Live data · For every boat · Amsterdam canals
Boat route planner for the Amsterdam canals
Calculate the fastest and safest route for your sloop or boat through the Amsterdam canals — with current bridge clearances, closures and one-way traffic automatically included.
- ✓Real-time route advice
- ✓Current closures
- ✓Bridge heights & boating rules
Who is this route planner for?
This route planner is built for everyone taking a boat onto the Amsterdam canals — whether that’s a sloop, a canal cruiser or any other vessel. Enter your boat’s height and the planner automatically calculates a route past bridges you fit under, along canals flowing in the right direction, and around current closures.
Amsterdam’s canal belt has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2010 and consists of a dense network of canals, bridges and narrow passages, each with their own clearance and boating rules. This route planner for the Amsterdam canals accounts for all of it automatically, so you can sail from departure point to destination without surprises — and without having to work out all the rules yourself.
Plan your route now
Just enter a departure and destination — the route is calculated automatically.
Bridge heights & clearance
Enter your boat’s height — the planner calculates the current clearance per bridge.
Current closures
Works and closures are automatically avoided when planning your route.
Permanently closed waterways
Canals that are permanently unnavigable are never suggested as a route.
Public toilets
Public toilets near your route are shown automatically.
Boat type & licence requirements
Stretches that require a commercial boating licence are recognised and excluded if needed.
Authority vessels
Authority vessels are visible live, with a warning within 500 metres.
Incidents and user reports
Reports from other skippers via GrachtAlert are also visible on the map.
Bridge heights & clearance
Enter your boat’s height — the planner calculates the current clearance per bridge.
Current closures
Works and closures are automatically avoided when planning your route.
Permanently closed waterways
Canals that are permanently unnavigable are never suggested as a route.
Public toilets
Public toilets near your route are shown automatically.
Boat type & licence requirements
Stretches that require a commercial boating licence are recognised and excluded if needed.
Authority vessels
Authority vessels are visible live, with a warning within 500 metres.
Incidents and user reports
Reports from other skippers via GrachtAlert are also visible on the map.
One-way traffic
One-way rules on canals like the Prinsengracht are automatically taken into account.
Traffic congestion (live)
Segments that are busier or slower right now are weighed into the route live.
Sights
Nice spots your route passes anyway are shown along the way.
Food & drinks
Waterside terraces and restaurants your route passes are shown along the way.
Depart at a chosen time
Plan a later departure — blockages and restrictions at that time are taken into account.
Mooring places
Docks on the map with their status: official, unofficial or private.
One-way traffic
One-way rules on canals like the Prinsengracht are automatically taken into account.
Traffic congestion (live)
Segments that are busier or slower right now are weighed into the route live.
Sights
Nice spots your route passes anyway are shown along the way.
Food & drinks
Waterside terraces and restaurants your route passes are shown along the way.
Depart at a chosen time
Plan a later departure — blockages and restrictions at that time are taken into account.
Mooring places
Docks on the map with their status: official, unofficial or private.
Our own antenna network
GrachtAlert operates its own network of antennas and sensors spread across Amsterdam and its surroundings. That lets us see shipping on the canals and surrounding waterways in near real time, without depending on a single external source — the foundation under the live congestion, authority vessels and reports you see in the route planner.
BoatNowOne of our antennas was made possiblein part by our partner BoatNow.com
Frequently asked questions
Ready to set sail?
Enter your departure point and destination and instantly calculate the fastest, safest route.
Start the route planner