Instead of the traditional guided canal cruise, take a St Nicolaas Boat Club trip. Your captain will give you as many facts about the water (and the number of bicycles and bodies found within) as you can take during a relaxing trip - made all the more pleasant by being allowed, indeed encouraged, to bring your own drinks, food and smokes. Secure a place by signing up in advance (ideally a day or two before) at Boom Chicago, the un-Dutch sounding bar in the Leidseplein. It's free - though a donation of a few euros is expected.
Leidseplein 12
www.amsterdamboatclub.com/
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