Daytrip outside Amsterdam: Volendam / Edam / Marken / Monnickendam, Amsterdam

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At the end of the street after walking through the harbor area and to the left a little, you come to the sea/bay and a couple of benches to sit and enjoy the views. The house facing the water had all these cow skins drying in the air----also as I walked back all these kids cam riding by on their bikes ------definitely walk around more than just the harbor semi-circle---get inside the town a bit and you'll see lots more real Holland!

Could not find a name on the door, but they had good croissants and coffee with inside seating---lots of other bakery goodies as well---the sign outside said they were a Smit and Dorlas (coffee supplies) distributor---right on a corner of 2 streets on the walk to the harbor.

This is one of the 3 or 4 places in Volendam that you can dress up in vintage costumes and have your photo made---saw many tourists waiting for this shop to open and the photos in the window were hilarious---looks like a lot of hokey fun.

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Using the new bus terminal behind Centraal Station, you can pay the driver 7 euros for a Waterland ticket, which is a get on/get off system that visits many of the towns northeast of Amsterdam, one of which is Volendam. Not very big around the harbor and easy to stroll---
only about 30 minutes from A'Dam---then you can go on to Edam, Hoorn, Marken and other seaside towns, all for the 7 euro ticket. Saw some folk in the harbor getting on a tour boat for a tour of the bay, I guess. The bus ticket is a really good deal and recommended.

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Volendam, the most recognised fishing village in the Netherlands, just second behind Amsterdam is a real tourist tempter spectacle.

It is famous not only for its traditional costumes (seen in shop-windows of the gift shops), tasty smoked eel, but also for its picturesque fisherman’s cottages and folklore, as well.
Behind the dike the Doolhof with its tiny, plan-free narrow alleys can be explored. With its sightseeings it tempts tourists, dating back to almost 1875.
Lace, Royal Delftware and wooden clogs are the most popular souvenirs sold in some of the many gift shops.

There are organized half-day or full-day excursion there from Amsterdam - these tours visit also to a cheese markt (Kaasmarkt Edam), a clogmaker shop and to a working windmill somewhere in the nearby Katwoude and the tiny fishing village Marken.

Walking on its narrow streets possibly only the shape of the houses seem to be original. The heat-insulated doors and windows, the tiled roofs are rather the accessories of the modern age. The only real things here maybe the sea, the fish market, and the trawlers in the harbour, which form a lively centre.

The Volendam VVV on Zeestraat 37 is the visitors center, where you get all the information about hotels, restaurants, attractions.

Direction by car: A10, S116, N247 Volendam

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Marken is a former island, that is now connected to the mainland by a dam.

It is a small fishermen's town with characteristic wooden houses.

Other people already wrote interesting tips about Marken. Here I would like to draw your attention to the possibility to do a nice walk around the island.

The hike takes 2 or 3 hours, depending if you walk up and down the dam towards Volendam or not.

The hike takes you around Marken, so it does not really matter where you start, just walk along the dyke.

A suggested starting point is the port. Go right after cafe "De Taanderij" onto the cycle-track ("fietspad").

Just before a bunch of willow trees, you can leave the cycle-track and go left onto the dam. This will add an hour to the hike, if you walk until the end of the dam and back. It's certainly worth the effort, with the water on both sides of the dam and the wide views. At the end of the dam, you get a view of the port and church of Volendam.

After the dam, continue your walk to the left, always stay on the dyke.

You will pass the lighthouse (nicknamed "The Horse") and the settlement Rozewerf where icebreakers protect the houses from the ice in the winter.

Follow the dyke, cross the main asphalt road to Marken and continue your walk along the dyke until you are back in the port of Marken.

See the pictures for a map of the island...Just follow the shore!

Bus 111 (Arriva company) takes you from Amsterdam Central station to Marken in 45 minutes!

It is also possible to take a boat from Marken to Volendam.

You cannot enter Marken by car unless you are a resident. There is a big parking before the village, 3.50 euro per day.

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One option for a half day trip is to go by bus, around 30-40minutes to Volendam and from there corss by Boat to Marken, both villages are very nice and small. Once you arrive to any of both, you can go for a walk by the seaside and see the local architechture. There is a boat crossing from one town to the other, and from there bus back to Amsterdam, if you have time I think that the trip is worthy.

Edam is a small town about 20km southeast of Amsterdam and is an easy bus ride for a trip out of the city. When I visited on a weekday in winter, it was almost completely deserted but I did manage to see some of the famous cheeses being loaded onto a lorry.

The centre of the town is very pretty and there are also picturesque houses lining the small canals, if you explore up some of the side streets.

There's a lovely welcoming inn in the centre where I had a tasty lunch.

To get there: catch bus 110, 112, 114 or 116 from outside Amsterdam's main railway station.