City envy: we want a floating cat sanctuary like Amsterdam

Cats famously hate water and Londoners love cats and things on boats. Covering all of these bases is one of Amsterdam’s most unique tourist attractions: De Poezenboot (‘Catboat’) – the only floating feline sanctuary in the world.

The boat is a haven for Amsterdam’s stray and abandoned cats, many of whom are up for adoption: while there are 14 full-time four-legged residents, the narrowboat houses around 50 mogs at a time. Their unique accommodation means they make friends in the strangest places, too. Take the ducks on the canal, who poke their beaks through the boat’s wire netting to try and nab cat food. Sharing is caring, after all.

It’s a truly original social enterprise and so popular that you’ll often find a queue of visitors on the canalbank. And while the notoriously violent swans of Hyde Park might make such a sanctuary unlikely on the Serpentine, we’ll be pushing for a Regent’s Canal equivalent in the near future.

Want more cities to be jealous of? We also want a four-day working week like Helsinki