No ice skating on Amsterdam’s canals for now

DutchAmsterdam.nl — Effective this thursday, the city of Amsterdam wil cancel a recent ban on sailing through some of its canals.

The ban, instituted on January 4, was meant to allow a network of canals to freeze over — turning a large section of the city into a giant ice skating rink.

Unfortunately, despite the freezing temperatures, the weather never got cold enough for safe ice to develop.

The rule of thumb is that you need four nights of -4º Celcius (24.8º fahrenheit) in order for the ice to be thick enough to skate on. Though it got that cold in some parts of the country, it did not happen in Amsterdam.

For the time being no extended period of ice-building frost has been forecast, and with a slight thaw in the air during the daytime the city has decided to lift the ban for now.

The ban will be reinstituted if and when a new period of deep frost arrives.

Ice Skating in Amsterdam

You will still be able to take to the ice in Amsterdam.

• There is an ice skating rink inside Artis Zoo (free with your entrace ticket).
• A large, free rink is at Museumplein.
• And then there is Jaap Eden which offers both a covered rink and a 400-meter outdoor oval.

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