Edam, Volendam & Marken day trip?
 

We were hoping to take a day trip during our free day on our cruise that will be in Amsterdam for two days. Are these towns "must sees" and how do you best visit them? Train? Bus? One website I saw suggested taking the bus to Edam, then continue by bus to Volendam, then catch the boat across to Marken. Then take the bus from Marken to Amsterdam. Sounds complicated!

All three are very touristy and can be very crowded with coach parties. You might find the former port town of Hoorn a much more pleasant destination. As a founding city of the Dutch East India Company it has a rich history which still shows, and a good collection of places for coffee, lunch or whatever you fancy.
Direct intercity trains from Amsterdam Centraal Station leave twice an hour and take 35 mins.

Whilt these towns are "nice", if you only have two days there, I'd stick to Amsterdam.

If you want to leave Amsterdam then either Hoorn or Haarlem are easy trips, and nicer than the tourist traps of Volendam and Marken.
You could book a bus trip from Amsterdam to the villages if you are really keen to see them.
Better yet stay in Amsterdam and enjoy exploring the city.

I visited all 3 but on different occasions. They are touristy, but with good reason although I would not call any of them must sees. If you have not seen Amsterdam, then spend your time there. If you have seen what you want in Amsterdam which is afterall a large international city, although a very interesting and attractive one, you could take a train to Haarlem. The trip is only about 15 minutes not counting the 20 minute walk to the very charming town square. Delft, although further afield is also worth a trip and is a very pretty and charming place. IMO, It is nice to see small cities and towns that are more typically Dutch than worldly Amsterdam.

I've done all three a couple of times and though Marken, a former fishing island now hooked to the mainland by a causeway, is an exceptional open-air museum of old houses and locals dressed in vintage garb (hokey and artificial to me) Volendam's joy is its old waterfront - come on a weekend and many Dutch flock to the cafes and pancake houses there.

I then walked along the former Zuider Zee (now dyked-off Ijslmeer) to Edam - a lovely old town with some imposing facades of ancient warehouses when it was a major port.

It's a nice day but like others say it would be low on my list with so few days in Amsterdam.

If you don't use public transit at home, this might seem complicated.
I did this a year ago. Starting from Amsterdam early back to Amsterdam Centraal around 3pm with lunch in Marken.

Use the Waterland combined transport ticket on EBS bus http://www.amsterdamtips.com/tips/wa...-amsterdam.php. You can buy it from the driver on board. About 10EU. I always used cash. It is essentially a day ticket on that bus company. If you get lost, just ask any driver which bus goes to Edam. You might get multiple bus numbers. Like Amsterdam city transit GVB, it works on check-in/out system. You touch the sensor pad with your ticket when get on to beep, and again as you get off to hear a beep.

This covers following buses:

Bus: Amsterdam Centraal (upper level, less crowded water side of the station) - Edam. There are many many departures with mixes of buses that stop everywhere and express busses.

Bus: Edam-Volendam

Bus: Marken-Amsterdam. I think there is only one bus. It goes to Amsterdam Centraal.

What it does not cover is the Volendam-Marken boat. You just walk up to the ticket booth next to the boat on the dock and buy ticket for whichever boat you want to take. I have taken boat that arrived in Marken around lunch time in Marken.

Edam is quiet until little after 10am when tour groups pour in. Watch out for the cyclists, however.
By the time you get to Volendam, you are in the middle of the tour groups. Marken gets less tourists than Volendam, but still pretty busy.

Here was an approximate timing from my last trip. You don’t have to stick to these bus numbers. There are many options to Edam and many options for Edam-Volendam.

8:03 am -8:30am EBS bus #314 Amsterdam Centraal to Edam Busstation.
10:31am-10:41am EBS bus #316 Edam Busstation – Volendam Centrum
11:15am-11:52am Marken Express boat, about 7.50EU
Lunch at Marken. Look around the town. It is a tiny town.
1:14pm-1:57pm EBS bus #315, Marken-Amsterdam Centraal. Bus back to Amsterdam is every 30 min.

Personally I think that Volendam and Edam aren't worth it. Marken could be, especially if you take the opportunity to walk out to the famous lighthouse Paard van Marken. You'll walk through microscopic settlements, will eel fishermen at work and be out of the tourist area altogether. Of course, this presupposes that you're up to the walk.

My suggestion would be to visit Hoorn, as has been suggested, but I would really like to plug a visit to Enkhuizen. It's a bit beyond Hoorn, by train. The train will land you right at the port, where you can take a ferry across to the Zuiderzeemuseum (buy ticket at VVV office next to the fish stands)

Zuiderzeemuseum is the latest incarnation of a museum that was founded to document and showcase the unique culture around the former Zuiderzee, before it was enclosed in the 1920s and that culture was lost forever. You'll walk through a "village" where buildings from all over this cultural area were rebuilt and preserved: there's the island culture of Urk, the cosmopolitan market town culture of Frisian towns, with cultural ties to India, a baker, steam laundry, shipyard. Really beautifully done and an insight into a central element of Dutch culture. You can walk back to the station. Enkhuizen is just gorgeous!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9IJDGzBgCM

I think Volendam and Edam are really tacky, but Zuiderzeemuseum is just wonderful. Best introduction you might have to a Dutch way of life that has utterly disappeared.

I really enjoyed the Zuiderzeemuseum and open-air museum that lies next to it - you can do a short walk from the train station to the museum or in season I think take the boat from the station. I went in winter and boats were not running.

PalenQ, for some people it may be a short walk, but I think it's quite substantial. So best to check it out on google maps and decide.

Yes I guess what is a short walk to me may not be to others and my memory is well - but for folks who enjoy walking a nice walk thru a nice town as well.

But yes I should be careful using the word short walk- for some folks a few blocks is too far - thanks for correcting me, as usual.

From the Zuiderzee Museum site - a 15-minute walk which to me is short but maybe not to others, and it is a nice nice stroll:

By Public Transport
When travelling by public transport, take the train to the Enkhuizen Railway Station. From there, following the signs ‘Zuiderzeemuseum’, it is only a 15 minutes’ walk to the Museum’s entrance.

On Foot from the Station
From the railway station walk along the old harbour and pass under the Drommedaris. Then cross the white drawbridge and turn right with curve of the route. Walk on until you reach the old city wall, turn left and follow the wall until you see the entrance to the Indoor Museum on your left. The pedestrian route from the station is shown on several signposts along the way.​

Wow! Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful and detailed replies. We have spent a lot of time in Amsterdam before, but were interested in venturing out a bit. I have lots of information. Thank you. Thank you.

Please report back! So few do.

Cheers!