Our plan for the morning was to take the train into Amsterdam Central and then travel from there by bus to the village of Marken. Buses run half hourly (No.315) and depart from behind the railway station, this journey being included in the regional travel ticket. It was a pleasant ride out to Marken, the bus making good progress and seldom stopping on its way. The latter part of the journey being along a narrow causeway connecting the village to the mainland. To visit Marken’s picturesque small harbour it’s necessary to alight in the bus station but the bus continues a little further after that.
From there, a narrow lane passing alongside typical Dutch houses leads towards the harbour, the pathways being decorated with bunting giving a festive appeal. There’s a small museum detailing the town’s history and traditional Dutch clothing style of the area featuring winged caps and brightly coloured striped skirts.
Arriving at the picturesque small harbour with its characterful wooden houses it was easy to see why the village attracts so many visitors, it’s one of the oldest fishing harbours in the Netherlands and in its heyday regularly accommodated up to 200 fishing boats. We strolled around the harbour admiring both the boats and the traditional houses many of which now have National Heritage status.
Instead of continuing by bus we decided to cross Markenmeer to Volendam on the Marken Express ferry which has sailings every 40 minutes. One way tickets cost €8.50 per person, this service being excluded from our regional ticket. Choosing to sit on the open, upper deck to enjoy the views we had to contend with a stiff breeze which caused most passengers to seek shelter downstairs in the saloon.
Approaching the quayside at Volendam made it all worthwhile though as the harbourside looked gorgeous lined with an assortment of typical wooden pointed houses greeting us as we moored on the jetty.
On disembarking from the ferry we found lots of these traditional buildings to be bars and cafes and it was not long before we were settled on a cosy terrace sipping our cups of coffee and unable to resist the temptation of Dutch waffles. Whilst sitting there watching throngs of tourists saunter past we spied a heron close by almost begging for food from a herring stall. It was very surprising to see a heron amongst so many people as they are known to be shy and usually spotted at the water’s edge rather than on a busy promenade. The local herons have obviously worked out its easier to scavenge for food on dry land.
Deciding we needed to make a move, a walk along the seafront and in the inviting little shops followed. Volendam has its own cheese factory offering free demonstrations of the cheese making process for the locally produced Edam and Gouda varieties. Being a lover of cheese this proved very interesting especially as tastings were available too.
We were so pleased that we’d decided to visit Volendam, it’s such a charming little place, a little touristy like Marken and with a few too many tour groups blocking the way but it’s certainly worth a visit. In Amsterdam we had noticed half day tours advertised visiting both Marken and Volendam costing €50 per person whereas we had only paid for the ferry as our bus journeys were covered by our travel ticket. Visiting these small towns had been easy by public transport and returning back to Amsterdam from Volendam centre took only 30 minutes with buses running every 15 minutes.
Later, after eating dinner we intended to explore Amsterdam’s Jordaan District but it started raining heavily so we jumped on a passing tram and rattled along the city streets watching the world go by from its rain spotted windows.
If you have enjoyed reading this post you may also be interested in the following:
Haarlem and Zaanse Schans Windmills
Keukenhof Gardens and visiting Edam
Love Travelling Blog 
What a neat trip to the sea coast, Marion. I really like the architecture of the smaller towns. While the waffles looked appetizing, we are both suckers for poffertjes. Glad you had a good experience. Allan
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Market and Volendam are both really pretty places Allan. I like the Netherlands very much especially eating french fries with mayonnaise.
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What a lovely way of sharing. It gives me thrills to go visitung ams
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Thank you for your inspiring thoughts on my blog. Hope you get an opportunity to visit Amsterdam soon.
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I loved these two little places. We spent the most wonderful day here, I loved everything about Volendam and Marken – one of my Holland highlights.
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Thanks Joy. I’m so pleased that you also visited these small coastal towns, definitely a highlight!
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Beautiful beautiful pictures. Holland is one of my favorite countries to visit. I have always wondered if the Dutch live a life as uncomplicated as the pictures would have you to believe. I have visited Amsterdam, Appldoorn,Utrect, Armesphort, and gotten lost in several places not even on the map. Great post–keep traveling and writing.
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Thank you for your kind words. I’m so pleased that you also enjoyed visiting Holland.
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I love all things nautical and Holland looks to be an almost perfect fit for me. Why haven’t I been there yet? 🙂 🙂
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I’m sure you would enjoy a visit to the Netherlands Jo, such a short distance away too! Thanks for your ever welcome thoughts and have a great weekend.
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We were disappointed to find that most of the clogs made these days are done through computer generated machinery. It was fascinating to watch though.
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Yes, I suppose the traditional handmade clogs are seldom seen now.
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Oh gosh your photos remind me of my Oma and Opa’s house. Those treats look amazing!
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Thank you for your kind words on this post.
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Almost felt as though I were stepping off the ferry and into this picturesque world. Well done!
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Thanks Alec, it’s so pleasing to read that you enjoyed this post.
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Beautiful photos and guided tour. I don’t know if we’d make the distance in those wooden shoes though.
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Thank you for your kind words. I doubt you would make the distance in those wooden clogs but we would certainly here you coming!!
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LOL. That you would, lol.
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I’m going right over to the pastry shop. Will share my treat with the heron. Enjoyed your post.
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Thank you, we all need sweet treats now and then, even herons!
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Don’t you love transport passes!? I don’t have a sweet tooth, but that raspberry waffle was very tempting.
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Transport passes are so convenient and save so much money that I can indulge in raspberry waffles!! Thanks for your welcome thoughts.
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This looks beautiful
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Thank you Diana, it really is!
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Looks so quaint!
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It certainly is! Thanks for your welcome comments.
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beautiful pics. waffles looks so tempting !
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Thank you for your inspiring thoughts. The waffles were delicious.
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Thanks for your fascinating post. I’m going to Amsterdam tomorrow and I can’t wait to explore.
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That’s great David. I’m sure you will enjoy your visit and hope my posts might give you a few ideas of places to go.
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Both these places are lovely. Great write up. I am so taken up by the Dutch countryside that i want to visit it again 🙂
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Thank you so much for your kind words. I do hope that you get an opportunity to visit the Netherlands again soon!
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as usual wonderfully depicted
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You fill me with much confidence, thank you for your inspiring words!
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Oh the waffles. I want to try the raspberry one lol and the cheese look also delicious.
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Raspberry was my absolute favourite! Thanks for your much appreciated thoughts!
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loved it!
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Thank you for your much appreciated comments.
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That was fun looking at your lovely photos, we visited both of the islands 40 years ago before they were really visited by tourists and everyone wore nation costume and not for the tourists. Glad to see they have not changed too much…….now I want to visit again 🙂
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Thank you Blosslyn for your much appreciated thoughts. It’s reassuring to read that these small towns haven’t changed much over the years.
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🙂
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I love the look of Dutch waffles as I love those little Dutch pancakes. Yum!!
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Both waffles and pancakes are so tempting Sue!
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LITTLE pancakes? The ones we had at The Pancake Bakery almost overlapped a dinner plate!
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Oh I haven’t seen those. Wow. I have only had the tiny ones where you can eat about 15.
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I think the big pancakes are perhaps what we call crepes Sue but I’ll not enter into the debate further!
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100% right Mavis.
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The black and white buildings at the harbour are pretty. And those waffles!
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Thanks Stewie, Holland has so many beautiful buildings and those waffles were absolutely delicious!
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And if you’d like a tip for a future trip to Amsterdam… Broek in Waterland is gorgeous. Full of those little wooden Dutch houses. There’s nothing else much there – except a great pancake house!
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Thank you for your tip, I think we might have passed it on the bus and noticed the gorgeous houses.
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That was a very clever and economic way to visit the area and the money saved I would have bought a couple of those waffles. Yum! Brick
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Definitely the best plan Brick. As well as saving our money it’s much more interesting to travel like a local and of course then we can stay in a place as long as we want and don’t have to fit in with anyone else plans! Thanks for your much appreciated comments. M.
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Thanks for sharing this. I am planning a bike trip through that region in May of 2018 and now I’m even more excited.
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I’m certain you will have a splendid time cycling in the Netherlands Marla. There are so many interesting small towns and villages to visit and, of course, no hills!
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Marken is lovely. I remember having my photo taken with my mum and sister there in Dutch costume – quite naff, but real fun!
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Thank you for your much appreciated comments. I noticed the photo opportunities in Dutch costumes, it must bring back happy memories.
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