Home > Amsterdam > Alkmaar Cheese Market and Dutch Windmills Half-Day Trip from Amsterdam
USD $56.00
Alkmaar Cheese Market and Dutch Windmills Half-Day Trip from Amsterdam
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Discover two of Holland's most famous icons - windmills and cheese - on this 4.5-hour morning tour from Amsterdam. You'll gain insights into the traditions of cheese-making, visit a cheese market and visit the well-known windmill village of Schermerhorn.
Your first stop is the historic village of Alkmaar, where you will gain fascinating insights into old Dutch market life. At the cheese market, you'll see cheese-carriers wearing traditional costumes as they set out the cheeses on the cobblestone square. Bidders continue to buy the cheeses in the traditional way by clapping their hands. With a stern clap, the deal is sealed and men in white uniforms carry the wheels of cheese to a 14th-century Weigh House to tally the bill.
After your visit to the cheese market and a short guided walking tour of Alkmaar, you'll take a drive to the photogenic village of Schermerhorn with its famous old windmills. There, you'll see the inside of a windmill before returning to Amsterdam.
Towns such as Alkmaar are so historically interesting with a story to tell of themselves. The windmills are just fansinating.
Review by: Peter John B, September 2016
Really enjoyed this trip! Bus ride through Holland was fantastic and seeing the windmills was wonderful! Cheese market very crowded.
Review by: Swifty, September 2016
History on display, fantastic day watching the way cheese was sold at market in the day.
Review by: Fang-Chin C, September 2016
great cheese and local foods, buy the cheese here, might not found in Amsterdam with same ones
Review by: simard_robert, August 2016
Excellent tour and beautifull city to walk around. The Cheese Market is way too crowdy and difficult to access.
Review by: Jennifer S, July 2016
It was a great tour outside of the city. Our tour guide provided us with a lot of good, easy to understand information. My 13 year old and 15 year old both thought it was great. We enjoyed having some time on our own in Alkmaar, combined with a tour of the town. We also learned a lot from the information our tour guide told us while on the bus. I'd highly recommend it.
Review by: Monica R, July 2016
Wonderful tour! I took my two 13 year old kids on this tour and this was one of the highlights of our trip to Amsterdam. The town of Alkmaar is beautiful with lots of shopping opportunities. The cheese was delicious. Our only regret is that we didn't purchase more cheese! The tour of the Windmills was incredibly interesting. We were surprised by how much we learned and enjoyed it. You can go inside the windmills and climb to the top and see first hand how they work. Very picturesque countryside. Lots of photo opportunities!! Very nice tour guide who provided much information about the Netherlands!!
Review by: Shawn T, June 2016
This tour was well worth the money. It was a short ride from Amsterdam to Alkmaar. Our tour guide was full of information and funny as well. Alkmaar was a cute little town to stroll once you saw the cheese market. The windmills were amazing to look at! Such history!
Review by: Delaney F, June 2016
Very impersonal trip as it is so quick. Very touristy market and did not feel genuine. The windmill that we were taken to was very small and not up to par with other windmills around the Netherlands. If you're only in the Netherlands for a couple of days, there are better venues to explore.
Review by: Teresa W, May 2016
A very interesting and fun tour of the Alkmaar cheese market - well worth the visit.
Review by: John M, April 2016
Alkmaar is very interesting and something you should see as I think this is unique to Holland. However- it gets quite crowded. You may have to push your way to the front if you want to take pictures. Done in the outdoors- so be prepared for bad weather as you won't be covered. Town is quite nice with outdoor vendors, cheese tastings, and modern shopping. Made a quick stop around 50 minutes-1 hour to a windmill museum. This was plenty of time- you were able to get up close to the windmill and take some great pictures. Was able to climb to the top of the windmill to see how the windmill turns.
Review by: Zoe H, August 2015
Very informative guide, told us lots about Amsterdam and the surrounding area. The cheese market was a let down, absolutely rammed with people so you couldn't really see anything, worth it for 5 minutes but we had to stay 2 hours. Timing was wrong for lunch as we left there at 12 o'clock would have been better to stay an hour then go to the windmill and stop for lunch somewhere before returning. The windmill stop was interesting and great to get inside and have a look around plus the film was interesting too. Half day trip was enough not much fun if you have very young children though I had a 10 and 13 year old which though it ok just a bit boring!
Review by: Adriena O, July 2015
An excellent trip to know Holland country, just 50 kilometres from busy city of Amsterdam...half day full of traditions...it is amazing experience to see cheese trading! Really worth to go there. The g
Review by: Katia P, July 2015
Wonderful trip and great historical information from our travel guide.
Review by: Vovo, July 2015
Interesting how a cheese market was organised in Holland in the last centuries ! We also tasted the different types of cheese and indeed - very tasty ! The trip to the windmills was so full of important information about how the Dutch people fought and are still fighting for every square inch of land. We had no idea before that the windmills were used mainly for making polder , for running lakes dry, in our land mills are used for grinding corn.
Review by: Winnie, June 2015
Worth seeing this custom
Review by: KATHY F, June 2015
The town was lovely. The cheese show was very touristy and so crowded that it was impossible to see what was happening. The visit to the windmill was interesting and the tour guide on the bus did a nice job.
Review by: David S, June 2015
It was a nice trip with a good guide.
Review by: Robert P, May 2015
A brilliant tour and a brilliant guide. we loved the tour
Review by: JOHN R, April 2015
Excellent trip with superb guide.Timings about right at each location.
Review by: Michael V, September 2014
Trip was interesting, but the Alkmaar was too crowded.
Review by: janjarman, August 2014
You could probably get to Alkmaar via public transportation, but it was so relaxing to just get on a bus and let someone else worry about how to get there. The time allotted was just enough to check out the town. Don't miss the church. It was amazing. Loved the whole experience. The windmill stop was nice too. I would have preferred to spend a little less time there and a little more in Alkmaar, but others might feel opposite. The price of the trip was fine. The tour guide was just right. She gave us plenty of information without being annoying. I recommend this tour.
Review by: Brenda V, July 2014
Excellent trip and well worth the time and money. The Cheese Market is awesome and is much more than cheese. You can see wooden shoes being made, try eating some herring, and enjoy the mini pancakes. The trip to the windmills was also wonderful. we just enjoyed the trip through the countryside. The tour guide was excellent.
Review by: travelking90, June 2014
Beautiful Trip
Review by: Lynne S, April 2014
This wasn't a tour at all. It was a bus ride to Alkmaar where we had free time in a very very very crowded market and had to really fight to see anything. Then they drove us to a windmill where we watched a video. The guide didn't really tell us anything at all.
Review by: Carla D, April 2014
Very interesting trip. The event was unusual and memorable. _br/_
Alkmaar is well worth the visit. _br/_
The length of the time in Alkmaar could have been a little longer because there were so many shops that we didn't have time to check out. Just a bit rushed.
Review by: Jacqueline B, December 2013
Alkmaar is a beautiful village and time there was extremely short. Due to the crowds that arrived prior to our tour bus it was difficult to see much. I would recommend the tour getting started earlier, enabling an earlier arrival and maximizing the experience. _br/_
The windmill portion of the trip was very informative, especially the ability to freely tour the inside of a working windmill. _br/_
The knowlegable guide's soothing voice lulled me to a restful place during the return commute which was great since traffic prohibited our return at the promised time. A rejuvinating nod was able to be captured during the ride back to de Dam which was great preparation for afternoon events. Glad we booked this tour!
Review by: Anita T, August 2013
The company was not only disorganized, but by leaving Amsterdam so late, we were not able to view the Cheese Market exhibition. We left late (partly because the company was looking for more tourists to fill the bus), but even if we had left on time, we would have arrived way too late to see anything. There were already hundreds of people crowding the square.
Review by: Roslyn K S, August 2013
Certainly recommend the tour but a massive let down was the womans voice - i know this sounds petty but after 4 hours of broken englsih from the tour guide, it starts to take away from the joys of the tour.
Review by: Arie V, July 2013
It was great, bus was comfortable and very organized despite the construction in Amsterdam. Will tour with your company again
Review by: Anne S, July 2013
This was a great half day trip from Amsterdam. The cheese market was very interesting to see, only problem with the day we went was that it was a very cold, windy and wet day, so a bit miserable walking around the town. However, we were able to see how the cheese is sold, weighed etc.
Review by: Edwin G, July 2013
The Cheese market was interesting but the time there was very short. I injoyed the day though.
Review by: 3carfan, July 2013
very well organized tour with alot of time to do activities on your own. was better than we expected
Review by: Gina S, June 2013
Far below expectations! Extremely crowded cheese market place, no time to see or do anything. If there is any possibility, drive there yourself, or share a cab, will have a lot more time and freedom, otherwise, pretty much a waste of time.
Review by: BRUCE D, June 2013
Very good but not enough time in alkmaar
Review by: Abbey M, June 2013
Since the cheese market is only open on Fridays, the market was so crowded you really couldn't see anything. I think every tour operator in and around Amsterdam was there. If you get lucky and see your way through the crowd, it was interesting to see how they sell their cheese.
Review by: kathrynhall2008, June 2013
I wrote Viatour to find out if the tour stopped at a cheese farm in Edam and they told me that yes, the tour was of the market in Alkmaar, a stop at a windmill and then a cheese farm tour. Well, it was 1hr 15min in Alkmaar and an hour at the windmills. No stop in Edam. It advertised that you have time in Alkmaar for lunch. We had to be back to meet the bus at 11:55am - that's a really early lunch. If you want to go to Alkmaar take the train, it's far less expensive and very easy to get to. You'll also get to the market by 10am when it starts and not 10:50 when the tour arrives. There are windmills in Amsterdam proper that you can see. _br/_
I wrote via tour to find out why the product that they have described online does not match what the tour company (Lindberg) describes in their brochure and they never responded. _br/_
Final word: if you want a hurried look Alkmaar and an hour to look at 2 windmills then this is the tour for you. If you want time to see the town in depth (and it is pretty) then take the train and save yourself a lot of money.
Review by: Ramona O, June 2013
took a canal cruise instead....very interesting and enjoyable.
Review by: Sandra M, June 2013
This was a wonderful side trip. The town was beautiful. Best shopping of the trip. The Schaun Windmills serene and beautiful. The tour guide and driver very good.
Review by: Nataline G, May 2013
Was very satisfied with the service and info received. Pity the cheese market is so busy and it s hard to see what s going on. But I would recommend this tour. I enjoyed immensely the Dutch windmills very well explained.
Review by: Sheu Hoon A, May 2013
The sites are a wonderful experience, however, we did not have enough sufficient time in Alkmaar to enjoy the cheese market, cheese museum and explore the lanes.
Review by: Phil, April 2013
Okay, but not a great deal to see. Weather not very good which may have resulted in not enjoying this as much as other trips.
Review by: Richard D, April 2013
We were visiting on a very busy day and had trowble seeing the activities.
Review by: Scott H, October 2012
We really enjoyed our trip to the cheese market, windmills, and cheese factory although the bus was a bit crowded. As others have pointed out, the cheese market area is quite crowded and it's mostly stage as a tourist attraction, but it is interesting to see. We really enjoyed walking around the town and just wish we would've had more time to do that. The windmill tour was very interesting and the restored windmills in very good condition. We had already seen a cheese making demonstration and had purchased cheese elsewhere so this wasn't as big a draw for us but it was still enjoyable. There are a number of buses leaving in the morning from the same area so it can be busy and get crowded. I encourage you to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your tour. We would recommend this.
Review by: Helen M, September 2012
I enjoyed this trip but felt it could have been better. Alkmaar is a beautiful little town and enough time isnt allowed for axploring. I feel the trip to the farm at the conclusion(20 mins drive, 40 minute for the visit) could be cut in order to give more time at Alkmaar. Cheese is available in abundance for purchase and taste everywhere, I felt the farm visit was really unncecessary. Our guide was excellent, she probably made up for the shortfall
Review by: Lauren, August 2012
There were literally thousands of people at the market since it was holiday time. We couldn't see anything ! It was a rediculous waste of time and money -however the windmill film and tour was interesting and informative
Review by: Mihail Cosmin M, July 2012
All in all a good trip, Alkmaar was nice to visit._br/_
The windmill was interesting too, it seemed a bit weird that they charged extra to visit the mill (3 euro), calling it optional._br/_
It should have been included in the excursion price, what else should we do when we get there, sit on the bus?
Review by: Lisa H, July 2012
A knowledgeable guided tour on a very comfortable bus. Plenty of time at the cheese Mart. When you arrive, wait patiently and withing ten minutes you will find yourself at the rail with a great view of the event. It costs an extra 4 euro per person to go into the windmill and climb to the top but it is worth it! The visit to the cheese farm is really interesting. The guide speaks many languages, and after the presentation, you get to taste many kinds of cheeses. It is a must see!
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