Where to board your Amsterdam canal cruise

1Lovers dock at Centraal Station (Prins Hendrikkade 25)

This is the main Lovers Canal Cruises dock and the departure point for the cheese and wine cruise, the dinner cruise, the Light Festival cruise and one of the three options on the one-hour cruise. The listings describe it as next to Centraal Station, and put the distance at between 100 and 300 metres depending on which one you read.

For the dinner and the wine and cheese cruises, the operator says check-in is at the Lovers Cafe, 15 minutes before departure. For the one-hour cruise you validate your voucher at the pier, also 15 minutes ahead.

The mistake to avoid here is joining the wrong company's queue. Look for the Lovers name before you line up. During the Light Festival the operator warns that waiting can occur even with a booked time slot.

2Anne Frank House and Rijksmuseum docks (one-hour cruise only)

When you book the one-hour cruise on Civitatis you choose your departure: Centraal Station, Anne Frank House or Rijksmuseum. The voucher gives the Anne Frank House dock as Prinsengracht 265 and the Rijksmuseum dock as Stadhouderskade 511.

The operator's descriptions are slightly different and worth knowing. Lovers calls the Anne Frank House stop a small Lovers dock on Westermarkt square, and says that at the Rijksmuseum it uses the City Sightseeing Amsterdam dock. So at the Rijksmuseum, the signs you see may carry another brand's name. Show your voucher to the staff there if in doubt.

Lovers also lists a Leidseplein dock on its own site. The Civitatis listing does not offer it, so do not turn up there with this ticket. The listing adds that last entry is one hour before closing time.

3Oudezijds Voorburgwal 230 (guided open boat)

The guided boat ride meets at Oudezijds Voorburgwal 230, on a canal in the old centre. Starboard Boats, which operates from this pier, puts it about five minutes on foot from Dam Square.

Arrive at least 15 minutes early and look for the guide, who carries a blue umbrella with the Amsterdam Guias & Tours logo. You are meeting a person on the quay here, not checking in at a ticket office. Starboard says its shared boats have no toilet and that payment on board is by card only.

4Prinsengracht 375 (private boat)

The private electric boat leaves from Prinsengracht 375, where the listing says you meet your skipper at the waterside. Arrive 15 minutes early. There is no ticket office to look for, only the boat and the skipper.

This address is on the same canal as the Anne Frank House dock of the one-hour cruise but it is a different spot and a different company. If your group is booked on both kinds of cruise during the trip, do not mix the two up.

5What to sort out before you leave the hotel

Check which dock your voucher names, since the one-hour cruise has three. Check the day's weather if you are on the open boat: from April to September rain means umbrellas, not a roof.

Wheelchair users should know that the listings for the four Lovers cruises and the private boat say not wheelchair accessible, and Starboard Boats says the same of its boats. None of the listings states a luggage rule, so ask the operator before arriving with suitcases from the station.

Boarding points at a glance