The Netherlands has more navigable waterway per square kilometer than anywhere on earth - some 6,000 km of canals, rivers, and lakes where the sensible route from Amsterdam to Rotterdam is through the country, not around it. Sea route planners are useless here: they route around the coast, tripling the distance. Planning Dutch waterways needs a planner that knows the inland network itself. Here is how that works, and how to do it in a browser.
- Dutch inland routes run through the canal network: Amsterdam to Rotterdam is about 42 nm inside, versus a long exposed detour by sea.
- Inland routing needs an inland network graph - the canal and river connections - which sea-lane routers simply do not have.
- The Marine OS planner now routes over the Dutch network (beta): enter two points, choose "Inland canal route", and the line follows the actual waterways.
- Bridges and locks govern inland passage time more than distance does - the Netherlands publishes official operating data openly.
- Plan in the browser, verify with the ANWB waterkaart or local knowledge - inland planning aids are aids, not navigation.
#Why sea planners fail on canals
A sea route planner computes over a network of shipping lanes - open-water connections between ports. Ask it for Amsterdam to Rotterdam and it obediently routes out past IJmuiden, down the North Sea coast, and in through the Nieuwe Waterweg: correct for a coaster, absurd for a cruiser or sloep that belongs on the Vecht and the Hollandse IJssel. The inland answer requires a different map entirely: every canal junction, every river reach, connected as a routable graph. That graph exists in open data - the Dutch waterway network is thoroughly mapped - and a planner that carries it can route the inside way.
#How to plan a Dutch canal route, step by step
- 1Open the route planner and enter your two points - Dutch harbors resolve by name, or paste coordinates from the chart.
- 2Click "Inland canal route (NL beta)" instead of the sea suggestion: the route snaps to the nearest waterway and follows the network - canals, rivers, and lakes - to the destination.
- 3Refine on the chart: drag waypoints to your preferred side channels or moorings; the OpenSeaMap layer shows Dutch waterway marks well (the community that built it is largely Dutch).
- 4Read the distance and time honestly: inland ETAs run on bridge and lock rhythm as much as boat speed - budget waiting time at every opening.
- 5File the plan: distance, stops, and the share link for whoever tracks you from shore.
#Bridges and locks: the real inland clock
On Dutch water, the schedule question is not wind - it is whether the Julianabrug opens before lunch. The Netherlands publishes its fairway information as open data: thousands of bridges and locks with positions, clearances, and official operating times (down to notes like "no openings above wind force 8"). We validated that dataset end to end and are wiring it into the Voyage Timeline for inland routes - so a Dutch passage plan will show each bridge on your line with its opening regime. Coverage note, honestly: the inland routing beta currently covers the Randstad network - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Leiden, Gouda and everything between - and is expanding to the full country and Belgium.
Route through the canals, not around the coast
Enter two Dutch points, click Inland canal route, and the line follows the real waterway network - free, in the browser.
#Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
The inside route is the whole point of Dutch boating - plan it on the network it actually uses. For the surrounding craft: the passage plan guide for the paperwork, European route planning for the wider context, and the pre-departure checklist before you cast off.
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