Day-tripping in lush lowlands of Holland

Less than an hour from Amsterdam, the traditional fishing village of Marken, with its unique architecture, is a time-warp trip into old Holland. Rick Steves

Whenever I visit Amsterdam, I take time to visit the lush lowlands of Holland. In a country like the Netherlands — so small and with such a fine transportation infrastructure — day-tripping is easy to do. Within a half-hour of leaving Amsterdam’s main train station, you can be deep in the Dutch countryside — awash with tulips, red-brick houses, black-and-white cows and canals with reflections that would inspire Monet to set up his easel.

While there are lots of day-trip options from Amsterdam — such as Haarlem, Delft, The Hague or Arnhem — I like to spend a day visiting Edam, Marken and Volendam — three picturesque villages in a region northeast of Amsterdam aptly called the Waterland.

Edam — known for its cheese covered in red or yellow wax — is full of history, charm and ambience. I love it. This adorable village is sweet but not saccharine, and is just 30 minutes by bus from Amsterdam.

If you go, try to visit during Edam’s Wednesday morning cheese market in July and August, when farmers bring their cheese by boat and horse to the center of town. You can watch as the cheese is weighed and traded by Edamers in traditional garb.

Although Edam is known today for cheese, it was once an industrious shipyard and port. That’s why, in the 17th century, the town’s specialty became one of the most popular cheeses in the world. Sailors took wheels of Edam on their voyages — the cheese doesn’t spoil easily and could be traded for spices and other riches of the East.

The ships are long gone; today, Edam’s main trade is tourism. The best thing to do is to just wander its storybook lanes and canals; you can see it all in a 20-minute stroll. It’s so nice, though, that you may be tempted to stay longer. Consider taking a short walking tour; look for the Stroll Through Edam tour brochure available at the tourist-info office on the main square.

While the town itself is the real attraction, I also enjoy the Edam Museum — a 400-year-old historical residence that provides a fun peek at what old canal houses once looked like (www.edamsmuseum.nl). This house is particularly interesting for its floating cellar, designed to accommodate changes in water level without destabilizing the structure.

After a cheesy morning in Edam, I travel to one of the Netherlands’ most traditional fishing communities: Marken. This time-passed hamlet in a bottle — once virtually abandoned — has been kept alive as a tourist attraction. Today, visitors come in droves to walk its tiny lanes and marvel at its cuteness.

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. Centuries later, when the Zuiderzee was diked off, Marken became a virtual ghost town. But in 1957, engineers built a long causeway from the mainland to the island hamlet, which allowed easy access for visitors.

Walking around Marken, I was impressed with the town’s unique architecture, adapted to survive the challenging local conditions. Because the tides could be so temperamental, houses here tend to cluster on little hills called werven, or are built on pilings to keep them high and dry. Traditional Marken homes, while dull and black-tarred outside, are painted a cheerful yellow and blue inside.

In the extremely charming neighborhood of Kerkbuurt, I find the modest Marker Museum, which celebrates the 16th- century costumes (still worn for special events) and traditional lifestyles of the people of Marken ( www.markermuseum.nl ). My favorite snack: nibbling on some kibbeling (local fish and chips) at an idyllic eatery on the harbor. My favorite stroll: a 40-minute walk out to the town’s lighthouse, picturesquely situated at the far end of the island, at the tip of a sandy spit.

The third town I visit — Volendam — is less cute and more functional than the other two Waterland towns, though it enjoys some workaday charm of its own — including a lively (and touristy) dike-top promenade stretching along a shimmering bay. The town’s lone sight is the hokey yet pleasant Volendam Museum, whose highlight is the Cigarband House, where a local artist has glued 11 million cigar bands to big boards to create giant images from Dutch windmills to a sour-looking Statue of Liberty.

Amsterdam can be thrilling, but any native will tell you: To really experience everyday life in the Netherlands, get out of town. In postcard-perfect Dutch villages like Edam, you can mellow out like a hunk of aging cheese.

Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com) writes European guidebooks, hosts travel shows on public TV and radio, and organizes European tours. This column revisits some of Rick’s favorite places over the past two decades. You can email Rick at [e-mail] and follow his blog on Facebook.