Travel

This is brilliant: experience the Amsterdam Light Festival with Uber

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The Amsterdam Light Festival with Uber experience? Starting this year it can – and it takes the most beautiful winter event in Amsterdam to a whole new level. The period when the days get shorter and the lights shine brighter is my favorite season. Candles, coziness, sending cards, enjoying a lavish meal with your favorite people… and if possible, I celebrate my birthday (also always in December) with a boat trip along the Amsterdam Light Festival. I have been doing this for years with my dearest friends around me.

However: a little boat is of course not for everyone and walking along the artworks is not for everyone either. If you have difficulty walking or just don’t have the budget to rent a salon boat or don’t have friends with a small boat, it becomes difficult to experience the Amsterdam Light Festival at its best. That’s why Uber comes with perhaps the most loving solution of this winter.

Why the Amsterdam Light Festival is such a magical event

Every year, Amsterdam transforms into a twinkling open-air museum. The Amsterdam Light Festival showcases a route along light artworks by international artists. The theme changes every year, so no edition is the same. The most fun is if you sail or walk with someone who tells you the background of each artwork. A kind of private museum tour, but then outside, in winter, along canals that sparkle.

Uber makes the festival accessible to everyone

For those who do not have access to a boat or are unable to walk long distances, there is now the Amsterdam Light Festival Uber Tour. You experience the light art from your Uber, with a driver who knows exactly where you need to be and a personal tour guide who explains everything along the way. And if you want, snacks and drinks can be added. I tell you: it’s brilliant.

“Amsterdam Light Festival is about light, movement, and connection,” says Dago Houben, director of the Amsterdam Light Festival. “By collaborating with Uber, we now also reach people for whom participation was previously not possible.”

Free rides and the Amsterdam Light for All project

Uber goes even further than just a new way of experiencing. A part of the rides is offered for free to Uber users in Amsterdam. In addition, Uber supports the Amsterdam Light for All project, which makes the festival accessible to people who otherwise would not be able to participate, such as the elderly or people with mobility issues.

“With this tour, we show that Uber not only brings people from A to B, but also closer to the magic of Amsterdam,” says Maurits Schönfeld, director of Uber Northern Europe.

How to book your Uber tour along the Amsterdam Light Festival

Starting late November, you can reserve your tour for December 2 via the Uber app. On that day, all rides will be offered at different times, so be quick.
Go to the app to Account → Messages and there the invitation to book your personal tour will appear. Including tour guide, drinks, and snacks. The spots are limited and exclusive to users in the Amsterdam region.

For my parents, a boat trip with the wobbly getting in and out is a bit of a hassle, but an Uber tour guide with explanations and a snack and a drink is really the perfect solution.

So Uber: why this fits perfectly with their mission

Uber started in 2010 from one simple idea: making transportation more accessible. Since then, more than 64 billion rides have been made, and Uber is about connecting people, making cities accessible, and creating new ways to move around that city.
With this collaboration, they show that mobility can also bring culture, inclusion, and wonder.