Volendam can be explored through several clearly distinct cultural themes: local history at the Volendams Museum, the historic center and its walking routes, and the musical history of Palingsound. When planning, it helps to choose a focus: a museum route has a fixed starting point, while other formats tell their stories through streetscapes, paintings, or music.

History and Traditional Dress at the Volendams Museum

The Volendams Museum presents Volendam’s history and culture from 1850 to 1950. This period gives the visit a clear historical focus. Notable exhibits include mosaics made from 11 million cigar bands. Traditional Volendam dress is also a defining cultural theme: the Stichting Klederdrachten Volendam preserves the original costume for future visitors to learn about. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; check opening hours before your visit.

Streetscapes and Historic Walks

Volendam’s “oude kom” is a municipally protected cultural-historical area of interest comprising five subareas. The Doolhof is the oldest part of Volendam’s center and has a distinctive, irregular street pattern. This makes it possible to distinguish two aspects of the built heritage: the municipal designation of a cultural-historical area and the distinctive layout of the oldest part of the center.

A marked walking route starts at the Volendams Museum and passes through the center and along the Dijk, by various historic sights. The Dijk- en Doolhofroute is a walk through the heart of historic Volendam. It starts on the old Zuiderzee dike and ends at Noordeinde and the harbor. The routes offer different points of reference: the first includes the museum and historic sights in its description, while the second names its start and end points.

Another option is the 2 km “Volendam Kunstenaarsdorp” audio tour. It tells Volendam’s story through paintings from the Spaander Collection. Here, the focus is on interpretation through art, while the information about the walks centers mainly on their routes and points of reference.

Music History and Activities

The Palingsound Museum displays original stage outfits, instruments, and gold and platinum records. A timeline wall spans 60 years of singles, with an audio recording for each entry. The exhibition thus combines tangible memorabilia with an opportunity to listen to the listed singles.

Traditional dress can also be explored in different ways. Experience Volendam offers visitors a photo in traditional Volendam dress. The Volendams Museum also organizes scavenger hunts for young and old, both inside the museum and outdoors in Volendam’s old town center. For those who prefer to search and solve clues themselves, this offers a different format from viewing museum exhibits or listening to an audio tour.

More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Edam.

Go to the broader travel overview: Edam-Volendam.