Alkmaar, Oudorp, Zuidschermer

Does the best Gouda cheese in the world come from Alkmaar? Yes, because ‘Gouda’ is just a recipe. In the polders east of Alkmaar, it is applied to the creamy milk of strong, black-headed cows, grazing on what was once the bottom of a saline lake. Cattle farmers with great love for their craft turn it into a great-tasting cheese, recognisable by its red seal. It is now available in countless variations from young to old, with new and surprising additions each time.

Until the 16th century, Alkmaar was situated in a lake district. Shipping and the associated trade brought great prosperity to the fortified town. This can still be seen in the opulent architecture of the time. Prosperity attracted new residents, and to feed this growing population, more agricultural land was needed throughout North Holland. This was created by constructing dykes around the lakes, digging ditches and canals and then draining them with the deployment of more than fifty windmills. First they milled the water away from the small waters. Then from the big ones. The Schermer Lake, right on the east side of the city, was the last to go. In 1635, the Schermerpolder was ready.

However, the soil there was less fertile than elsewhere in the area. However, the former marshland turned out to be perfectly suitable for grassland, and thus for cattle breeding and cheese making. It was the beginning of the oldest cheese market in the Netherlands, on the Waagplein in Alkmaar. To this day, the cheese market with all its traditions and folklore is held there every Friday from March to October.

Waagplein is your first disembarkation point on this cycle route. On Fridays if you want to go to the famous market. On most other weekdays to visit the Cheese Museum, housed in the magnificent Waag building. The playful, uncluttered museum is an experience in itself. You will learn all about the myriad facets of cheese making. At the same time, you will be treated to paintings, drawings, sculptures, stained glass and ornamental ironwork. Then you continue your way through the new residential and working area Overstad, past thatched windmills to calm Oudorp and on to the silence and vastness of the Schermerpolder. You see one beautiful cheese-cover farm after another, cross the North Holland Canal by ferry and finally stop by organic dairy farm Het Vertrouwen in Akersloot. And if you still want more cheese, you can round off the day at several restaurants around the Waag. With Alkmaar cheese soup.


Please note! You will encounter a cycle ferry along the way. On the first Tuesday of the month, the Akersloot ferry does not sail between 09:30 and 12:30. There is no alternative route, so check the disembarkation time to plan the crossing.

This Premium cycle route was compiled by our editor: Wilmie Geurtjens.