Volendam Layover

Volendam Layover – From Schiphol to Volendam

Prior to our Baltic/Norwegian cruise on the Holland America Rotterdam, we planned a Volendam Layover. Our flight on KLM arrived at Schiphol Airport just after noon. We stored our carry on luggage at the airport and caught the train to Amsterdam. Transportation is easy in the Netherlands because you can tap on and off with a credit card on all forms of transportation in the entire country. At the Schiphol Airport you can tap on in the foyer before you even find your train platform. Then use the 9292 app to find the platform for the next train to Amsterdam Centraal.

Stroopwafels, Old Bakery, Volendam

At Amsterdam Centraal we tapped off the train and exited this station at the back, where the buses all arrive at a huge open air covered bus platform. We tapped on to the 316 Bus to Volendam for two nights at the Hotel Spaander on the waterfront in the heart of the main tourist area.

Volendam Layover – Hotel Spaander

We really enjoyed the Hotel Spaander, but it isn’t a typical hotel. Most of the guests were there as part of a Dutch tour group. The restaurant provided the tours with breakfast, but was closed for the rest of the day. The bar was permanently closed, so guests used the extensive seating area to read, play games and have snacks that they brought from elsewhere. The self-service espresso machine was available for the tour guests and we were permitted to join in its use. The thing that I liked most about Hotel Spaander was that it was located on the main tourist pedestrian street in Volendam, but it was only open to guests.

Hotel Spaander, Volendam

That afternoon we walked past St Vincent’s, the Flood of 1916 Bridge, the Doolhof Passageways, the Yellow Bridge, the Brijkie Old Canal, the Green Draw Bridge and Zuideinde Street. The next morning we woke up early and stepped out of the hotel to find the town pleasantly empty. We headed to the nearby French bakery along the waterfront promenade for croissants and then combined this with lattes at Hotel Spaander.

Volendam Layover – Zaanse Schans

The cloudy forecast in Volendam turned out to be inaccurate, so with the bright sunshine and comfortable temperatures, we changed plans and headed straight to Zaanse Schans to see the windmills. The 801 Express Bus wasn’t running yet that morning, so we took the 316 Bus to Amsterdam and then caught the 800 Express Bus to Zaanse Schans.

We wandered through the quaint traditional buildings and along the path past the the windmills. The weather was lovely. Just as the tourists numbers started to build, we caught the 800 Express Bus back to Amsterdam where we caught bus to Marken. Zaanse Schans was a great stop!

Marken, Maxima Brug

Marken

We rode the bus all the way to the last stop at Marken Minneweg. From there we followed the path south into the the maze of picturesque traditional homes. We saw the Royal Airforce Monument and then stepped inside the Big Church where we enjoyed the various fishing vessels hanging from the rafters. Then we passed over the Maxima, Wilhelmina and Juliana foot bridges as made our way to the inner harbor of Marken.

Kibbeling at Taverne de Visscher, Marken

At the harbor, we stopped for lunch at Taverne de Visscher, where I enjoyed a traditional kibbeling (Atlantic cod) with fries. We were pleasantly surprised to only with the meal but also with how quickly we received our meals. Afterward, we strolled to the Wooden Shoe Factory to buy a few souvenirs. Then we caught the Marken Express ferry back to Volendam.

Marken Express

Heineken Beer

That evening I was challenged by a text from my nephew in Canada to have a beer as long as it wasn’t a Heineken. That’s not as easy as it sounds. Every pub in the Netherlands seems to have a Heineken logo outside and Heineken on tap. I did find a Texels, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Texels Beer, Volendam

The next morning we used our credit cards to ride the bus to Amsterdam followed by the train to Schiphol to retrieve our carry-on luggage. Then we took to express train to Rotterdam and the metro to the Rotterdam Cruise Terminal. Our 21 day cruise on the Holland America Rotterdam ship from the Rotterdam port was about to begin.