Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
scenes from village life, and nostalgic
old grainy black-and-white movies
that are worth watching even if you
don't speak Dutch. The highlight is
the Cigarband House, where a local
artist glued 11 million cigarbands to
big boards to create giant images—
from Dutch windmills to Venice to
the Statue of Liberty (€2, borrow
English descriptions at entry, mid-
March-mid-Oct daily 10:00-17:00,
closed off-season, Zeestraat 41, tel.
0299/369-258, www.volendams
museum.nl). The town's TI is in the same building (closed Sun,
tel. 0299/363-747, www.vvv-volendam.nl).
Along the waterfront, Volendam's inviting promenade, with
a lively boardwalk appeal, is lined with souvenir shops, indoor/
outdoor eateries, and Dutch clichés—a good place to kill time
waiting for your boat. The Hotel Spaander 's walls are decorated
with paintings by starving artists who slept or ate there. Don't
miss the maze of sleepy residential courtyards below sea level just
behind the promenade, with an adorable dollhouse charm and
fewer crowds.
“Marken Express”: This boat connects Volendam with
Marken (€4.50 one-way, €7 round-trip, bike-€1 extra each way,
March-Oct daily from about 11:00-17:30, departs every 20
min July-Aug, every 30-45 min March-June and Sept-Oct, by
appointment only Nov-Feb, 30-min crossing, tel. 0299/363-331,
www.marken-express.nl).
Marken
Famous as one of the Netherlands' most traditional fishing com-
munities, Marken is a time-passed hamlet in a bottle...once vir-
tually abandoned, now revived but kept alive solely as a tourist
attraction. This island town once had a harbor for whaling and
herring fishing. But when the Zuiderzee began to silt up in the late
17th century, it became more
and more difficult to eke out a
living here, and many people
from Marken fled to easier con-
ditions on the mainland. Once
the Zuiderzee was diked off in
1932 to become a giant fresh-
water lake (the IJsselmeer), it
forced saltwater fishermen to
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