4.7
4914 bookings
75-105 minutes
Official partner

Amsterdam Light Festival 2025 - 2026 Canal Cruise from Restaurant Loetje

From

Enjoy the beautiful light sculptures during the Amsterdam Light Festival with a cruise through the canals. Departs next to the LOVERS and GVB shops across from Amsterdam Central Station.

Highlights

  • canalcruise See 24 incredible pieces of light art
  • c_NOT-CROWDED Calm departure location
  • AUDIO-GUIDE Discover the story behind the art with the audio guide

Locations

>
canalcruise Restaurant Loetje
Entry to the dock sits beside the restaurant

Practical information

Check-in

Check-in 15 minutes before departure
Waiting time can occur even with a timeslot due to large crowds

Languages

The audio guide is available in in English and Dutch 

Children

Child ticket for 4-13 years old
Free entry for children between 0-3 years old when accompanied by a paying adult

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
Only service dogs (who must be identifiable as such) are allowed on the boat

Parking

At QPark, LOVERS guests park at a special rate. Book your parking space here.

More information

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 the bathroom
Audio guide available
WIFI
Free Wi-Fi

Getting there

Description

Amsterdam Light Festival 2025 – 2026

This winter, from November 27 2025 to January 18 2026, Amsterdam will once again be illuminated during the 14th edition of the Amsterdam Light Festival. This year’s theme, Legacy, invites you to reflect on the traditions, stories, and rituals that connect generations and shape our shared identity. Light serves as a timeless symbol of remembrance, renewal, and connection, lighting up the ways we honor the past while inspiring the future.

For the 2025–2026 edition, artists from around the world have been invited to create light artworks that explore these ideas of heritage and continuity. Their creations transform Amsterdam’s canals and streets into a radiant open-air museum, where each installation tells a story about how we pass on our legacy.

The Best Way to Experience the Amsterdam Light Festival

The most captivating way to discover the festival is from the water on an Amsterdam Light Festival canal cruise. From the comfort of a heated, modern LOVERS Canal Cruises boat, you’ll have a front-row view of the stunning light artworks reflected in the water and shining along the quays.

As an official partner of the Amsterdam Light Festival, LOVERS Canal Cruises offers a specially designed route that passes all the major installations across the UNESCO World Heritage-listed canals. Along the way, an engaging audio guide (in English and Dutch) shares the stories behind the artworks and the inspiration of their creators.

Even the coldest winter evenings feel warm and magical as the city glows around you, making this cruise an unforgettable highlight of the season.

Book Your Amsterdam Light Festival 2025 – 2026 Tickets Now

Don’t miss the chance to experience Amsterdam at its best. Join us on board this winter and discover how artists from around the world have brought the theme Legacy to life through light.

✨ Book your Amsterdam Light Festival tickets today and get ready for an unforgettable journey on the canals!

Reviews

13 reviews

4.7
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

@LoversCanalcruises on Instagram

Home Amsterdam Light Festival Amsterdam Light Festival 2025 - 2026 Canal Cruise from Restaurant Loetje

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