North of Amsterdam, two day trips fill most visitors' plans: the windmills of the Zaanse Schans on the river Zaan to the north-west, and the old fishing towns of the Markermeer, Volendam, Edam and Marken, to the north-east. The Netherlands page covers the Zaanse Schans ticket and the classic Volendam and Marken pairing. This page goes inside a mill, into the workshops and museums, and out to the quieter places nearby.
Around the Zaanse Schans, the town of Zaandam keeps the wooden house where Czar Peter the Great lodged in 1697. On the Markermeer side, Edam still holds its cheese market in summer, Marken has a museum of its costumes and a lighthouse at the end of a dike, and the Waterland polders between them and Amsterdam are some of the easiest countryside to reach by bike.
Watch pigments ground inside De Kat, the paint mill
Zaanse Schans
45 minutesGo alone or with a tour
Climb inside a working windmill that grinds the raw pigments painters and museum restorers still buy.
What it is
De Kat stands among the mills on the Zaanse Schans dike. It burned in 1782 and was rebuilt soon after; restored around 1960, it first sifted sawdust and later became a dye mill that also ground chalk. Today it specialises in making paint, and the Zaansche Molen association says museums from the Rembrandt House to the Vatican Museums buy its pigments. Inside you see the stones turning and climb to the stage that runs round the mill.
How to do it
It opens daily from 9:00 to 16:30 and closes on 25, 26 and 31 December and 1 January. A single mill costs €7.50 for adults and €3.75 for ages 4 to 17; an all-in-one ticket for every mill and the windmill museum costs €15. Zaandijk Zaanse Schans station is 18 minutes by train from Amsterdam Centraal.
Good to know
Buying paint in the mill's paint room needs an appointment made in advance. The stage is exposed, so hold on in strong wind.
Taste farm cheese and watch the craftsmen at the Zaanse Schans
Zaanse Schans
1 hourFree
Walk in for free to taste cheese at the Catharina Hoeve and watch clogs, pewter and casks being made the old way.
What it is
Besides the mills, the Zaanse Schans keeps a row of working craft houses. At the Catharina Hoeve, a farm on the Zeilenmakerspad, you taste and buy Dutch cheese. Nearby are the clog workshop, the Tinkoepel pewter foundry and the Tiemstra coopery, where makers work in front of visitors and explain where each product comes from.
How to do it
The village and these workshops are free to enter; only the museums and mills charge. Most locations open from 9:00 to 17:00, and the cheese farm opens every day in both the summer and winter seasons. Walk from Zaandijk Zaanse Schans station across the Zaan bridge.
Good to know
Not every workshop opens every day, so check the site's daily list. The shops sell plenty; tasting is free, buying is not required.
Duck into the wooden house where Czar Peter lodged in Zaandam
Zaandam
45 minutesNo booking needed
A tiny wooden house of 1632 where the young Peter the Great lodged in 1697 while learning to build ships.
What it is
In 1697 Czar Peter came to Zaandam, then full of shipyards, to learn the shipwright's trade. The small wooden house he stayed in is one of the oldest wooden houses in the country, and since the 1890s it has stood inside a brick shell that protects it. Inside are the box bed and fireplace, and the walls and windows are covered with 19th-century visitors' signatures.
How to do it
It is at the end of the Krimp street, Krimp 23, a short walk from Zaandam station in the town centre. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00 and closes on 25 December and 1 January. Adults pay €7, children aged 4 to 17 €3.50, and Museumkaart and I Amsterdam City Card holders go free.
Good to know
Payment is by card only. The wooden house is not accessible to wheelchair users.
Time needed
45 minutes
Best time
Tuesday to Sunday, combined with the Zaanse Schans
The town that gave Edam cheese its name still holds its cheese market on summer Wednesdays, three kilometres from Volendam's crowds.
What it is
Edam grew through trade and shipping and became known worldwide for its cheese. In summer the cheese market comes back to the Jan Nieuwenhuizenplein, in the town centre. Outside market days the town is a quiet place of canals and listed buildings, with the Edams Museum.
How to do it
In 2026 the market ran every Wednesday from 1 July to 19 August, with an evening market on Saturday 8 August from 20:30 to 22:00; check the dates for the next season. Watching is free. From Amsterdam, the Amsterdam and Region Travel Ticket covers the trip to Edam.
Good to know
Arrive early on market day for a place at the front. The rest of the year, walk the canals to the harbour and combine Edam with Volendam.
See the cigar-band mosaics at the Volendams Museum
Volendam
1 hourNo booking needed
A small museum of the fishing village's costumes and rooms, ending in a house decorated with millions of cigar bands.
What it is
The Volendams Museum tells the story of Volendam in the 19th and 20th centuries: the fishing, the tall white caps and striped costumes the village is known for, and furnished rooms. The visit ends in the cigar band house, where scenes and buildings are made from millions of paper cigar bands.
How to do it
It is at Zeestraat 41, a few streets back from the harbour dike, and opens every day from 10:00 to 17:00. Tickets are also sold online.
Good to know
It is a good half hour of shelter if the weather turns, and it explains the costumes you see in the harbour's photo studios.
Six old houses in Marken's church quarter, one furnished as islanders lived in it, the rest about the island's costumes and fishing.
What it is
Marken was an island in the Zuiderzee until a causeway joined it to the mainland, and its people kept their own dress and their houses on mounds against floods. The Marker Museum, opened in 1983, fills six historic houses in the Kerkbuurt: one is furnished as Marken families lived, with traditional furniture and costume, and the costume of Marken is the main theme.
How to do it
It is at Kerkbuurt 44 to 47, a short walk from the harbour. In 2026 it opens daily from 10:00 from late March to 30 September and from 11:00 in October, then closes for the winter. Adults pay €4 and children up to 12 €2.
Good to know
Pair it with the walk out to the lighthouse. Check the dates if you come after October.
A flat walk along the Markermeer to a white lighthouse at the island's tip, away from the day-trip crowds.
What it is
The lighthouse called Het Paard van Marken, the Horse of Marken, stands at the eastern tip of the former island. It was built in 1839 to replace an older tower and has been a national monument since 1970. The interior is closed, but there are benches at the foot with a view across the Markermeer.
How to do it
From the village it is a walk of about 20 to 30 minutes along a straight, flat path, or a short bike ride. The dike loop round the whole island is about 9.5 km. Cars are kept out of the village for anyone but residents, so park at the entrance.
Good to know
There is no shade or shelter on the dike: bring water and a windproof layer.
Cycle from Amsterdam into Waterland to Broek in Waterland
Broek in Waterland
Half a dayGo alone or with a tour
Cross the IJ by ferry and you are among polders, dikes and wooden villages within half an hour of Centraal Station.
If you would rather not find the way through the polders yourself, a guided e-bike ride from Amsterdam crosses the IJ and stops in Broek in Waterland.
What it is
Waterland is the low, watery countryside just north of Amsterdam, part of the Laag Holland landscape. Its best-known village, Broek in Waterland, was a bargee village where rich merchants later built country houses, and it keeps narrow streets, little bridges and its wooden houses on the water. From there the bike paths run on to Monnickendam and the Markermeer.
How to do it
Rent a bike in Amsterdam, take one of the free ferries across the IJ behind Centraal Station and follow the signed cycle network north. Guided e-bike rides from Amsterdam cover the same ground with a stop for cheese and clogs.
Good to know
The open polder is windy: plan the return leg against the wind for when your legs are fresh.
Walk among the windmills and green houses of Zaanse Schans
Zaandam
Half a dayNo booking needed
Working windmills, green wooden houses and craft workshops from the Zaan's industrial past, gathered in a village you walk for free.
What it is
Zaanse Schans is a neighbourhood on the river Zaan. The paid Ticket Zaanse Schans adds the Zaans Museum, the Verkade chocolate experience, the clock museum, the mill museum, the weaver's house and the cooperage, two mills of your choice among those open that day, and an audio tour.
How to do it
Parking is limited and the site recommends public transport: Zaandijk Zaanse Schans station is 18 minutes by train from Amsterdam Centraal, then a walk across the river. Most locations open from 9:00 to 17:00.
Good to know
Not every location opens every day, so check the list before you choose your mills. Mid-morning, when the coaches arrive, is the time to avoid.
Hidden gems suggested by travellers. We check each one before it goes up; the words are theirs, not ours.
No traveller picks for Zaanse Schans and Volendam yet. Know a place most visitors miss?
Plan your trip
Getting there
Zaandijk Zaanse Schans station is 18 minutes by train from Amsterdam Centraal, then a walk across the Zaan. For Volendam, Edam and Marken, regional buses leave from Amsterdam Centraal; the Amsterdam and Region Travel Ticket covers them. By bike, the free IJ ferries put you in Waterland within minutes.
Getting around
The two halves are separate trips: Zaanse Schans to the north-west, the Markermeer towns to the north-east. Between Volendam and Marken the Marken Express ferry runs mainly in the warmer months. Marken village is closed to visitors' cars, so park at the entrance.
How many days
In must30's view, two half days: one for the Zaanse Schans and Zaandam, one for Edam, Volendam and Marken. Guided day tours squeeze all of it into one long day, which leaves little time inside the mills and museums.
When to go
Late March to October, when every mill, museum and ferry runs; the Edam cheese market is on Wednesdays in July and August. Weekday mornings are calmer than afternoons, when the coach tours arrive. In winter many places open fewer days and the Marker Museum closes.
Questions travellers ask
Can you go inside the windmills at Zaanse Schans?
Yes. Several mills open to visitors, among them De Kat, which grinds pigments for paint and opens daily from 9:00 to 16:30. A single mill costs €7.50 for adults, and an all-in-one ticket covers every mill and the windmill museum.
When is the Edam cheese market?
On Wednesdays in July and August. In 2026 it ran from 1 July to 19 August, with one evening market on Saturday 8 August. Watching is free.
How long is the walk to the Marken lighthouse?
About 20 to 30 minutes each way from the village, on a flat path along the dike. The full dike loop round the island is about 9.5 km.
Is Zaanse Schans free?
Walking round the village and into the craft workshops and the cheese farm is free. The mills, the Zaans Museum and the other museums charge.
