Emperor's Canal (Keizersgracht)
Emperor's Canal (Keizersgracht)
Emperor's Canal (Keizersgracht)
4.5
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Neighbourhood: Grachtengordel-West
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4.5
1,892 reviews
Excellent
1,103
Very good
700
Average
84
Poor
5
Terrible
0
Thomas V
Oakland, CA17,533 contributions
Jun 2024 • Couples
One of the grandest canals, fairly wide. This is an area where the wealthy built very large canal houses. Try to visit one that has been turned into a museum or a hotel. Learn their unique style. And take a long walk on this big canal.
Written 24 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tuba4You
El Cajon, CA127 contributions
Jun 2022
There is no shortage of canal tour boats around Amsterdam. We took a private tour for a couple of hours and enjoyed it immensely. What a great way to see the city from a totally different perspective.
Written 11 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
unPelerin
Enniskillen, UK103 contributions
Feb 2020
We took a boat trip which went along this canal. Later in the day we walked along it. Both were valuable allowing us to see the amazingly different and beautiful architectural styles of houses along the 2 sides.
Un Pèlerin
Un Pèlerin
Written 28 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dimitris L
Sydney, Australia50,924 contributions
Oct 2018 • Couples
Emperor's Canal (Keizersgracht) is one of the better, more popular canals in Amsterdam. It's wide and that's probably the reason there are so many boats touring in it so often! The city is full of canals and this is just another, but it is a lovely one.
Written 2 March 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Paul C
Birmingham, UK41 contributions
Jan 2015 • Couples
If you like museums and places of interest the best thing to do is to buy an Amsterdam pass which you can get for 1, 2 or 3 days. We bought the two day pass which is activated at your first venue and then lasts 48 hours. You get free admission to a load of attractions and free transport within Amsterdam plus a canal trip of an hour. The canal trip is by far the best way to see the canals and you use all of the major canals in the free trip. Herrengracht is by far the most interesting but that is personal.
Written 24 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Vadim
Murmansk, Russia34,571 contributions
May 2023 • Solo
On the Keizersgracht, the second most important of the Large Canals, the houses are more modest and lower than on the Herengracht. Initially, they were going to make a boulevard here, but the residents resisted: many had warehouses, and it was much more convenient and, importantly, cheaper to bring goods by boat. Therefore, although the Keizersgracht is the second of the channels, it was dug later than the third - the Prinsengracht. The fact that merchants were the dominant class on the canal is also indicated by lifting beams with mechanisms protruding from the pediments. The Keizersgracht differs from its counterparts in width. Unlike the norm of 25 meters set by Hendrik Staets, this channel is 3 meters wider. Houses N40-44 have memorable facades with ledges on the right side. The so-called Greenland warehouses of the Northern Company, which had a monopoly on the extraction of whale oil at the beginning of the XVII century, used to be located here. To the south, on the opposite side of the canal in house N123, there is the so-called "House with heads" (Huis met de Hoofden). This is the most famous building in Amsterdam in the Renaissance style of 1622. The heads that gave the name to the house belong to the Greek gods Apollo, Mars, Athena, Dionysus, Demeter and Artemis. They remind of an old Amsterdam legend, according to which the maid of the first owner of the house, Nicholas Sohir, cut off the heads of thieves (or, according to another version, her own alcoholic lovers) who coveted the wine cellar. As a warning, she hung their heads over the doors.The building of the First Dutch Life Insurance Bank (174-176) at the intersection of Keizersgracht and Leliegracht was built by Van Arkel in 1905 in the spirit of Nieuwe Kunst, the Dutch version of Art Nouveau. A number of houses from N242 to N252, built between 1620 and 1730, have the common name Groot Keyser. 40 years ago, the buildings were occupied by the famous Groote Keyser squat, whose residents waged a fierce struggle with the mayor's office for the rights of squatters. In the late 70s and early 80s, a very popular alternative radio station "Free Keizer" worked here, broadcasting to 10 thousand Amsterdam squatters. And under No. 317 there is the Brants house. Its first owner, merchant Christoffel Brants, who became rich on Russian furs, was a personal friend of Tsar Peter I. In this building, decorated with figures of sea nymphs, Peter visited Brants during his second official visit to Holland in 1716-1717 (the first time Peter traveled incognito). In the memory of the people of Amsterdam, the Russian emperor remained a drunkard and a brawler. Peter was wasted, swore with Dutch port curses mastered on his first trip, slept on the floor and during a drunken orgy destroyed the house of the Russian envoy on the neighboring Herengracht. Almost opposite the Brants house is the Empire building of the Felix Meritis Society (N324), built in 1788 by Jacob Husley. Felix Meritis (the name means "Happy by merit") was in the 1800s the center of cultural and scientific life in Amsterdam. Felix Meritis was sure to bring all the famous visitors of Amsterdam. House No. 345A is the narrowest on the canal, its width is one window. Accordingly, the owners had to pay the least for it, because the tax on houses in the city was the width of the facade. The next noteworthy house is "Marseille" (Huis Marseille, 401). The house was built in 1665 by order of the French merchant Isaac Fauquier, who became rich on a single trading operation with goods from Marseille. On the facade of the house, Fauquier stamped the name and a detailed map of his native Marseille. Now there is a Photography Foundation with interesting photo exhibitions.
Written 30 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
IrieLady71
Wrexham, UK22 contributions
Jan 2013 • Friends
A lovely way to travel around this part of the city and learn about it's history is on a canal cruise... Great photo opportunities, too.
Written 3 January 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AmbassadorBas
Sydney, Australia758 contributions
Feb 2012
Some of Amsterdamse Grandest houses and fanciest banks have their head offices on this the Emperors canal. I love walking along and around this canal and visiting my money at Bank Mees and Hope. You will see some fantastic examples of Grand Dutch homes and different styles of gables on the roofs, there's step,bell funnel, neck and raised cornice gables, all with the hook to lift furniture up the outside of the buildings as the staircases are so step and thin that they bring in the larger items through the windows, that's also why you'll notice that the buildings have a slight forward lean to assist in the easy raising of large items.
Written 10 March 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
feltroneu
George Town, Malaysia2,311 contributions
Dec 2019
Nice experience to cruise through Emperor's Canal. All the canals in Amsterdam CBD are interconnected and they simply presented the best view of Amsterdam.
Written 18 April 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dean G
Zagreb, Croatia13 contributions
Oct 2014 • Couples
Night trip through the channels is just unbelievable experience and if you have great an funny captain of the ship makes it unforgettable.
Written 29 July 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Vízi esti séta érdekelne a Motel One környékéről.Mikor és hol lehet beszállni? Köszike?
Written 17 January 2019
hola me gustaria saber donde estan las distintas paradas libres para seleccionar un hotel cercano-gracias
Written 15 July 2018
Leider kann ich zu den Haltestellen nichts sagen. Die Innenstadt von Amsterdam ist jedoch so klein, dass man in maximal 15 min. zu Fuß fast jeden Punkt erreichen kann.
Written 16 October 2018
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