North Holland market town near Amsterdam, set among flat polder cycling routes and old trading squares
Purmerend is a medium-sized Dutch town about 20 kilometres north of Amsterdam, in the flat polder landscape of North Holland. It was a prosperous market town in the seventeenth century — the weekly cheese and cattle markets drew traders from across the region — and some of that compact historic centre survives around the Kaasmarkt square and the Gothic church.
Today Purmerend is largely a commuter town for Amsterdam, expanded dramatically with postwar housing estates. It is not a destination in itself, but travellers passing through the north of North Holland will find it a functional stopping point. The Waterlandroute cycling path connects the town to Amsterdam via the quiet countryside of the Waterland nature area, a rewarding ride through an almost unchanged Dutch polder landscape of narrow ditches, wooden farmhouses, and grazing cattle.
Guide
Getting There
Purmerend is one of the easiest day trips from Amsterdam. Direct Sprinter trains run from Amsterdam Centraal to Purmerend station roughly every fifteen minutes throughout the day, and the journey takes about twenty minutes. The station sits a short walk from the historic centre — head straight out of the main entrance and you will reach the Kaasmarkt in under ten minutes on foot. No advance booking is needed; just buy a ticket at the machine or tap in with an OV-chipkaart.
Bus connections run from Amsterdam Noord, on the north bank of the IJ, for those coming from the northern neighbourhoods or arriving via the free ferry from Centraal Station. The buses are slower than the train but useful if you are combining Purmerend with a visit to the Waterland villages along the way. Purmerend also makes a natural starting or finishing point for the Waterlandroute cycling path to Amsterdam — a 20-kilometre ride through the polder landscape that most fit cyclists can manage in under two hours. You can rent a bike in Amsterdam, ride out to Purmerend, and return by train with the bike if your legs give out.
