Alkmaar is cheese country, Edam and Gouda to be exact. And it makes for a perfect day trip from Amsterdam.
There has been a cheese market in the center of Alkmaar since at least the late 1500s, and there’s no need to imagine what it might have been like. Each week between April and September, performers in historic costumes will show you.
Listen for cheese traders to clap their hands. Watch carriers lug wheels of solid cheese around as they provide a glimpse into the city’s medieval cheese markets. This is one of those reenactments that makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time.
Work your way through the crowds toward the Waag, a 14th-century cheese-weighing house. You’ll see men running around the square outside in unison, carrying stacks of cheese on palettes between them. Others push carts piled high with cheese wheels across old cobblestone streets.
Don’t be surprised to see a small child hitch a ride.
Visit on Friday mornings between April and early September to see the Alkmaar cheese market, one of four in the Netherlands, in action. A second weekly cheese market is held on Tuesday evenings in July and August.
Most of the activity is outside the Waag, but step inside the building and you can step onto a historic cheese scale for about $1. I learned my weight in cheese and got a certificate to commemorate the experience. It was just the right amount of cheesy.
There’s also a kitschy cheese museum with lots of interactive exhibits and a souvenir shop. It may be hard to drag your kids or dairy farmer friends out of the museum. You’ll have to buy your cheese here or from the vendors around the square.
When to Go to Alkmaar
Visit the Alkmaar Cheese Market from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays from early April through early September. Or visit on Tuesday evenings between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in July and August. I went on a Friday morning in April and it was already starting to feel crowded.
How to Get to Alkmaar
By train: Take an Intercity or Sprinter train from Amsterdam Central or Amsterdam Sloterdijk to Alkmaar, the station closest to the cheese market. Alkmaar is about an hour’s train ride from Amsterdam
By car: Take the A9 or N244 from Amsterdam to Alkmaar. Alkmaar is about a 40-minute drive from Amsterdam.
By bicycle: If you choose this option, I salute your ambition. Expect the ride to take about 2.5 hours and to take a ferry for a portion of it.
On a small group tour: Book a small group tour of the Alkmaar Cheese Market and Alkmaar’s top sights with GetYourGuide.
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What Else to Do in Alkmaar
Come for the cheese market, but don’t rush out of town afterward. Alkmaar is like Amsterdam’s charming little sister. It’s a little calmer and quieter than the Dutch capital and home to just over 110,000 people—a small fraction of the X of people who call Amsterdam home.
Canals & Architecture
Like Amsterdam, Alkmaar is a city of canals and medieval architecture. Several well-preserved historic buildings dot the city center. You’ll find cute restaurants and boutiques sandwiched between them. I was pleasantly surprised by the affordable boutiques I found, by the local street performers and by the volume of friendly dogs I encountered.
Pop inside the Grote Kerk Alkmaar, a former Protestant church that’s now used as an art exhibition space. Admire a quaint city hall with bright red doors and a regal exterior staircase, and check out the 1622 customs house just off the main canal.
Take a moment to look closely at the Alkmaar’s last two wooden houses. You’ll notice they’re narrower on the bottom than the top—an early tactic for minimizing property taxes.
Museums
In addition to its Cheese museum, Alkmaar is home to a beer museum, the Stedelijk local history museum and a Beatles museum. And while it may feel random for there to be a Beatles museum here, it isn’t. Alkmaar is where John Lennon’s first guitar was made.
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