You don’t need to go far to see something. Once a year me and my friends organise a weekend trip. There are a few boundaries. You must be able to get there by car and there must be a lot of food!! This way we’ve seen a lot of the Netherlands.. And only a few years back we went to Volendam. A little touristic town in North-Holland one of our provinces.
Tourist may know Volendam for it’s authentic Dutch character, traditional clothing, the idyllic harbor and the fishers boats. Or that it is really close to Amsterdam, sort of another neighborhood.
When visiting Volendam it is best to do it on foot. Because that way you get the best chance to experience the dutch character of the town. The characteristic traditional houses walking along ‘De dijk’ and through ‘Het doolhof’ old quarters of Volendam. Maze like streets with another amazing house of bridge around each corner.
But not only wondering around the old streets is worth the visit, there are also a lot of museums you can visit. If you wanna learn about how eels are smoked visit the museum Palingsound.. Are you more a history type of tourist you can visit ‘Volendams museum’.
Or you can go to one of the places where you can dress up in traditional clothes and have your picture taken. Not only the clothes make it feel you go back in history, the setting in which the photo is taken makes you go back in time.
If you like to feel the wind in your hair you can take the boat to Marken, a small Island in the former ‘Zuider zee’ (Southern Sea). Here you find more traditional houses and it is amazing to see how people could live on an Island that regularly flooded. So the houses are on stilts.
And if you enjoyed a nice day on foot in Volendam and are getting hungry just find a nice restaurant in the harbor and enjoy a nice fish dinner.