I thought it would be cool to paddle around in Venice, Italy when I visited there a few years ago. As I learned about the city, I realized they still use the same sewage system from the middle ages, called the tide, and thought better of it.* Saw damn few (2) paddlers over there and no rentals available anyways.
I’ll be in Amsterdam for a few days in April, another city that is laced with canals. Anybody ever do any paddling over there? Anybody know about the water quality? Rental sources are not immediately jumping out when I google search for them, so advice appreciated. I could use the money I didn’t spend on that drill to rent a boat!
~~Chip
this is rambling, but I like to share. I recall seeing an Italian gent on a dock eating gelato. Near the end of his cone, he tossed the remainder of it into the canal, stepped down and dipped his hand in the water, and dabbed some on his lips to remove the sticky residue. ewwww.
paddling in Holland Never paddled in Holland but have been there. The Dutch are very neat,clean people but i wouldn’t drink the canal water. I would kayak in it. Also would have no problem drinking the beer. Enjoy your trip. Vaughn Fulton
Belgium has great people and the beer is far superior to the Dutch. Perhaps a little biased here as my family origins are Grimbergen a small town outside Brussels with a monastery beer that is awesome. Also Bruege has great ancient canals that can be paddled but I dont know the outfitters. Anyway not far from Amsterdam in the scheme of things European. Have fun!
Worth a day trip? Is Bruege worth a day trip? We are thinking about it, but the 3-hour train trip has me thinking it isn’t worth it. We’ll only be in the Netherlands 3 to 4 days, and I am unsure if there is anything in Bruege that is worth sacrificing 6 hours out of that limited time on the train ride to Bruege. We are getting off the topic of paddling here, but I will appreciate your advice.
forget paddling Amsterdam is a wonderful city, and you’ll have plenty to do and see w/o trying to find a kayak rental. If you want to take a day trip, take the train out to Utrecht (shorter than going to Belgium) or the train/bus to the Kröller-Müller museum, which offers a spectacular bunch of Van Gogh paintings and a bike ride in a park at one stop: http://www.hogeveluwe.nl/default.asp?language=2
Bruege is a fascinating city as is Ghent which is nearby. In my opinion worth a daytrip. I somewhat prefer Belgium to Holland for its shear antiquity. Just personal preference.
Bruges is worth the trip I was there in 1991 and thought it was a great, quaint European town. I wasn’t into paddling then, but took a canal boat tour which was fantastic. I happened to be there when they were celebrating the anniversary of the founding of Flanders – I think it was the 500th anniversary then, so there was plenty of additional cultural stuff going on.
My mother did a European trip this fall and she said it was her favorite town.