Dutch bus floats like a duck

The orange personal flotation device stashed at my feet beneath the seat in front of me was the first sign that this was not a typical city bus tour. The second was the driver's introduction: "I'm Renger. I'll be your chauffeur and your captain." Indeed, our guide was proficient not only at steering the sky-blue 48-passenger tour bus from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport to the center of the Dutch capital but also at driving us straight into the canal. On purpose.

The bus, dubbed the Floating Dutchman, is the latest twist on the most popular way to see Amsterdam -- from a boat on the city's sprawling network of canals. Amphibian tours are nothing new in the United States and elsewhere, including DC Ducks in Washington, where visitors sit atop frumpy World War II amphibious vehicles that move on land like boats on wheels. There's no such clunkiness with the elegant Floating Dutchman, which travels atop the asphalt at highway speeds and floats, half-submerged, as smoothly as a cruise ship.

The tour, which lasts two hours and 45 minutes, leaves from the airport and is meant for passengers with layovers of longer than four hours (city-only tours also are available). The rides, which started in July, also have attracted locals' attention.

WHAT TO EXPECT

On the 30-minute drive into central Amsterdam, Renger narrated points of interest in Dutch and English. In town, he maneuvered the bus onto a narrow pathway between the waterside Science Center NEMO and the former 17th century arsenal now housing the National Maritime Museum. As we neared the "splash zone," curious pedestrians and bicyclists gathered to watch.

"This will take a minute as I prepare us for the water," Renger said of the process that includes shutting down the diesel engine and engaging the $3.5 million bus' 198 electric batteries. "Here we go!" Renger proclaimed as he motored us down a ramp toward the water. We passengers huddled near the front for splashdown, while more spectators idled in boats on the canal to watch.

THE CANAL TOUR

With a slight rocking motion and a collective cheer, we rolled into the canal, the water coming to a foot below the windows. For the rest of the 45-minute canal tour, we were treated as celebrities, with boaters following us along the canal to wave and snap photos and onlookers on land laughing and pointing.

Back at the splash zone, Renger pointed the boat toward the ramp and drove out of the water as we applauded. Our driver made another quick engine reset, and we headed back onto the city streets.

After a forgettable stop at the Craft & History Experience, a cheesy tourist shop attraction owned by the bus company -- which makes this the equivalent of a museum exiting through its gift shop -- I was dropped off near the central train station (I was staying in Amsterdam, not transferring flights) before the tour made its way back to the airport.