Walking is free, flexible and lets you linger in front of a single artwork for as long as you like. It also means bridge crowds, cold feet and a route that can take well over two hours end to end.
A cruise covers the water route in about 75 minutes, passes under the installations rather than beside them, and keeps you warm. Most of the monumental works of the last editions were designed with the canal perspective in mind.
The pragmatic answer for a first visit: sail the route to see the artworks as they were intended, then walk back through the canal belt to revisit the two or three that stayed with you.
If you are visiting with small children, elderly family or on a tight schedule, the boat is not just the nicer option — it is the only one that reliably works.
Sail the route
Covered, open and private cruises through the Edition 15 route are operated by Kinboat, official partner of this guide.
Book a cruise