Medemblik Netherlands North Holland
Frequently Asked Questions
In a basin lined with Golden Age façades, a few steps from the old streets. No shuttle and no detour: the oldest town in West Friesland, granted its town rights in 1289, is visited entirely on foot.
A fortress built around 1288 on the orders of Count Floris V to hold the region. Two wings and several towers survive, their brick walls mirrored in the water at the harbour entrance. The restored rooms tell the story of the conquest of West Friesland.
About thirty minutes covers it. That makes it a natural first stop before heading into the heart of town, since it stands directly on the shore.
Yes, and it is the highlight of the call when the schedule allows. A steam train links Medemblik to Hoorn: a smoking locomotive, vintage carriages and polder scenery sliding past the windows, between arrow-straight canals and isolated steeples.
Two, both reflecting the local attachment to old machinery and trades: a bakery museum reviving the craftsmen's gestures, and a museum of period steam engines kept in working order.
The seventeenth- and eighteenth-century houses that testify to past prosperity: stepped gables, two old churches, a former orphanage and the town hall. Look up at the carved façade stones that once identified merchants' houses.
Yes, and a well-known one. The quays host classic yachts and traditional flat-bottomed craft, direct heirs of the old merchant fleet, and regattas regularly enliven the water. The town holds a real place in Dutch sailing.
Because the great northern dyke closed off the Zuiderzee in 1932, turning the inland sea into the freshwater IJsselmeer. Merchant ships loaded with spices and grain no longer come, but the town has never stopped facing the water.
Two to three hours covers the castle, the old streets and the lakefront. Add half a day if you take the steam train. This is a call for wandering rather than for a programme.
Yes, especially with the steam train, which never fails. The castle is quickly visited without tiring younger children, and the harbour full of sailing boats holds the eye. The town is flat and free of heavy traffic.
