Here you can check the best sailing routes in (and around) the historical canals of Utrecht. Sail along the best tips around: pass the cosy terraces at the wharfs of Oudegracht, cross tens of lovely bridges at the fairy-like Nieuwegracht (only allowed by electric boat!), or enjoy the peaceful nature at the tiny river Kromme Rijn towards Rhijnauwen.

Sailing routes in Utrecht

For short bookings (2 hours) we recommend to stay in the city center. There’s so much to see in this vibrant city center and there are great boat trips possible for a two-hour ride. Go, for instance, from the Greenjoy harbour towards Weerdsluis and enter Oudegracht from there to sail along the crowded terraces at the wharfs. At Ledig Erf you will enter the Singel again, where you can take a left. After ca. 200 meter you can you can enter Nieuwegracht by sailing through the tiny bridge at your left-hand side. At the fairy-like Nieuwegracht you will pass tens of beautiful bridges, which will make you believe that you’re sailing a hundred years back in history. When exiting Nieuwegracht just take a right to get to our Greenjoy harbour in just a few hundred meters! (Please note: during 2019/2020 unfortunately Nieuwegracht is closed due to maintenance. Therefore you can still take a left when leaving Oudegracht at Ledig Erf and just keep following Singel to get back to the Greenjoy harbour)

A very nice extra suggestion when you have enough time is to reach out to the Catharijnesingel before you enter Oudegracht at Weerdsluis. In a few years Catharijnesingel will offer you a full round, but while they’re half way digging this new canal you can just sail back and forth at Catharijnesingel to explore this brand new piece of canal in the city center! The temporary end-point will be at pop podium TivoliVredeburg and when you get back tot Weerdsluis you can continue your boat trip at Oudegracht. This additional trip will take about half an hour extra.

When you’re sailing at least 4 hours and feel the urge to seek for nature, then you can enter the tiny river Kromme Rijn when exiting Oudegracht at Ledig Erf (please mind, this is NOT the Wester-/Oosterkade which is the extension of Oudegracht). By following the Kromme Rijn-river you will eventually enter natural park Rhijnauwen, where it’s only allowed to sail with an electric boat. At the well-known Theehuis Rhijnauwen it’s just perfect to have a little pitstop with a snack before getting back to the city. Please note: Because of current the trip towards Theehuis Rhijnauwen will take about 2 hours. The way back to the Utrecht canals will take about one hour. From there it will take another 20 minutes towards the Greenjoy harbour when you take a left on Singel when leaving Kromme Rijn.

If you’d like to combine a city boat trip with this adventurous boat trip to Rhijnauwen, you have to take in account that it will take at least five hours sailing, which does not contain pit stops or other breaks.

Hereunder you will find some great sailing routes in Utrecht. Click on the upper left menu for more information about the trip.

NB: Every Greenjoy boat is equipes with a little map of the city center, nice and handy!