The old town of Alkmaar is small and almost entirely walkable. The cheese market, museums, churches, and main shopping streets are all within a fifteen-minute walk of the railway station. Cars are restricted in the centre; park outside the moat and walk in.
Bikes are the right tool if you want to range further — the Alkmaarderhout, the polders to the east, or the coastal dunes at Bergen are all reachable by cycle path within half an hour. Rental shops cluster near the station and are inexpensive by day. Local buses cover the wider municipality and the coast, departing from the station.