Tour boat

To maximize the view outside for all (paying) passengers, a tour boat is usually constructed with a maximum amount and size of windows, possibly including a glazed roof, sometimes yielding a greenhouse-like superstructure.

In order to be able to pass under small, low, sometimes centuries old little bridges, over canals in historic city centers, such tour boats may have a very specific design, lying very low in the water, with passengers sometimes sitting up to their waist below the water line, as well as being short and narrow, to allow making very tight turns around canals.

To minimize their burden on local residents and/or the natural environment, tour boats can be powered with silent running, zero emissions electric drive.

[4] In the Netherlands, boat tours are offered in many larger towns and cities with grachten[5] and/or singels (intra-urban canals), like in Amsterdam, Delft, Leiden, Utrecht and Groningen.

In 2010, boat tours through the Amsterdam Canal District hosted a record setting 3,072,000 visitors, making them the busiest tourist attraction in the country.