While it is only a small village, Volendam is famous both for its unusual architecture and for its local customs; and one of the most curious Volendam sights is seeing the local women and men in traditional dress as they go about their daily business. Traditionally, this was a fishing village but the village now boasts a number of businesses from cigar branding to water purification.

Volendam Beach

The beach offers some of the best views of Volendam for several reasons. First, it is here that you can see the old style fishing boats which the locals still maintain and use on occasion. Although it isn’t possible to sail in one these, you can pay local fishermen to take you on a tour of the island’s coastline in one of the readily available steam boats. If you do this, be sure to ask to see the site of the old dam which the people of the village originally built to gain freshwater for irrigation. It has now been converted into a land reclamation site.

If you don’t have sea legs, the beach is also a brilliant way to see how Holland’s frequent flooding has changed the local architecture as all of the houses by the coast are now built on wooden blocks and set behind the nearby road.

Volendam Museum

As one of Holland’s oldest museums, this museum is renowned throughout the Netherlands as being home to some of the finest local art work in the country. The paintings and mosaics used largely reflect the local scenery but there are also images of locals at work in their traditional clothing. There are also many images of boats of all kinds, including steamboats which have been touring Volendam and the neighboring islands since 1906.

There are also many sculptures, pastiches and even film footage of local customs such as brewing beer, dancing and folk singing.

Volendam Backstreets

Although the main streets have stores with high street names, the back streets are better if you want to experience the rustic feel of Volendam. This is especially useful if you don’t enjoy being around other tourists, who tend to crowd around the harbor area. Not only are there a number of restaurants serving traditional food such as smoked eel, there are also several gift shops so you can bring back some souvenirs. At one of these, the Fotoshop, you can have a photograph taken in the local dress.

The backstreets are also home to the Volendam Visitor Information Centre where you can get more information about places to see.