Volendam Things to Do

A lot of the houses along the shoreline sit low behind the road which acts as a dam, to protect the buildings from any flooding. I just love all these typiclally Dutch looking houses with the gabled roofs and such. So much nicer than the plain "boxes" that make up the houses where I live!

There were heaps of pleasure craft in the harbour at Volendam but there is also a tradition of fishing and the town is known for its great seafood. We didn't have much time to sit down in one of the many restaurants that serve the fruits of the fishermans labours but I would have loved to have sampled some! There are numerous restaurants lining the waterfront.

Since we were there in October, Volendam wasn't nearly as busy as I'm sure it gets in the middle of summer but it was still nice to get away from the really touristy area at the harbour, with all the gift shops & restaurants, and explore some of the quieter backstreets of the old town.

If you look closely at this photo you can just make out one of the typical lift bridges crossing the canal in the background.

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This is what I call the touristy area of Volendam. I imagine, that on a nice sunny Summer's day, it would be extremely busy. It was, cold, wet and very windy, so not many people. This area has some nice statues of Dutch people in traditional costume. They make good photo opportunities as well. It is also where the majority of Tourist shops are, and there are lots of nice Cafes, Restaurants to choose from.
If you wish to go to Marken, then this is where you catch the Marken Express boat to go there.
Take a walk along here, enjoy the shops and get to see the Traditional Dutch sailing boats.

Volendam is well-known for its old fishing boats and the traditional clothing.
There are shops where you can rent a traditional costume of Volendam and take photo in their photo studio,the price is about 12.5 euro for one of 10R picture.

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Talk a walk down along the dike in Volendam, this is where the big boats tie up and you can see some fine examples of the seamans dream. The boats shown look to be in perfect condition, as if not used, but I asked and was told they are used and were NOT museum exhibits. The area around the harbour is filled also with tourist restaurants and stores with high priced things and poor quality food, but the harbor is guarded over by Ootje (grandmother), so at least drop by to say hi.

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This is a tour town-but still has a lot of pizzazz. I enjoyed walking around and looking into the shops. We eat here and had some of the local raw cod, and other dishes some harder to chew than others. The shops really do cater to tourists and are pleasant people to talk to. Buy something

If you are in Holland, do not forget to have your picture taken in the national
attire. That is really nice. My Dutch friends invited to do it, and I must say
at first I didn't feel like doing it. However, back at home all my friends and
relatives appreciated those pictures as really nice gifts from Holland!