a great time. The Amsterdam Light Festival is a busy and hectic period in which we are largely dependent on the organization of the Amsterdam Light Festival. It is therefore possible that certain works of art do not fully work, that the water is very busy or that certain works of art are less visible. Would you like to contact us via office@friendshipamsterdam.com so that we can look for a suitable solution together? Kind regards, ^ Team Friendship Amsterdam

Great boat trip with a few snagging problems

Richard_M, Dec 2022

The boat trip was great and very informative but the Viator ticket/booking wasn’t on the operators system. This mean’t it was very embarrassing for us as we was told that our ticket wasn’t valid and we wasn’t on the list. Luckily the guy was very understanding and let us on anyway as he said it wasn’t our fault it was the booking operators.

Response from Host, Dec 2022

Dear Richards, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We are sorry to hear that something went wrong with the tickets, but we are very happy with the good solution from one of our colleagues! We hope to welcome you again on board and wish you happy holidays! Kind regards, Team Friendship Amsterdam

Absolutely incredible experience!

Daniella_L, Dec 2019

It was a wonderful and couldn’t of been any more perfect ! So happy I chose this attraction because it was a highlight of the trip.

à fuir

genevieve_l, Dec 2023

50mn de croisière ce n est pas ce que j avais acheté. Une promenade à l air libre et dans le froid. Et un festival des lumières très décevant. A Éviter