I wouldn’t mind owning a boat though preferably with a captain and someone who keeps up its maintenance. I’ll make bites to eat and make sure we brought along sun lotion and drinks.

It’s best to just befriend people with a boat. Great project for the summer. Amsterdam’s breathtakingly beautiful when you’re on a boat, and I couldn’t be happier if the sun’s also shining. Don’t know people with a boat then why not just rent one. You need to be able to navigate it though.

On bootjehureninamsterdam.com you can rent a boat for about 100 euro for six people.  They’re really silent which are my favourite. You can actually hear each other without that constant noise of a motor. They’re also electric so good for the environment. You don’t need a license because they’re easy to navigate, though this doesn’t mean you can do whatever you feel like. Honk before turning the corner. Touring boats hate small boats so don’t presume they’ll get out of your way.

I think it’s best to take with a basket of treats. Easy finger bites like sandwiches, chicken legs, savoury pancakes, frittata, meat balls, crudité with dip. I like to bring with homemade ginger lemonade and cold bottles of wine, but you can also choose to stop somewhere to have lunch. The captain can also join. I’m giving you some great addresses that are easy to reach by boat.

• Café George on the Leidsegracht. There’s a small area to moor so you need to be lucky. The boat will lie in the shade. It’s wise to make a reservation if you want to have lunch.
• Hannekes boom. A huge terrace with lots of picnic tables right next to Central Station at the IJ. There’s a great ambience and the menu’s filled with bites to eat.
• Hotel L’europe and Amstel hotel are very fancy hotels so definitely don’t forget to bring your wallet, but a very festive place if you’ve got something to celebrate.
• Near the Amstel hotel is Café de Jaren. Big terrace and it’s okay to moor your boat for quite some time.
• Amstel harbour has enough space to moor and there’s an enormous terrace which lends itself perfectly to stay all day and watch the sun set.