Last night we booked a "peaceful, romantic, CO-neutral evening canal cruise" in Amsterdam. What we…read moregot instead was part sightseeing tour, part improv comedy, and part low-speed nautical thriller. Honestly, I am still laughing. Our captain, Stefanie, opened the evening with what I can only describe as a legally binding statement "I will tell you everything about Amsterdam... and I will not lie." Bold. Confident. Inspirational. I trusted her immediately. To be clear, Stefanie was fantastic. Funny, personable, and working hard the entire time to keep things upbeat. The canals at night are stunning. The setting is absolutely top-tier. Now let's talk about the experience. The boat was described as "intimate," and credit where it's due, it actually was. Plenty of room, very comfortable. But the crowd was so international it felt like the United Nations had decided to take a field trip. I am pretty sure we solved at least two global issues before we left the dock. Then the journey began. Reverse gear? Optional. Possibly theoretical. The Red Light District? Hyped like the grand finale. "You have to see it at night." Did we see it? No. The canal was closed. Somewhere, dessert was served without us. At one point, we entered what I can only describe as a delicate negotiation with either another boat or a bridge. It was not a crash. It was more like two vehicles gently disagreeing about personal space. And through all of this, Stefanie remained calm, smiling, and narrating like everything was exactly as planned. Which brings me to my favorite moment of the night. During the chaos, she says "Please, take anything you want, I am so sorry!" Now remember, this is the same woman who PROMISED not to lie. So naturally, when we returned to the dock, I grabbed a bottle of wine. Not greedily. Respectfully. Like a man honoring a verbal contract. Immediately, a deckhand appears out of nowhere "You can't take that." I respond, calmly and with conviction "Stefanie said we could." Stefanie, without even blinking "I meant candies." Candies. At that exact moment, I realized I had just witnessed a masterclass in precision language. She did not lie. Not technically. She simply... left room for interpretation. Did she promise too much at the beginning of the tour? Possibly. Did I misunderstand the scope of "anything"? Also possible. Was I emotionally prepared to trade wine for candy? Absolutely not. All jokes aside, it was a hilarious, memorable, and genuinely fun evening. Not the flawless, whisper-quiet romantic cruise you might expect, but something far better. A boat full of great people, a captain who handled mild chaos like a pro, and a story that gets funnier every time I tell it. Would I do it again? Yes. Would I ask for a written list of what "anything you want" includes? Also yes.

This is the highlight of our trip so far. Captain Rubio (Gijs) is an amazing guide. We had…read morebeautiful weather but it would have been great even with rain - I noticed they have ways to keep you dry. The Dutch bites and unlimited drinks were a nice touch. We got to see so much of Amsterdam and get information on the city that you don't find online. Coming to Amsterdam? Do yourself a favor and take this tour!

As I walking I past this location I stopped in because I wanted to do the tour bus hop on, hop off;…read morehowever, I was warned that it was not worth it and the cruise would be a better option. I spoke with the guy in the store and he informed me the night time light cruise was coming to an end for the season-- I decided that would be best to see Amsterdam, at night. The employee here was very helpful and friendly. The tour was good and quite informative. While they do give you directions of how to get there, it's relatively confusing. Luckily they have several locations across the route and I had to pop in to two other locations for further instructions.

This comment is to report the driver of bus number 161 (who refused to identify himself when we…read moreasked his name). He wouldn't let us board, claiming he had to wait for his passengers, even though we had purchased tickets. No bus number was assigned, only the time. His attitude was extremely rude, and the bus was at least 50% full. We wasted over 30 minutes looking for another bus despite having purchased tickets. Your seat depends on the drivers and their arrogant attitude.

A DAMN GOOD TIME WITH A DAMN GOOD GUIDE!! That Damn Guide,…read moreMark, is an independent tour guide in Amsterdam and provided our family with an excellent, private walking tour experience. He's very knowledgeable, very funny, and offers a unique perspective on Amsterdam with interesting insights into the rich culture and history of this city. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with him and he comes highly recommended!

We took this tour in early March 2020. We've taken a lot of walking tours in many European cities…read moreand this one with Mark is by far the absolute best. The small size is so much more intimate and comfortable. He spent a little time at the start getting to know us better and finding out what our interests are so he could tailor the tour for us. Then he showed us a map pointing out where we were going and sites he wanted to show us. His walking tours are usually between 2 to 8 people which is what initially attracted us to this tour. We thoroughly enjoyed it because Mark opened up Amsterdam to us in a way we never could have done on our own. That's the gift that Mark has, to be able to show us this multi-faceted city through his eyes, and his experiences, and with a balanced view. You would think that 3 hours is a long time to walk around a city but the time just flew by! Mark touched on the social, economic and political faces of Amsterdam. He sprinkled it with history and humor too. And it's all so much more interesting the way he presents it than just walking around reading from a guide book. Amsterdam is a beautiful city with a complex history and Mark shares it all during the walk. He's easy to listen to and his narrative is insightful and informative. Mark set a comfortable walking pace for us and he was ever mindful that my husband wore hearing aids. We really appreciated that. We loved the cafe that he took us to for a short break. It was open and airy and had a good vibe. The gallery and shop downstairs showcasing Dutch design was fascinating. I'd love to return. Mark also introduced us to a couple of smaller museums that we plan to see again. You can support this Amsterdam local business by booking directly on the That Dam Guide website instead of any 3rd party booking site, all of which charges him commissions. It's truly the best way to get to know Amsterdam.

Our guide, Edgar, was knowledgeable, charming, and his enthusiasm for Dutch history ad architecture…read morewas contagious. The time flew by. Highly recommend.

Oh. My. Goodness! I waited years before I bothered with a walking tour in Amsterdam. It was WELL…read moreworth the wait! I started with the historical Jewish area tour, and couldn't stop. That tour alone was impressive and inspiring. Delighting and quite moving. Tijs was so good that I went on to take more neighborhood tours with him and two with Edgar. These guys know there stuff. No question. Full stop. Great information and cool stories to keep you engaged and remembering! I wouldn't take a historical tour in this town with any other company. I've had the best, and I will return!

We had Captain Andy for our evening canal tour - awesome experience!! Super funny and good size…read moregroup. Definitely ask your tour guide questions, it makes the ride funnier and more interesting.

Andy was a fantastic captain for our afternoon canal cruise! We did the "Strangers are gross"…read moreprivate tour and it was the perfect blend of historic info and natural banter and conversation. It felt more like a friend taking us out than a tour. Would 100% recommend to anyone.

A golden experience of the Dutch Golden Age…read more.. My husband and I had the good luck to find Murk's tours. Definitely recommended for hardcore history fans who appreciate a personal touch. We chose the Golden Age focus for our tour. But it seems folks who care about any given topic will find their curiosity satisfied here. Before we met - Murk replied promptly to emails. He pro-actively clarified our details. On the tour - Murk's mix of stories, his artwork binder, and of course the details of the city itself created a vivid image of the 17th century. I could have sworn that if I strained my eyes a little more, I would have spotted the deep-hulled trading Ships on the horizon, and heard the bustle of goods coming into port. Murk had spirited answers to our questions... When, Why, What's it mean? And how do you pronounce that in Dutch again? On the path, Murk gently dispelled some of the more romantic notions we held about the Golden Age. Yet in the same stories, he also pointed out the grandeur of items we'd assumed were ho-hum. As great teachers do. We must add that the tour price felt like quite a deal. One gets the sense that Murk does this for fun as much as for money; and wouldn't you like to tour with someone who really enjoys what they do?

My daughter and I recently took a trip to Amsterdam for our birthday celebrations. I cannot say…read moreenough about Tom's Travel Tours. Our guide, Joyce, took us to the Keukenhof where she filled our tulip tour with much interesting and fun information. She took us to an organic farm, several roadside tulip fields, and lunch in Bergen. Excellent guide. Our guide, Jacky, was so accommodating and fun taking us on our walking tour and food tour. She kept us moving but at a comfortable speed. We had a private canal cruise with Wim, who, also, was so knowledgeable and shared so much information along the way. It is so worth it to book a tour company and I highly, highly recommend Tom's Travel Tours. Thank you for the most enjoyable visit to Amsterdam!

We booked three tours from Amsterdam: 3 hour walking tour Jordaan/Amsterdam, Guided visit to the…read moreVan Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum, Royal tour Delft and Hague; one tour from Gent: Elegant Ghent Tour; and one tour from Bruges: Charming Bruges. All were excellent. In particular, our Amsterdam guide, Joyce, had excellent in-depth knowledge that was particularly useful in the museums we visited with her: the Van Gogh museum, Rijksmuseum, and the Mauritshuis; and in the Royal Delft museum in the Royal Delft factory. She was able to go beyond what was written on the displays and give further context and meaning, as well as identifying optimum ways of navigating throught these sometimes crowded museums. Mieke in Gent was obviously well-known there: people kept on stopping and talking with her. And Hendrickx was very useful in Bruges.

I used an app called Headout to book this Anne Frank Story and World War II small group walking…read moretour with 36O tours. The communication about where to meet at the Jewish History Museum was helpful. We arrived 20 minutes early today, and there was a big enough group that two guides came out to split us in two. We were so happy to have Clare J as our tour guide. She did a superb job of pacing our stops, telling us where to stand for the best view, and projecting her voice so we could all hear. She was knowledgeable, kind, and skillful at narrating the story of the Nazi occupation in Amsterdam and the response of the people here. I learned so much about the ways the people in Amsterdam protested or resisted both directly and indirectly. I was awed to see all the names of people memorialized at the Holocaust monument, and in the plaques on city sidewalks in various places. I appreciated hearing Clare read the excerpt from Anne's diary. All typhoid in her guidebook also helped us visualize what was happening back then. The walking tour makes me anticipate tomorrow's visit to the Anne Frank house even more. Highly recommend!

I had booked a VanGogh tour with this company through Viator tours. My tour was confirmed and paid…read morefor in full only to be notified after more than 60 days that the tour should not have been booked because it wasn't being offered. By not letting me know for that long, it made it difficult to rebook with another tour company as we were close to our travel dates, and I had to pay more than double what I previously paid to do so. I get things happen but I should have been informed within a couple days of my original booking so I would have had more available rebooking choices, not 60 plus days later.

Flagship Biking Tours was a great experience - we did the bike tour into the countryside with Skip…read more(excellent tour guide). This specific tour started in the city center and then moved to the countryside for a stop at a local farm with cheese and farm animals. Recommendation: stick to regular bikes and skip the e-bike option. The e bikes are expensive and are a bit of a hassle to keep turning back on after each stop. Bike ride was about 12 miles but very flat, so beginners will be fine. Flagship was very accommodating and due to an issue with our booking, was able to offer either a free boat tour or partial refund. Kind people, consider supporting the business!

One of the best experiences you'll ever have. The crew is really passionate about what they do and…read morethey will ensure you have a great time! The wine and cheese pair so well and the views are fantastic. Our entire crew was fantastic even the captain made it super special. Highly recommend!

So there we were, in Amsterdam chatting with other folks from the hotel. They spoke about food tour…read moreand we've done them before as well so we decide to delve in. After a bunch of research we decide on hungry birds, and it was a good decision. Our guide for the tour was Anne, as you proved to be a little ball of positive energy that was totally appreciated. She handled controversial issues well, and introduced us to many of the tastes of the market. We tasted everything from fresh Herring to smoke deal to sought after, cookies and we seem to have a back door, no line access to everything. If you'd like to stop reading now is a good point but know that we are big fans of Angry Birds We met at the designated location, introduced ourselves to the other people on the tour and then Anne showed up. She arrived bearing cookies, and my wife and I had actively sought out these cookies just the day before as we had seen them on Instagram. We waited for 15 minutes in line to buy our Van Stapele cookies and here she was showing up with a fresh batch to share with us to get the party started. It was a great start. We then moved onto multiple quality tastes. My wife, ever the brave soul, volunteered to taste the whole fresh Herring that was offered to her, served in the traditional fashion of the seasonal run of the fresh Herring. So it arrived on a plate with onions and pickles, and Leah was taught how to hold the Herring by picking it up from its tail, adding the onions and the pickles and then taking a bite. Mind you the fish had been deboned and cleaned, but it looked every bit of a fish without the head. I volunteered to try a couple of bites as well and enjoyed it. This was at the Volendammer Vishandel, and there was no doubt about the fish being fresh as the place was very busy I don't want to go on and on and ruin your trip to the food tour and so I'll stop here but the combination of the energetic tour guide and the unique stories told made it a very quick four hour tour that I would encourage my friends to take.

We loved this tour. It was so informative and so much fun. Anne was so wonderful and so much fun…read more You wont be disappointed.