by James Taylor
The owner of the lovely boutique hotel “Bossche Suites” (see our review!) where we stayed in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, Mr. Rens den Otter, took us for an outstanding tour of the city on the first day of our stay in his hotel. During the tour of the city (also known as Den Bosch) he pointed out several locations and activities that he thought we would enjoy while in Den Bosch and one of those activities was a canal tour which he explained ran throughout the city including under many of the buildings.
We immediately purchased tickets at Vaartocht Binnendieze for a tour beginning at 10:20 AM the following day.
We immediately purchased tickets at Vaartocht Binnendieze for a tour beginning at 10:20 AM the following day.
The next morning we walked to the starting point for the tour and made what should have been a five minute walk into a twenty minute trek after making several wrong turns but we still arrived a little early. Making an early reservation turned out to be a very good decision as we ended up with a private tour as there was only the two of us guided by Theo; the extremely capable and knowledgeable guide and boat captain.
After we noticed that there were no other boats on the canals Theo explained that the use of the canals were exclusively reserved for the tour company (Kring Vrienden van ‘s-Hertogenbosch) that he worked for. The locals refer to these canals as “De Binnendirze” which is the collective name of a number of streams in the city center.
The town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (the Duke’s Wood), was given city rights in 1185, and to protect itself against enemy attacks, a fortified wall was built around the town. In the 14th century, a second city wall was built providing more space for the town.
As the wall was expanded, the streams (the river branches Dommel and Aa), were enclosed within the city walls and canals servicing these streams were built to allow merchants to move their goods easily to the larger river harbors for transport across the Netherlands and Europe.
As the wall was expanded, the streams (the river branches Dommel and Aa), were enclosed within the city walls and canals servicing these streams were built to allow merchants to move their goods easily to the larger river harbors for transport across the Netherlands and Europe.
Each merchant built his workshop at the back of his house which was built on the canal. Leather, metal and brewing merchants transported goods, while households used the canals for drinking water, cooking water and even for a sewer.
Building homes outside the city wall was forbidden for security reasons.
As the town grew, the shortage of land inside the walls, became a problem, so citizens began building across the canals. These are the fascinating canals you can visit today.
As the town grew, the shortage of land inside the walls, became a problem, so citizens began building across the canals. These are the fascinating canals you can visit today.
The tour company offers several different tours including the Fortress Route, the Jeroen Bosch Route, and the Historic Route. We opted for the Historic Route and the tour was not only unique in that it actually did travel under many of the city’s buildings; it was also one of the best canal tours that we have ever taken, providing a perspective to a city center that we had not previously seen.
There are a number of sections along the route we took that have long portions that remain in darkness and the captain had to use a spotlight. There are also areas that are so narrow that only an inch separated the boat from the side walls.
We would highly recommend a tour of the “Binnendieze”, the unusual and beautiful canals of s’Hertogenbosch Netherlands!
