52.68° N · 5.18° E
The Zuiderzeemuseum open-air village and the Historic Triangle: train to Hoorn, steam tram to Medemblik and boat to Enkhuizen, in a day from Amsterdam.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Museum · half day · A village of houses, workshops and boats moved from all over the Zuiderzee, open from late March to October, and the Treasure House all year.
Historic train · Half day with the boat · A steam locomotive pulls old carriages across the polders of West Friesland, from Hoorn station to Medemblik harbour. €17.50.
Boat · IJsselmeer crossing · A museum ship crosses the IJsselmeer between the harbours of Medemblik and Enkhuizen, the second leg of the Historic Triangle. €17.50.
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From late March to October, when the Zuiderzeemuseum village is open and the steam tram and boat run. In winter only the museum's Treasure House is open and there are special Sinterklaas and Christmas trains.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
Hoorn and Enkhuizen are north of Amsterdam, on the shore of the IJsselmeer, and you reach them by train from Amsterdam Schiphol airport, which has direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and nearly all the major Spanish cities. The line passes through Amsterdam Centraal and continues to Hoorn and Enkhuizen, where it ends.
Without a car, Hoorn and Enkhuizen are done as they were a hundred years ago: train to Hoorn, steam tram to Medemblik, boat to Enkhuizen and train back. The budget per person per day includes accommodation, food, the Triangle ticket and the museum.
By car, Hoorn and Enkhuizen are north of Amsterdam, beside the IJsselmeer. In Enkhuizen you can park free with no limit beside the station; in the centre, a three-hour blue zone. The budget includes accommodation, food and entry fees, but not the car.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
It is one of the best days out with children near Amsterdam: a steam tram, a boat across the lake and an old village where the Zuiderzee of the past comes alive. Everything is flat and the journeys are short.
With young children, the steam locomotive and the boat are the plan in themselves. Under-4s pay neither for the tram nor the museum.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: A 24-room hotel in a 17th-century house on Enkhuizen inner harbour, opposite the Drommedaris, with a restaurant, bar, terrace and lift.
Why we like it: Eight rooms above the De Compagnie tavern, next to the station and harbour in Enkhuizen, with optional breakfast and check-in from 15:00.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: a dinner by the window with the harbour and the Drommedaris in front of you.
What to order: a burger with one of the beers they brew themselves.
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
52.51° N · 5.05° E
By planeCar-free
52.48° N · 5.09° E
By planeCar-freeBy car
52.63° N · 4.75° E
By planeCar-free
52.47° N · 4.82° E
By planeCar-free
Tips
It does not run every day: check its website before planning the Triangle.
Tram, boat and Zuiderzeemuseum for €46.50, instead of paying separately.
The tram, the boat and the museum village fill the whole day.
Free and with no limit; in the centre, a three-hour blue zone.
Before 1932, when the Afsluitdijk closed it off and turned it into the IJsselmeer lake, the Zuiderzee was an inland sea surrounded by ports that traded with half the world. Hoorn and Enkhuizen were two of the most important, and when trade moved to Amsterdam they were left almost as they were: quays with defensive towers, warehouses, churches and merchants' houses. Enkhuizen has 361 national monuments and the Zuiderzeemuseum, a whole village of the old coast rebuilt in the open air. And between the two cities you travel as people did a century ago: the Historic Triangle, by steam tram and by boat.
By train: the line leaves Amsterdam Centraal heading north and reaches Hoorn and, at the end, Enkhuizen, which is on the same harbour. You pay by contactless card. By car, park in Enkhuizen free and with no limit next to the station or on the Dirck Chinaplein; the centre is a three-hour blue zone.
A perfect day from spring to autumn. You take the train from Amsterdam to Hoorn; next to the station you board the Museumstoomtram's steam tram, which slowly crosses the polders of West-Friesland to the port of Medemblik; there you board the MS Friesland boat, which crosses the IJsselmeer to Enkhuizen, and you return by train. The day ticket for the tram and the boat costs €29.50 (€21 for ages 4 to 12), and €46.50 with admission to the Zuiderzeemuseum. It runs to a calendar of days published on its website; buy online to be sure of a seat.
The Zuiderzeemuseum is the reason for the trip: an open-air village with houses, shops, workshops, a harbour and boats from the whole coast, open from late March to October, and the Treasure House, with the collections, all year. It is about twenty minutes on foot from the station. Afterwards, stroll around the harbours and the Drommedaris, the tower of the old gate over the water, the Waag, the town hall and the two great churches, the Westerkerk and the Zuiderkerk.
Hoorn can be seen in an hour or two before the tram: the inner harbour with the Hoofdtoren of 1532, the quayside terraces and the Roode Steen square. The Westfries Museum, on the square, is closed until mid-2027 for works.
In Enkhuizen, Herberg De Compagnie, next to the station, is open every day with lunch, dinner and its own beers, and La Dique, the restaurant of Die Port van Cleve, serves dinner every day with a view of the harbour. To sleep, Die Port van Cleve has 24 rooms opposite the Drommedaris, and Herberg De Compagnie has eight, two minutes from the train.
The Triangle with the museum fills a long day: if you leave Amsterdam early, you can do it, but the museum village deserves half a day on its own. With a night in Enkhuizen, you do the museum at leisure one day and the tram and boat the next, or the other way round if it suits you: boat to Medemblik and tram to Hoorn.
From late March to October: the museum village is open and the tram and boat run. In winter, Enkhuizen is a quiet harbour with the Treasure House open, and the tram only runs on the special Sinterklaas and Christmas trains.
Questions
By train from Amsterdam Centraal, passing through Hoorn; Enkhuizen station is on the harbour.
€29.50 for adults and €21 for ages 4 to 12 for the tram and boat; with the Zuiderzeemuseum, €46.50 and €32.
The open-air village, from late March to October; in 2027, from 26 March. The Treasure House, all year.
No, it is closed for works until mid-2027.
Yes, if you leave early; with children or at a relaxed pace, better with a night in Enkhuizen.
The inner harbour with the Hoofdtoren, the quays and the Roode Steen square.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/the-netherlands/enkhuizen-and-hoorn
