Hop on board a canal cruise at the Rijksmuseum to watch stunning light art displayed along the canals of Amsterdam. A comfortable extra long cruise, with heated boats and free audio guide.
Official partner
Back in winter
Only open seasonally
Amsterdam Light Festival Cruise 2026-2027 from Rijksmuseum
12979 bookings
105-135 minutes
Location
City Sightseeing Amsterdam - Rijksmuseum
Essentials
- Enjoy an extra long evening canal cruise past all the light art
- Hop on board at the dock just a 2-minute walk from the Rijksmuseum
- Discover the stories behind the art with the audio guide
Practical info
Children
Child ticket for 4-13 year olds
Free entry for 0-3 year olds when accompanied by a paying adult
Languages
The audio guide is available in English and Dutch
Check-in
Check-in 15 minutes before departure
Waiting time can occur even with a timeslot due to the many boats on the canals
Parking
At QPark, guests of LOVERS park at a special rate. Book your parking space here.
Ticket information
Ticket directly available on smartphone
You can reschedule your tickets yourself via our self rebook page up to 24 hours in advance
Tickets can be rescheduled or cancelled up to 24 hours in advance
More information
Only service dogs (who must be identifiable as such) are allowed on the boats
Amsterdam Light Festival dates: 27 November 2025 - 18 January 2026
Some of the images on this page are from previous editions or artist impressions
For questions about the product, please contact [email protected]
Accessibility
Free access to bathroom
Audio description
Getting there
City Sightseeing Amsterdam - Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam
Public Transport
The nearest stop is Rijksmuseum (tram 1, 7 & 9).
About
Visit the Amsterdam Light Festival from the Amsterdam Museum District
This comfortable cruise departs right across from the Rijksmuseum and takes you past all the stunning artworks of the Amsterdam Light Festival. Combine your visit to Amsterdam’s renowned museums with a beautiful canal tour by LOVERS, where you can admire the light installations up close. Every artwork is visible on this cruise, so you won’t miss a thing.
The Amsterdam Light Festival returns for its 14th edition in the winter months of 2025 and 2026, brightening the city with light art from around the world. This year’s theme, Legacy, reflects on what people leave behind and how they are remembered, and all artworks match the theme one way or another. Celebrate both the festival and the legacy of Dutch art by pairing your cruise with a visit to the Rijksmuseum, or another fascinating museum at Amsterdam’s Museum Square.
Amsterdam Light Festival Canal Cruise 2025–2026
The festival is best experienced from the water, with all artworks displayed on or alongside the canals, and LOVERS’ cruises go past all of them. The heated canal boats feature large windows on all sides for excellent views, and an audio guide (in English and Dutch) is included, to tell you more about the artworks and their creators.
This cruise takes a slightly longer route, passing a few other highlights before reaching the exhibitions. From here the boats follow the full festival route, ensuring you see every installation, and a little extra sightseeing. And the tour conveniently ends back at the same spot at Rijksmuseum.
Book Your Amsterdam Light Festival Canal Cruise Tickets
Hop aboard this beautiful Amsterdam Light Festival cruise from Rijksmuseum, whether after visiting a museum, enjoying the ice rink at Museum Square, or whenever it suits your plans. LOVERS offers the best way to admire the festival, and this extended cruise shows you everything and a bit more. Book your tickets now!
Reviews
14 reviews
Average rating from Google and Tripadvisor
Benamard
Light festival tour
We did the excellent light festival tour st 7pm. The boat captain was funny and knowledgeable, we enjoyed the art exhibits and the background story about each and one of them. Keep in mind the audio guide for the light festival tour is only in Dutch or English.
Dec 21, 2025
Wouter Malaga
The tour is great.. but this year, the light festival was quite disappointing compared to years ago
Dec 9, 2024
Sarah N
It was good
Dec 2, 2024
Kyros
Booked tickets for the Amsterdam Light Festival and overall first-ever canal cruise in Amsterdam. It was a very nice experience, captain was really cool and thankfully despite the cold weather, the boat was really warm inside. Also, we had the ability to re-book our tickets very easily through their site just a few hours before our original booking in order to make it on time. The only unfortunate thing was a “heavy traffic” in the canals, which ended up with our cruise taking almost 2 hours-long, but we knew it was not something in agency’s hands. Would recommend it anyway!
Dec 1, 2024
Liubov Liashko
My family and I recently went on a canal cruise with Lovers Canal Cruises to experience the Amsterdam Light Festival, and it was an absolute blast! The atmosphere was so chill, and we could see Amsterdam in a new light - from the water and in the darkness. The light artworks were amazing and made me think about the impact of technologies and AI on our everyday lives. My son, usually glued to his phone, was even more engaged than usual. The Amsterdam Light Festival canal cruise is definitely something I would recommend to anyone who wants to see Amsterdam in a whole new way.
Jan 26, 2024
Dr Win Sutanto
A must if you are in Amsterdam. They simply are the best canal cruise operator in the capital. The staff are always very professional, efficient and super helpful and friendly. There are various cruises you can join. Today I took the cruise as part of the Amsterdam Light Festival. It was incredible! 👍👍👍👍❤️❤️
Jan 19, 2024
Nyasha 'Naya' Underwood
The cruise itself was really nice, it teaches you history, our boat captin was funny and you get insights to Amsterdam's past and present. We went for the Amsterdam light festival... that was very underwhelming (to no fault of the cruise itself) just when you think of a light festival you expect to see more than a few small art fixtures... the streets of Amsterdam had more/better lights than that. I'd def go on lovers again... maybe they have a lunch on the water option or something
Jan 17, 2024
M Lammers
Night canal cruise was ran very well, loved the commentary, would have liked more background to what we saw along the way. Light festival was average. Hard to see for those not sitting near window, thus more commentary would have made up for this.
Jan 3, 2024
Christina
Christmas light festival
Very interesting and informative, Amsterdam by night is very different from Amsterdam by day. The guide was informative. We went on Christmas night and it was warm on the boat
Dec 27, 2023
Sarthak Kumar
The cruise was cozy and informative. Got to see the light festival as well.
Dec 12, 2023
Vincent Luycx
Excellente balade sur les canaux d’Amsterdam, le capitaine Bouddha est intarissable sur sa ville, belle ambiance avec les lumières spéciales en ce mois de décembre
Dec 16, 2024
Edwin&Mirjam Hilgerson
Wij met drie vrienden. Hadden via internet Amsterdam Light Festival kaartjes gekocht. Hadden we overlijden in de fam. konden we de kaarten omzetten... Dus hele menselijk bedrijf..... Rond vaart was druk maar wel erg leuk en mooi. Ga zitten en genieten. 👍 Neem de tijd. Wij gingen nu 14 dec.ik ben al een ander jaar geweest toen eerder in het jaar dan is het iets beter te doen (minder druk ) Vaar je iets sneller door. Maar zeker aanraden.
Dec 16, 2024
Maxwell
Croisière sympathique qui dure environ 1h pour découvrir le festival des lumières et l’architecture d’Amsterdam. Malheureusement, vu un peu gâché par les gouttes sur les vitres. Il faudrait prévoir un moyen pour nettoyer les vitres après la pluie.
Dec 30, 2023
Bernd_aus_Wesel
Unbedingt
Wenn sie im Dezember in Amsterdam sein sollten, so müssen sie unbedingt eine Fahrt mit der Thematik Licht Festival machen. Unbedingt.
Dec 4, 2023
Having doubts? You can cancel or reschedule this booking up to 24 hours in advance for free.
