A former cargo vessel is now a floating home museum on an Amsterdam canal. On board the Hendrika Maria, the change from freight hold to domestic rooms makes a citywide story tangible: boats once built to carry goods became places to live.
Guide preview
The floor beneath you was once part of a working cargo vessel. The Houseboat Museum is aboard the Hendrika Maria, a ship built in 1914 whose hold has been adapted into a home.
Continue exploring
Discover the full story
Keep reading with a travel pass and explore every full guide and tour.
UpgradeQuick facts
- The museum is aboard the Hendrika Maria, built in 1914.
- Its cargo hold was converted into living space.
- Amsterdam houseboats include both former freight vessels and purpose-built floating homes.
More places in Amsterdam
A'DAM Lookout Tower
A’DAM Lookout crowns the former Shell tower across the IJ, giving Amsterdam Noord a vertical landmark and visitors a broad view back toward the historic center. From here, the city reads as water, rooftops, bridges, and new development in one panorama.
Albert Cuyp Market
Albert Cuyp Market runs along the busy commercial spine of De Pijp, a neighborhood built during Amsterdam’s nineteenth-century expansion. Its stalls bring food, household goods, and local conversation into the street.
Amsterdam Centraal Station
Amsterdam Centraal stands on an artificial island in the IJ, its ornate brick façade by Pierre Cuypers marking the city’s nineteenth-century connection to a national rail network. Watch ferries and trains meet here, where Amsterdam’s historic center faces the water.
Amsterdam Dungeon
The Amsterdam Dungeon is a theatrical attraction that uses actors and staged scenes to interpret episodes from the city’s past. Its deliberate blend of performance and history makes this a useful place to notice how a story changes when visitors become part of the set.
Amsterdam Museum
The Amsterdam Museum tells the city through objects and many voices, linking historic artifacts with stories from residents today. Its collection spans paintings, clothing, photographs, documents, and everyday things, a reminder that a city’s identity keeps changing.
Amsterdamse Bos
Amsterdamse Bos is a hand-planted urban forest created during the economic crisis of the 1930s. Its broad scale, woods, water, and meadows make it feel unlike the compact parks inside Amsterdam’s ring.