# Edam

The Wednesday cheese market in summer, the Kaaswaag, Golden Age canals and the Markermeer, half an hour by bus from Amsterdam.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/the-netherlands/edam · Revisado: 2026-11-12

Edam is a canal village on the shore of the old Zuiderzee, now the Markermeer, which in the 17th century lived off shipyards and cheese. That round cheese with its red wax rind left from here for half the world and took the village's name. Today Edam has barely a few thousand inhabitants, a cheese square with its weigh house of 1778, merchants' houses, drawbridges and a church too big for its size. It is only 20 kilometres from Amsterdam, but most coaches go straight past to Volendam, which is a blessing: it is one of the quietest villages in Laag Holland.

## How do I get there from Amsterdam?

Edam has no train. From Amsterdam Centraal, leave by the IJ side, the one behind the station, and take EBS bus 314, which runs every quarter of an hour and takes about 30 minutes to Edam Busstation; other EBS lines also come, the 310, 312, 316 and 318. You pay by tapping a contactless card on the reader when you get on and off. From the stop it is about ten minutes on foot to the Damplein, the centre. If you arrive by air, take the train from Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal first.

By car it is about 20 kilometres along the N247. Parking is free throughout Edam, but the centre is a blue zone: with a parking disc you get an hour and a half. To spend the day, leave the car in one of the free long-stay car parks on the south side, next to the bus station, and walk in.

## What is the cheese market like?

On Wednesdays in July and August, from 10:30 to 12:30, the square of the Kaaswaag fills with round yellow cheeses. They arrive by boat along the canal, as they did centuries ago, and village volunteers in period costume unload them, weigh them and close the deal with a clap of hands. It opens and closes with a bell, usually rung by a well-known guest. In 2026 there were eight Wednesdays, from 1 July to 19 August, and an evening market on Saturday 8 August with the canals lit up. It is free.

It is smaller than the one in Alkmaar, which is held on Fridays from March to September, and more intimate: you do not have to fight for a place at the barrier. If you are in Amsterdam for a week in summer, you can see both.

## What to see in Edam?

Start in the Damplein, with the town hall of 1737, where the tourist office is, and opposite it the Edams Museum, in the oldest stone house in the village, from around 1540, with a cellar that floats on the groundwater. Very close by, on the Spui, The Story of Edam Cheese explains in half an hour why Edam cheese is round and ends with a tasting of more than fifteen cheeses. Follow the canal walk to the Kaaswaag and the Speeltoren, the carillon tower that outlived its church, and head north to the Grote Kerk, with 32 stained-glass windows from the 17th century, which is open from April to September in the afternoons; some guides take you up the tower.

In summer, end the day at the Strandbad, the village beach on the Markermeer, with a water slide and a paddling pool for little ones. On Saturdays at 14:00 there is a guided walk from the Damplein, in Dutch.

## Where to eat and sleep?

For an unhurried meal, De Fortuna serves breakfast and lunch from Wednesday to Sunday in a garden over the canal; the Paviljoen Strandbad is open every day with a terrace on the lake, ribs and fish from Volendam, and La Galera is the Italian in the centre, with a courtyard. If you stay overnight, the Hotel De Fortuna spreads 23 rooms across five old houses beside the water; the Hof van Holland has twelve new rooms on the Lingerzijde, and the Camping Strandbad, ten minutes on foot away, has pitches beside the lake and hikers' huts. Sleeping here changes the visit: at dusk, when the visitors leave, the canals fall silent.

## How much time, and how to combine it?

Half a day is enough for the village; a full day if you add the museum, the church and the lake. The easiest is to combine it with Volendam and Marken, ten minutes away on the same bus or by bike along the dyke: Edam in the morning, Volendam and the boat to Marken in the afternoon. By bike, the route from Amsterdam to Edam through the Waterland polders is flat and signposted.

## When to go?

On a Wednesday in July or August, for the market. From April to September the Grote Kerk is open in the afternoons and the Strandbad has its beach. In winter there is no market or church, but the Edams Museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, the cheese tasting runs all year and the village is almost yours.

## Dónde está
- Cerca: Volendam and Marken (a 4.8 km), Zaanse Schans (a 16.2 km), Amsterdam (a 18.8 km), Enkhuizen and Hoorn (a 20.9 km)

## Qué hacer
- **Edam cheese market, on summer Wednesdays** (2 h · All ages · Free): In summer, Edam's Kaaswaag square goes back to being what it was for centuries: the place where farmers sold their cheeses. They arrive by boat along the canal, are unloaded, weighed on the scales of 1778 and deals are sealed with a clap of hands, as always. It is done by village volunteers in period costume, and the market opens and closes with a bell usually rung by a well-known guest: a minister, a writer, a sportsperson.
When and how to see it
On Wednesdays in July and August, from 10:30 to 12:30. In 2026 there were eight Wednesdays, from 1 July to 19 August, and there was an evening market, with the canals lit up, on Saturday 8 August from 20:30 to 22:00. The 2027 dates are published in spring on the market's website. It is free and in the street.
It is smaller and quieter than Alkmaar's: you can see it well without fighting for the barriers, but arrive a quarter of an hour early to see the boat arrive. From the Edam bus stop it is about ten minutes on foot.
- **The Story of Edam Cheese, with cheese tasting** (45 min · All ages · €8 over-12s · €4 ages 6 to 12 · free up to 5 · family €17.50): Henri Willig, a cheese dairy in the region, has set up in a house in the centre, on the Spui, a visit that answers what everyone wonders about Edam cheese: why it is round, why it became famous across half the world and how it is made today. It is a good half-hour interactive exhibition, designed so that children can follow it too.
Price and tasting
It costs €8 from age 12 and €4 for ages 6 to 12; under-6s enter free with an adult, and there is a €17.50 family ticket for two adults and up to four children. Buy it on its website with a time slot or at the door. At the end, in the shop, you can taste more than fifteen cheeses, and the ticket gives a 10% discount on what you buy.
- **Edams Museum and its floating cellar** (1 h · All ages · €8 adults · €5.50 ages 13 to 17 · €3.50 ages 6 to 12): Edam's museum occupies two buildings on the Damplein. The main one is the Steenen Coopmanshuys, a merchant's house of around 1540, the oldest stone house in the village, turned into a museum in 1895 and hardly touched since: you step into a house of the Golden Age. Its cellar is a rarity, a box that floats on the groundwater and rises and falls with it, the only one of its kind open to the public in the country. Opposite, on the first floor of the town hall of 1737, there is an exhibition that changes every year and the mayor's monumental room.
Hours and price
From Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 16:30; closed on Mondays. It costs €8 for adults, €5.50 for ages 13 to 17 and €3.50 for ages 6 to 12. The Museumkaart is accepted.
- **Grote Kerk of Edam and the tower climb** (1 h · All ages; the tower from age 8 · Free · tower €5 adults, €2.50 ages 8 to 12): The Sint-Nicolaaskerk, which everyone calls the Grote Kerk, is on the northern edge of Edam and seems too big for the village. It was built in phases from 1400 and finished around 1518; a fire in 1601 destroyed the stained glass, and the 32 windows you see today were made just afterwards. It has a monumental organ and a Librije, a small old library.
Hours and visit
In April it is open daily from 13:30 to 16:00, and from 1 May to 27 September until 17:00; the rest of the year, only for concerts and events. Entry is free and there is always a volunteer guide who tells the story. Some guides climb the tower with you: €5 for adults and €2.50 for ages 8 to 12. There is a café corner and second-hand books.
The church is wheelchair accessible, but the tower and the Librije are not. Park on the south side of Edam, beside the bus station, and walk ten minutes along the wall or through the centre.
- **Walk along Edam's canals, from the Kaaswaag to the Speeltoren** (1 h 30 · 3 km · All ages; pushchairs no problem · Free): Edam can be walked in full in a morning. Start at the Damplein, with the town hall of 1737 and the museum opposite, and follow the canal to the Kaaswaag, the cheese weigh house of 1778, with its painted façade and a small exhibition on how cheese was made. From there, wander towards the Speeltoren, the carillon tower left standing when its church was demolished, and go down along the Lingerzijde and the Schepenmakersdijk to the old harbour, where Edam looked out onto the Zuiderzee.
How to do it
Ask for the village map at the tourist office in the town hall or download it from the Laag Holland website: it marks a cheese route with signs. Everything is flat and cobbled, suitable for pushchairs. If you want a guide, on Saturdays at 14:00 a guided walk leaves from the Damplein.
- **Guided walk around Edam, Saturdays at 14:00** (1 h · Adults and teenagers who understand Dutch or basic English · 6,50 €): Every Saturday at 14:00, a guide from the region's tourist office sets off from the Damplein for an hour's walk through the Edam of merchants and shipyards: the façades, the façade stones, the bridges and the stories that the signs do not tell. It costs €6.50 and must be booked beforehand by email.
Bear in mind
The walk is given in Dutch. If you do not understand it, ask when you book whether the guide can add explanations in English, or request a private one: the office also organises historical walks by appointment.
- **Strandbad Edam, swimming and play on the shore of the Markermeer** (2 h 30 · Families with children; open-water swimming): At the tip of Edam, where the village ends and the Markermeer begins, there is a beach of grass and sand with a swimming area marked by buoys, a slide that drops into the lake, a pool for the smallest children and a playground. Next door, the Strandbad pavilion serves everything from coffee to dinners with water views. Outside the buoys, surfing and kitesurfing are practised.
Practical details
Open from 9:00 to 18:00 from late March to late September. It is about ten minutes on foot from the centre, following the dyke, and has a large car park. The water is lake water, without currents, but cool until well into June.

## Dónde comer
- **Restaurant De Fortuna** (Restaurant, Edam, €€). Qué pedir: a lunch in the garden terrace over the water; mention special diets, they take them into account.
- **Paviljoen Strandbad Edam** (Restaurant, Edam, €€). Qué pedir: the ribs, which are what made it famous, or the fish of the day, which arrives every morning from Volendam.
- **La Galera** (Restaurant, Edam, €€). Qué pedir: a pasta in the inner courtyard if the weather is good; for something quick, the café also serves early dinner.

## By plane: Fly to Amsterdam and take a bus to Edam
Edam is 20 kilometres north of Amsterdam and you reach it from Amsterdam Schiphol airport, which has direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and almost all the big Spanish cities. There is no train to Edam: from Schiphol you take a train to Amsterdam Centraal and there you catch the bus, about 30 minutes. The normal thing is to sleep in Amsterdam and come on a summer Wednesday, or to spend a night in the village.
### Dónde dormir if you're flying
- **Hotel De Fortuna** (Small hotel): The place
De Fortuna occupies five 17th-century merchants' houses in the centre of Edam, joined by a garden terrace that overlooks a canal and a small historic shipyard, with wooden boats moored. It has 23 three-star hotel rooms, not very large but well kept, with bath or shower, television and tea and coffee facilities. There is wifi, a lift and air conditioning, something uncommon in such old houses.
Why here
Because you sleep inside the village, two minutes from the Damplein and five from the Kaaswaag. Edam empties at dusk, when the Amsterdam visitors leave, and that is when it is most enjoyable: the canals silent and the hotel garden with light until ten in summer. Breakfast is served from 7:30 to 10:00 in the restaurant.
How to get there
From Amsterdam, take EBS bus 314 to Edam Busstation, and ten minutes on foot. By car, the centre is a blue zone with a maximum of an hour and a half: ask the hotel where to leave the car overnight, or use one of the village's free car parks.
- **Hotel Hof van Holland** (Small hotel): The place
Hof van Holland is a hotel with a restaurant on the Lingerzijde, the quay leading to the Speeltoren, right in the centre of Edam. It has twelve new rooms, bright and contemporary in style, with large beds, private bathroom, television, safe and tea and coffee. Some face the water; there is a triple room with a bath, and others are on the lower ground floor, with less light, which is worth knowing when you book.
Why stay here
Because it is a modern hotel inside the village, five minutes from the Damplein and the Kaaswaag, with breakfast in the hotel restaurant. For a Wednesday cheese market or to sleep in peace when the visitors leave.
Getting there
From the Amsterdam bus stop, about ten minutes on foot. By car, the centre is a blue zone with an hour and a half limit: the hotel indicates on its website where to park.
### Servicios
- **EBS bus from Amsterdam Centraal**: Edam has no train: EBS bus 314 leaves from the IJ side of Amsterdam Centraal every quarter of an hour and takes about 30 minutes.

## Car-free: Edam by bus and on foot
Edam is easy without a car: a bus from Amsterdam every quarter of an hour, ten minutes on foot to the centre and everything flat. The budget per person per day includes sleeping in the village, food and tickets.
Presupuesto orientativo: 70–140 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir without a car
- **Hotel De Fortuna** (Small hotel): The place
De Fortuna occupies five 17th-century merchants' houses in the centre of Edam, joined by a garden terrace that overlooks a canal and a small historic shipyard, with wooden boats moored. It has 23 three-star hotel rooms, not very large but well kept, with bath or shower, television and tea and coffee facilities. There is wifi, a lift and air conditioning, something uncommon in such old houses.
Why here
Because you sleep inside the village, two minutes from the Damplein and five from the Kaaswaag. Edam empties at dusk, when the Amsterdam visitors leave, and that is when it is most enjoyable: the canals silent and the hotel garden with light until ten in summer. Breakfast is served from 7:30 to 10:00 in the restaurant.
How to get there
From Amsterdam, take EBS bus 314 to Edam Busstation, and ten minutes on foot. By car, the centre is a blue zone with a maximum of an hour and a half: ask the hotel where to leave the car overnight, or use one of the village's free car parks.
- **Camping Strandbad Edam** (Campsite): The place
Strandbad is Edam's campsite, at the tip of the village, between the marina and the Markermeer. It has pitches for tents and caravans, some with a lake view, a field for small tents for those who arrive by bike or on foot and hikers' huts (trekkershutten), simple, so you do not have to carry a tent. Next door is the Strandbad swimming area, with a beach, a water slide and a paddling pool, and the pavilion, which serves meals all day.
Why here
Because it is the cheapest way to sleep in Edam and the one children like most: the lake, the beach and the playground are on the same site, and the village centre, with the Wednesday cheese market, is ten minutes on foot. They hire out bikes for trips through the polders towards Volendam or the Zeevang.
How to get there
By car, leave the N247 at the Edam-Noord exit and follow the campsite signs: Edam's centre has narrow streets and bridges. Without a car, take a bus from Amsterdam to Edam Busstation and walk about twenty minutes through the village.
- **Hotel Hof van Holland** (Small hotel): The place
Hof van Holland is a hotel with a restaurant on the Lingerzijde, the quay leading to the Speeltoren, right in the centre of Edam. It has twelve new rooms, bright and contemporary in style, with large beds, private bathroom, television, safe and tea and coffee. Some face the water; there is a triple room with a bath, and others are on the lower ground floor, with less light, which is worth knowing when you book.
Why stay here
Because it is a modern hotel inside the village, five minutes from the Damplein and the Kaaswaag, with breakfast in the hotel restaurant. For a Wednesday cheese market or to sleep in peace when the visitors leave.
Getting there
From the Amsterdam bus stop, about ten minutes on foot. By car, the centre is a blue zone with an hour and a half limit: the hotel indicates on its website where to park.
### Servicios
- **EBS bus from Amsterdam Centraal**: Edam has no train: EBS bus 314 leaves from the IJ side of Amsterdam Centraal every quarter of an hour and takes about 30 minutes.

## As a family: Edam with the family

Edam is small, flat and traffic-free in the centre: you can tour it with children at an easy pace. In summer it has the Wednesday cheese market and a beach on the lake with a slide, and all year round a cheese visit with tasting.

### What works best
The Wednesday cheese market in July and August, free

The Story of Edam Cheese, family ticket €17.50

The Strandbad beach and slide, from March to September

The Edams Museum and its floating cellar, €3.50 for ages 6 to 12

### Where to sleep
Camping Strandbad Edam, with a beach and playground

Hotel De Fortuna, in the centre

### Where to eat
Paviljoen Strandbad, with pancakes and a play area next door

La Galera, pasta and pizza

### Bear in mind
The Saturday guided walks are in Dutch

The Grote Kerk tower is from age 8

### Qué hacer as a family
- Edam cheese market, on summer Wednesdays
- The Story of Edam Cheese, with cheese tasting
- Edams Museum and its floating cellar
- Grote Kerk of Edam and the tower climb
- Walk along Edam's canals, from the Kaaswaag to the Speeltoren
- Strandbad Edam, swimming and play on the shore of the Markermeer

## With young children: Edam with small children

With children under six, Edam works because it is compact: a walk with a pushchair on flat cobbles, cheeses arriving by boat and a wave-free lake beach at the end of the village.

### What works best
The cheese market, with the boat and the bell

The Strandbad beach, with a paddling pool and slide

The Story of Edam Cheese, free up to age 5

The canal walk, suitable for pushchairs

### Where to sleep
Camping Strandbad Edam, with a playground and beach

### Where to eat
Paviljoen Strandbad, pancakes and ice cream facing the lake

### Bear in mind
The campsite does not admit dogs

The Markermeer water is cold until late June

### Qué hacer with young children
- Edam cheese market, on summer Wednesdays
- The Story of Edam Cheese, with cheese tasting
- Walk along Edam's canals, from the Kaaswaag to the Speeltoren
- Strandbad Edam, swimming and play on the shore of the Markermeer

## Consejos

### Come on a summer Wednesday
The cheese market is only held on Wednesdays in July and August, from 10:30 to 12:30.

### Leave by the back of the station
Buses to Edam leave from the IJ side of Amsterdam Centraal, not from the front square.

### Bring a parking disc
In the centre the blue zone is free but limited to an hour and a half; outside it, you park free all day.

### On Mondays, choose another village
The Edams Museum is closed on Mondays and, in winter, so is the tourist office.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How do you get from Amsterdam to Edam?
On EBS bus 314 from the IJ side of Amsterdam Centraal, every quarter of an hour, in about 30 minutes. There is no train.

### When is the Edam cheese market?
On Wednesdays in July and August, from 10:30 to 12:30. In 2026, from 1 July to 19 August, with an evening market on Saturday 8 August.

### Is Edam worth visiting outside summer?
Yes, for a quiet walk along the canals with the museum and the cheese tasting, but without the market or the Grote Kerk.

### Can you see Edam and Volendam on the same day?
Yes: they are about ten minutes apart by bus or bike. Edam in the morning and Volendam and Marken in the afternoon.

### Where do you park in Edam?
Free in the long-stay car parks on the south side, next to the bus station; in the centre, a blue zone with an hour and a half on a disc.

### How much time do you need?
Half a day for the village and a full day with the museum, church and lake.