Twenty kilometers north of Amsterdam on the shores of the IJsselmeer, two fishing villages offer a portrait of the Netherlands that the capital cannot: Volendam, a lively harbor town of around 20,000 people where fishing boats still dock and smoked eel is sold from the waterfront stalls; and Marken, a tiny island village of about 1,800 people connected to the mainland by a causeway since 1957, where the wooden houses are painted black with green shutters and children sometimes still wear traditional dress on special occasions.

The villages are linked by the Marken Express — a scenic 30-minute ferry that has been running between the two harbors since 1933. Most visitors combine them in a single day trip.

Volendam

Volendam's harbor front is busy and colorful. The waterfront strip — the Dijk — is lined with fish stalls, souvenir shops, and restaurants, and the harbor itself is still active with commercial and leisure fishing. The traditional Volendam costume (white bonnet, striped apron, wooden clogs for women; baggy black trousers and caps for men) is occasionally worn by older residents and is prominently displayed in the village's small folk museum.

The food is genuinely worth the visit. Smoked eel (gerookte paling) is the specialty — mild, rich, and completely different from anything available in most supermarkets. Fresh herring served with raw onion and pickles is equally good. Several fish stalls on the Dijk serve both, eaten standing at the water.

Traditional photo studios: Volendam has several studios offering tourist photos in traditional Dutch costume — this has been happening since the late 19th century, when Volendam became one of the most painted and photographed villages in Europe. Painters including Picasso and Monet visited the village. Whether this appeals is a matter of personal taste.

Marken

Marken feels quieter and less commercialized than Volendam. The village is small enough to walk across in 20 minutes, and most of it — clusters of black-painted wooden houses on a series of small artificial mounds called werven — is best explored on foot through its narrow lanes. The Marker Museum occupies several historic houses and explains island life from the fishing era to the present day.

The causeway connection to the mainland in 1959 changed Marken fundamentally — the community that had been genuinely isolated for centuries was suddenly accessible by car. The fishing economy that sustained the village declined as the former Zuiderzee was enclosed and converted to fresh water (the IJsselmeer), destroying the saltwater eel fishery. What remains is an unusually intact historic village, now supported largely by day visitors and a small commuter population.

Getting there from Amsterdam

Bus 316 from Amsterdam Centraal station takes around 35–45 minutes to Volendam. From Volendam, the Marken Express ferry to Marken runs every 45 minutes in season. Bus 315 returns directly from Marken to Amsterdam. Guided day trips combining both villages are available through Amsterdam walking and day-trip operators.

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