Monnickendam is a beautiful town in the Noord Holland province, one of the best hidden gems in the Netherlands, on the coast of Markermeer (the Marker lake). It’s one of the old fishing villages of the Waterland region, very picturesque and inviting, and has the big advantage that, unlike the sister villages of Volendam and Marken, is not included in the tourist circuit, therefore it’s quiet all year round. Only 15 kilometres distance from Amsterdam, makes it for an easy day-trip, by bus, car or bike, whatever you choose. I love going to Monnickendam by bike, because the route from Amsterdam will take you through green fields, canals and the lovely Broek in Waterland village.
A dam built by monks
Monnickendam’s history can be guessed from its name. It was founded by monks (most likely Frisian monks, who built a dam across a small river here) and “Monnickendam” means, quite simply, Monk’s Dam. The town first appears in the written record in 1288, and was granted city rights in 1355, which set it growing in earnest.
For centuries afterwards, Monnickendam was a serious port, and not the sleepy place it is today. While the Zuiderzee still opened onto the North Sea, large trading ships could sail straight into the harbour, and the town did a brisk business with the Baltic; after 1575 it entered a long stretch of real prosperity. The beautiful 17th-century Waag — the weigh house, where merchants once weighed their goods — is a survivor of those wealthy years. What ended the story was not decline so much as engineering: when the Afsluitdijk was completed in 1932, it sealed the Zuiderzee off from the open sea, the great dyke slowly turned the salt water fresh, and the harbour that had made Monnickendam rich became the calm Markermeer you see today.
The harbour and the marina
The port that once handled Baltic cargo is now a lovely marina. Monnickendam has quietly become a town of sailors: the harbour fills with masts, and in summer it comes properly alive, with owners fussing over their boats, taking them out onto the Markermeer, and visitors renting one for the afternoon if they don’t have their own. There is even a small beach where locals go to cool off on the few genuinely hot days a Dutch summer allows.
Summer is when Monnickendam is at its prettiest. The canals fill with water lilies, the little street gardens spill over with flowers, and the ice cream is some of the best I have found anywhere in the country (everything tastes better when you are near water!). The town can be so still that you notice the bumblebees, the quiet broken only now and then by the carillon high in the Speeltoren chiming out the hour.
✨Day-trip suitability
International visitors: ● ● ● ● ○ — Highly recommended if you have time
NL-based day-trippers: ● ● ● ● ●— Worth planning a day/weekend around
● Circles indicate suitability, not quality. Some subjectivity included. How to read these ratings 📜
What to see in Monnickendam
Monnickendam is small, and the joy of it is mostly in the wandering, but a few things are worth seeking out:
- The Speeltoren. The town’s emblem is this slender 15th-century tower, once the city hall, and now home to the Waterlandsmuseum de Speeltoren, a small museum on the history of Monnickendam and the wider Waterland. Its real treasure is the carillon: one of the oldest hand-played carillons in the world, complete with little mechanical horsemen that wheel out and parade when the bells play on the hour. Try to time your visit to hear it.
- The Grote Kerk. The great Gothic church of St Nicholas (patron saint of sailors) stands on the way into the centre, and you cannot miss it. Its sheer scale is a reminder of how prosperous this little port once was.
- The historic centre. There is no need for a checklist here. Monnickendam’s old streets hold something like seventy-four protected national monuments, and the centre as a whole works as one large open-air museum: leaning gabled houses, cobbled lanes, carved doorways, and the smell of the water always close by.
Smoked eel and the Jan Haring Race
For most of the year Monnickendam is quiet, but once a year, on the Jan Haring Race weekend, the town happily transforms. The race is a gathering of traditional Dutch flat-bottomed sailing boats (botters, tjalken, schouwen and the like) which take to the Markermeer for a weekend of friendly racing where, by long custom, taking part matters far more than winning. The race itself is named after Jan Haring, a 16th-century Watergeus (Dutch rebel fighter) connected to the region during the Eighty Years’ War.
What makes the weekend gloriously Monnickendam is what happens on shore. Alongside the sailing runs an eel-smoking competition, in which scores of amateurs each smoke a couple of kilos of eel through the day while a jury solemnly judges the results — reputedly the largest contest of its kind anywhere in the world. If you like smoked fish, this is the weekend to come. There’s also music and all kinds of other activities for all ages.
How to get to Monnickendam
Monnickendam is one of the easiest day trips from Amsterdam. It lies only about 15 kilometres north-east of the city, and buses run there directly from Amsterdam Centraal. You are there in around half an hour. By car it is a similar time. But if the weather is kind, you could go by bike. The route out through Waterland is flat, well signposted and quite lovely. You bike along canals and grazing fields and through Broek in Waterland — a village of wooden houses that is worth a stop in its own right. Once you reach Monnickendam, everything is walkable: leave the bike by the harbour and explore on foot.
Monnickendam rewards a day, but it would happily fill a long weekend too; stay in a cosy B&B, rent a boat or a bike, drift out to the neighbouring villages, and let the slow pace of a quiet Dutch harbour town become your own for a while.
Planning your trip? This might be interesting:
Amsterdam: Dutch Countryside E-Bike with Cheese & Clogs
Amsterdam: City & Region Travel Ticket
These are affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra costs to you.
Stay tuned for more and follow Amsterdamian on Instagram and Facebook for more stories about life in the Netherlands. Please share this post if you liked it!
Check out my photo book: Amsterdam Through the Seasons!
Love what you’re reading? Support my work with a small donation.
