Before we set sail on our cruise to Norway, we did a full day tour of Zaanse Schanse, Marken and Volendam. These places are known collectively as Waterland, the green countryside just north of Amsterdam sitting on the Ijsselmeer. It was a long day with short stops at each place - as tours usually are - but I'm glad we were able to experience all of these places. I truly enjoyed seeing something other than the big city of Amsterdam and even ended up going back to Waterland on my next trip to The Netherlands. So come along on my day trip to Waterland!
Zaanse Schanse
Zaanse Schans is a heritage area in the Zaandam neighborhood of Amsterdam. The historic windmills and green houses were moved here in the 1960's to recreate the look of an 18th/19th century village. It's quite touristy but it is the closest historical area to Amsterdam and it was the first stop on our day long tour. There isn't an entrance fee but you do have to pay to go in a windmill and the historic houses. Of course, there isn't a fee to enter the gift shops - they call it an open access heritage area - or some of the houses which also house small shops. You can, however, walk the village to get a feel for how it might have been once. And actually is now. Because it has quite an idyllic feel in present day Netherlands - kids riding bikes by, craft demonstrations and animals in the fields make it seem like time hasn't gone by. People do still live here, by the way, so be cognizant of that fact.
Even though it's a bit of a tourist trap, I enjoyed our stop here.(We did not pay extra to go in any of the admission charged places. We were on a time constraint as this was the first of 3 stops for the day) But if you want to see windmills within a short drive of Amsterdam, this is the place to go.
Marken
Marken is a tiny village, population about 1,800, located on an island on the Ijsselmeer, a large lake in Waterland. Consisiting of traditional colored houses, and little else, Marken is exactly the picture of what you think of when you think of a traditional Dutch village. It's so idyllic that you may think it's a film set instead of a real village!
Even though we had limited time, it was plenty of time to see this small town with its colorful houses, very well kept gardens and its port. Had we had more time we could've taken a boat ride across the Ijsselmeer but that will just have to wait for next time!Our last stop of the day was in the fishing village of Volendam. This little village, known as the "Pearl of the Zuiderzee", is also located in Waterland, and it depends upon fishing and tourism for its livelihood. You can walk along its promendade, enjoy some fresh seafood and visit a cheese factory. Which is exactly what we did!
Part of our tour was a visit to the Cheese Factory Volendam where we were given a brief talk about their cheese(Dutch Gouda), a demonstration and then a cheese tasting. It was a short and interesting lesson on Volendam Cheese - and tasty, too.
We had about an hour to enjoy dinner - at a waterfront restaurant - and then our tour guide led us back to our bus through town and along the water. (As I mentioned earlier, you can take the ferry across the lake from Marken to arrive if you'd like)
What a beautiful area of the Netherlands! And even though tours aren't always ideal, I'm really glad that we took this tour - it was the best way to get out of Amsterdam without a rental car to areas without train service. Most people just see Amsterdam but the entire country of The Netherlands is quite a hidden gem and I was happy to explore it more of it.
How about you? Have you been to Waterland?
Lovely windmills!
ReplyDeleteAren't they? Thanks for visiting The Unpaved Road!
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