There’s so much more to the Netherlands beyond Amsterdam. Don’t get me wrong, Amsterdam is amazing. But I couldn’t leave the Netherlands without seeing the seaside towns, famous windmills, and even wooden shoe makers that are iconically Dutch. So we went on a North Holland day trip from Amsterdam to explore the Dutch countryside.
We explored North Holland through Edam, Volendam, Marken, and Zaanse Schans all on a day trip from Amsterdam. We ate edam cheese in Edam, explored the adorable seaside town of Volendam, took a ferry to Marken for lunch, then toured a working windmill in Zaanse Schans all in one day. It was absolutely spectacular.
North Holland Day Trip from Amsterdam
The Best Day Trips from Amsterdam
Our tour through North Holland’s countryside, appropriately called the Charm of Holland Tour, was booked through viator.com. It included the entire day trip from Amsterdam: transportation to Edam, Volenendam, Marken, and Zaanse Schans, entry fees to everywhere we went, the ferry boat ticket, and lunch. It was informative and fun, and our guide Daniella was great. (Plus she spoke English, Spanish, and Dutch!) Book the same tour here.
While we did our day trip to Gouda and Delft in South Holland by ourselves, seeing these places in North Holland on our own would have been difficult. I definitely recommend a guided tour! Instead of all the little towns we visited, you can also stop at world’s largest flower garden, Keukenhof Gardens, along with Zaanse Schans on this tour.
There are tons of day trip from Amsterdam tours throughout the Netherlands and beyond. Other tours include the medieval town of Giethoorn where no cars are allowed, the windmills in Kinderdijk combined with the Hague, or the Lake District. You can even go to Brussels or Bruges in Belgium from Amsterdam!
Eating Edam in Edam
We started our adventure through North Holland in the tiny town of Edam. The town traces its history back before 1230, when the channel was dammed and a town was born. Today less than 8,000 people call Edam home, with some of the buildings surviving since the 1500s. Walking through the town is like stepping on a movie set. The shops and buildings are adorable!
Edam is home to edam cheese, a semi-hard cheese similar to gouda. It was the world’s most popular cheese in the 14th-18th centuries because it doesn’t spoil, it only hardens. Historically edam was sold at the Edam cheese market until 1922. Now the market is recreated for tourists on Wednesdays in the summer.
Stroopwafel and Dutch Pancakes in Volendam
From Edam we drove to the nearby town of Volendam, next to the sea. Volendam was originally settled as a harbor but when a new canal was dug in 1357 the area was filled in with land and farmers and fishermen moved in. Later it became known as an artistic area, with Picasso and Renoir famously living there.
The city center of Volendam is concentrated next to the water, where ferries and fishing boats take off. It’s touristy, no doubt, but still charming. We visited the Volendam Cheese Factory for a demonstration on cheese-making and a tasting (with wine!). A few doors down, we visited Woltje’s to learn how to make traditional Dutch stroopwafel. Created in Gouda, stroopwafel is a thin, cookie-like waffle sandwiched with caramel.
After tastes of stroopwafel got my sweet tooth buzzing, I couldn’t resist ordering Dutch pancakes from the street vendor. The miniature pancakes are topped with a mountain of powdered sugar and served with a little fork.
Wooden Shoes and Wooden Houses in Marken
The next stop on our North Holland day trip from Amsterdam was Marken. We took the ferry to Marken from Volendam, a half-hour boat ride among sailboats and fishermen. Marken is a small village on what was once an island that is now connected to the mainland. It’s known for its green wooden houses built on stilts to prevent flooding against the changing tides. Anthropologists used to love studying the people of Marken because they were so close to historical Dutch society since they were closed off from the rest of the Netherlands for so long.
Once we arrived in Marken, we had lunch at Taverne de Visscher right on the pier. The little restaurant is run by women wearing traditional Dutch clothing and serves some of the best fish and chips I’ve ever had!
After lunch, we walked off our food while admiring the historic houses until we reached the Klompenmarkerij wooden shoe maker. There we learned how wooden shoes are made, both by hand and by machines. I didn’t realize that people still wear wooden shoes; our guide explained that they are waterproof and safe (especially for factory workers and farmers). Plus they are surprisingly light! I always assumed they were heavy. We tried some on and I was thisclose to buying some, but opted for a souvenir sized pair instead.
Windmills in Zaanse Schans
The final stop on our North Holland day trip was to see the windmills in Zaanse Schans. Located along the river Zaan, several 16th Century windmills dot the green meadow. Originally they were located throughout the area and moved to Zaanse Schans in the 1960s.
Some of the windmills are still in use today, sawing wood and making oils and dyes. We toured the De Zoeker windmill, built in 1672, and watched as the wind turned the huge stones to make peanut oil. The windmill has been making oils almost nonstop since it was built, with one of the few interruptions when it moved to its current location.
We got back on our tour bus shortly after touring De Zoeker, but there’s plenty more to do in Zaanse Schans. There is several museums and shops and even cruises down the Zaan river. Side note: Zaanse Schans is accessible by train from Amsterdam’s Central Station, if you want to hit this part of the day trip on your own.
Canal Cruise in Amsterdam
We returned to Amsterdam right before the sun went down, so we hopped on a boat tour to catch the canals in the sunset. As an added bonus to our day trip, our ticket included a free canal tour with the For Lovers boat tours.
The canal boats sit low in the water and don’t provide the best view. (Especially compared to the tall boats that cruise the Chicago River that I’m used to!) But the tour guide was entertaining and we learned a lot about the history of Amsterdam, so it was worth taking. But I wish we would have done a canal cruise that included wine and cheese instead.
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By the end of the day, it felt like we’d seen all of the Netherlands. (Ok, we only covered North Holland, but adding our day in Gouda and Delft made it feel like all of it!) And our North Holland day trip from Amsterdam was easily a highlight of our trip and a day to remember.
Related :: A Day Trip to Gouda and Delft, Why You Should Visit the Hague, and Three Days in Amsterdam
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