Volendam & Marken
 

I have 4 days in Amsterdam in September. <BR>Is it worth spending one of these days on a day trip to Volendam & Marken.

I personally love Marken and don't like Volendam. You could visit both places in 1/2 day: take bus from Amsterdam to Marken, ferry from Marken to Volendam, bus from Volendam to Amsterdam. Enjoy your stay.

Or you can go on a 1/2 day tour w/ Lindbergh Tours to both, and also a stop at a 'cheese-making' demonstration. I forget the price but it was reasonable. Their office is on Damrak, a couple of blocks from the Centraal Station. Downside is you are on their schedule, not yours.

Ok, I'll bite. What do you do in Volendam and Marken? What's there? Any idea what the total cost of the transportation is -- the two busses and the ferry? I'm not being sarcastic, just don't know about these two towns.

For the benefit of "Curious". The major Dutch land reclamation project that has resulted in the creation of new provinces where once there was the Zuider Zee has changed the means of livelihood for many Dutch villages that bordered the Zee. Originally and primarily fishing villages, that trade has been lost to land reclamation.<BR><BR>Marken and Volendam are two such villages. Now, instead of being authentic fishing villages, you'll find them to be tourist villages with immense parking lots for cars and tour buses and villagers who wear "authentic" costumes once the tourist season commences.<BR><BR>Of far more interest are the indoor and outdoor museums that comprise the Zuider Zee Museum in Enkhuizen just a few miles north of Volendam and Marken. The outdoor museum is comprised of over 130 houses and buildings collected predominantly from around the former Zuider Zee and depicting life on land. The indoor museum is devoted to the Netherlands maritime industry of days past. Enkhuizen makes for a fine introduction to the distinctive character of the Dutch and their nation. Enkhuizen itself is a charming town with many gabled 15th and 16th buildings.

I went there many years and found it very touristy, but sort of enjoyable. Two incidents stick out in my mind:<BR>1. As the boat pulled up to Marken (I think that's the island), someone in regular, everyday clothes ran inside his house upon seeing the boat arrive. Everyone else was in "native dress."<BR>2. Several people in "native dress" wanted to get paid for posing for pictures!

Have printed the comments but will do some more reading/research.<BR>Thanks for the responses.:)