Canalside charm

The most beautiful canal cities from around the world.

This year Amsterdam celebrates the 400th anniversary of its extensive canal network, which started being constructed in 1613 and was completed in 1625. In honour of the Dutch capital’s magnificent achievement, we’ve rounded up the most beautiful canal cities from around the world.

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Bruges, Belgium

A city frozen in time, Bruges is Belgium’s biggest tourist attraction with good reason. Pretty town squares, traditional Flemish gabled architecture, winding medieval passages and picturesque canals all add to its appeal, and despite the droves of day trippers it’s very much worth a visit.

Stay overnight to truly experience this dreamy city once the hordes have left. On the other hand, if you enjoy the excitement of big crowds the annual canal-centred Reiefeest, which sees the romantic waterways explode with scores of festivities, shouldn’t be missed. 

Xitang, China

With a history that dates back over 2,000 years, the ancient town of Xitang, along with its water town neighbours, has no shortage of heritage. However, unlike many other water towns, which are filled with tacky tourist shops and busloads of day trippers, Xitang has managed to stay true to its roots.

It has also remained largely unchanged through the millennia, with very old, picturesque houses backing out on one of the nine rivers that crisscross it, and historic bridges arching over the waterways which serve as the main thoroughfares through the town to this day.

Venice, Italy

Undoubtedly the most famous of all the canal cities, Venice oozes charm and romance with gondoliers gliding silently under bridges that have been eternalised by Renaissance painters. The city is built on a group of 118 small islands which are separated by canals and linked by bridges.

During the day the city gets overrun by day trippers, but once they leave in the afternoon the city readily reveals its age-old allure. Whether it is the impressive drama of the Grand Canal palaces that appeals to you, the quirky calli(alleyways) or the impressive scale of Piazza San Marco, it is easy to understand why people fall head over heels in love with Venice.

Stockholm, Sweden

In Stockholm you’re never far from a striking waterside walkway or pretty bridge, and one of the best ways to see the city is aboard one of a number of sightseeing boats which ply the waterways. Built on 14 islands which separate the Baltic Sea from Lake Mälaren, the Swedish capital has rightfully been nicknamed the “Venice of the North”.

Take your canal experience up a level and travel along “Sweden’s Blue Ribbon”, which connects Stockholm on the east coast with Gothenburg on the west coast, through a network of canals, 58 locks and 47 bridges.

St Petersburg, Russia

Built by Peter the Great on swampland in the early 18th century, it is no coincidence that Russia’s “window to the west” has a much more European flavour than the country's capital Moscow. Its original layout was devised by an Italian architect, who set out to create a city crisscrossed by an extensive network of canals.

St Petersburg is built on numerous islands of varying size which dot the delta of the river Neva, giving rise to its nickname, the “City of 101 Islands”. Over time these islands were gradually link by a number of bridges that span the Neva’s tributaries and the city’s many canals.