Amsterdam (Rough Guide) - Martin Dunford [91]
Day-trips from the city | Volendam, Marken and Edam | Edam |
Accommodation, eating and drinking
As regards accommodation, the VVV has a small supply of rooms in private houses (averaging €40–50 for a double), which they will book on your behalf for no extra charge. Hotels are scarce in Edam, but the charming De Fortuna, just round the corner from the Damplein at Spuistraat 3 (0299/371 671, www.fortuna-edam.nl; from €95), is an attractive option. Abutting a narrow canal, this three-star hotel is the epitome of cosiness, its 23 guest rooms distributed among two immaculately restored old houses and three cottage-like buildings round the back. The Dam Hotel, Keizersgracht 1 (0299/371 766), is also a good option, with a cosy bar and comfortable, attractively furnished rooms from €125. The nearest campsite, Camping Strandbad, is east of town on the way to the lakeshore at Zeevangszeedijk 7A (April–Sept; 0299/371 994, www.campingstrandbad.nl;) – a twenty-minute walk east along the canal from Damplein.
For food, De Fortuna also has a first-rate restaurant, a lively and eminently agreeable spot decorated in traditional style and with an imaginative, modern menu featuring local ingredients; main courses average around €20. Reservations, especially at the weekend, are essential. The Dam Hotel has a nice bar just for a drink or lunch, as well as a decent upscale restaurant and an outside terrace.
Edam waterfront houses
Day-trips from the city |
Alkmaar
Forty minutes north of Amsterdam by train, the amenable little town of ALKMAAR has preserved much of its medieval street plan, its compact centre surrounded by what was once the town moat and laced with spindly canals. The town is also dotted with fine old buildings, but is best known for its much-touted cheese market, an ancient affair that these days ranks as one of the most extravagant tourist spectacles in the province of Noord-Holland. Alkmaar was founded in the tenth century in the middle of a marsh – hence its name, which is taken from the auk, a diving bird which once hung around here in numbers – as in alkeen meer, or auk lake. Just like Haarlem, the town was besieged by Frederick of Toledo, but heavy rain flooded its surroundings and forced the Spaniards to withdraw in 1573, an early Dutch success in their long war of independence. At the time, Alkmaar was small and comparatively unimportant, but the town prospered when the surrounding marshland was drained in the 1700s, and it received a boost more recently when the northern part of the old moat was incorporated into the Noordhollandskanaal, itself part of a longer network of waterways running north from Amsterdam to the open sea.
Day-trips from the city | Alkmaar |
Arrival and information
From Alkmaar’s train and bus station, it’s a ten-minute walk to the centre of town; outside the station head straight along Spoorstraat, turn left at the end onto Geestersingel and then turn right over the bridge to get to Kanaalkade; keep going along here until you reach Houttil Pieterstraat. This leads straight to the main square, Waagplein, where you’ll find the VVV (Mon–Fri 10am–5.30pm, Sat 9.30am–5pm; 072/511 4284, www.vvvalkmaar.nl). They sell a useful town brochure, have details of the area’s walking and cycling routes, and can give advice on bike rental. Among several places, bike rental is available at the train station and at De Kraak, Verdronkenoord 54 (June–Aug daily 10am–9pm, May Wed–Fri 11am–6pm, Sat & Sun 10am–8pm; 072/512 5840, www.dekraak.nl), where they also hire canoes and rowing boats. Rondvaarttocht canal trips leave the Mient for a quick zip round the town’s central waterways – an enjoyable way to spend forty minutes (May–Sept daily, hourly 11am–5pm; April & Oct Mon–Sat, hourly 11am–5pm; 45min; €5.30); tickets are on sale at the VVV.
Day-trips from the city | Alkmaar |
Accommodation
Alkmaar only takes an hour or two to explore, but if you