Alkmaar

When you visit Alkmaar, VVV Alkmaar will ofcourse be the place to start your visit. They love to tell you what cannot be missed when you visit our beautiful and monumental Cheesecity. You will find them in one of Alkmaar's greatest icons, the Weighing building.

Want to find out everything about the Alkmaar town centre? Discover the best spots in Alkmaar during a walk through the town, alone or with a guide.

Take a 'city walk' through the ancient town centre on foot. This can be done in the following ways:

The Verdronkenoord, the Luttik Oudorp, the Oudegracht, the Lindegracht ... the Alkmaar canals are like a painting. The best way to enjoy all this is by boat; They leave every hour from the Mient.

Discover a real Alkmaar Treasure: hofjes. A hofje is a historic small inner courtyard surrounded by houses. This page explains more about the famous courtyards that can still be found through Alkmaar. When you are in Alkmaar, then you cannot miss the courtyards. In the Sonoy courtyard, you can enjoy one of the terraces, or browse through the little boutique shops. Residents still live at the other courtyards.

By far the most important date in Alkmaar's history is October 8, 1573. This is the day when the brave people of Alkmaar defeated the Spanish army in the 80-year war. The famous 'House with the bullet' in the Appelsteeg still reminds us of the fierce battle.

What’s more Dutch than a traditional Cheese Market? Alkmaar has the most famous, biggest and oldest one! You can enjoy this traditional event from April to september, every Friday from 10:00h to 13:00h, on the Waagplein in the centre of Alkmaar.
Experience the Cheese Market in the evening, which is held on every Tuesday nights in July and August, from 19:00h till 21:00h.

The Dutch Cheese Museum was founded in Alkmaar in 1983. It is located in the historic Waaggebouw, which overlooks the cheese market. In the museum you will find lots of interesting information about cheese: its history, production methods and the cheese trade. To discover the true story of cheese, you really need to visit the Dutch Cheese Museum!

Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar is a great place to share your enjoyment of art, culture and history. As well as the permanent displays, the museum stages temporary exhibitions several times a year with a diverse programme of events and activities. Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar is an ideal venue for families with children and a great place to spend an afternoon. Looking together is much more fun.

The Grote Sint Laurenskerk is the largest and most popular monument of Alkmaar. The church is open and free to visit all summer and on several weekends. Weekly, thousands visit the church amounting to over 70.000 visitors a year. The medieval church is a basilica built in Brabantian gothic style and houses two extraordinary organs: the Van Covelens and the Van Hagerbeer/Schnitger organs, which are still played during various concerts throughout the year.

Beer has been the most popular alcoholic beverage in these parts of the world for a few thousand years. But how is it brewed? What exactly is malt and why is yeast so important? You can find out all about it when you visit De Boom National Beer Museum in Alkmaar. This unique museum - appropriately housed in a former brewery - introduces you to the tools, equipment and machines which have played a key role in the production of this ‘golden brew’ in the past two centuries.

You don't have to go to Liverpool for a trip to a Beatles museum, the Alkmaar Beatles Museum is even bigger than its little brother in England. Beatles fanatic Azing Moltmaker collected an impressive collection of Beatles items. He even had the Alkmaar Beatles museum grow into the world's largest Beatles museum.

Museum BroekerVeiling is not just a museum. In Broek op Langedijk you can find the oldest sail-through auction in the world. This is where the Dutch auction (also called a clock auction or open-outcry descending-price auction) originated in 1887. 

The Museum Mill in Schermerhorn is one of the eleven remaining polder mills in the Schermer that 400 years ago dried the polder. The Museum Mill is open to the public every day from 1 April to 1 November. Questions about how the mill works? The miller will gladly explain it to you.

Strand Egmond aan Zee and/or Bergen aan Zee

Do you want to combine your city trip with a beach holiday?  That’s possible in Alkmaar! Egmond aan Zee and Bergen aan Zee are only 10 kilometres away from the centre of Alkmaar. You can easily take the bus from Alkmaar Central Station tot he beach or you can rent a bike and start a lovely bike ride to the coast.