🧭 North of Amsterdam: Easy escapes, just beyond the city
When you stand on the platform at Amsterdam Centraal, it can feel like everything leads somewhere busy. But turn north, and you’ll find places that invite you to slow down.
These are towns and cities that don’t demand much. They’re easy to reach, easy to walk, and quietly rich in story — whether you’re after a view, a museum, or just a different rhythm for the day.
🌿 TravelGlaze moment
Every part of the Netherlands has its own personality, but North Holland feels most like my backyard. I often go walking in the dunes — near Bergen, Egmond, or Castricum. These aren’t dramatic landscapes, but they’re comforting. Familiar. The kind of places where you can walk for hours without ever needing a reason.
I also love the small events that pop up in the area — like Muziek aan de Middenweg, where people open their gardens to local musicians. You wander from garden to garden, sit on someone’s bench, and listen. Sometimes the performances are simple. Sometimes they stop you in your tracks. That’s what I like most — the chance to be surprised by something small.
A good street market, an art route through a village, or a weekend of open studios — North Holland is full of these gentle things. You just have to know they’re there.
Haarlem – slow streets and soft details
Haarlem is where I go when I want Amsterdam’s charm, but not its rush. It has canals, cafés, museums — but everything feels a little softer. The streets are narrow, the shops small, the pace gentler. You can spend a full day there and still feel like you’ve done nothing (in the best possible way).
There are Golden Age paintings, a windmill on the water, and a café in an old greenhouse. And on quiet Sundays, you might hear a barrel organ playing in a tiny museum just outside the center. Visit the Haarlem blog for more information
Fun fact: Haarlem is home to the oldest museum in the Netherlands — and it also has a barrel organ museum.
Practical info
Train from Amsterdam Centraal: ~15–20 minutes
City center: ~10-minute walk from the station
Best for: culture, quiet cafés, and comfortable wandering
Zaandam – cheerful shapes and industrial stories
Zaandam is a little quirky. The train station opens onto a square filled with green wooden buildings stacked like oversized toys. At first, it feels a bit surreal. But then it starts to grow on you.
The center is compact and easy to explore, with bridges, sculptures, and modern buildings inspired by old traditions. If you go a little further, you’ll reach Zaanse Schans — a historic village of windmills and wooden houses that once powered the Dutch economy. Yes, there are tourists. But go early, walk the back paths, and you’ll find silence and river breezes.
Fun fact: Claude Monet painted 25 works in Zaandam — he was drawn to the light and the quiet industry of the area.
Practical info
Train to Zaandam: ~12 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal
Bus to Zaanse Schans: ~15 minutes from Zaandam station
Best for: curious architecture, old-world industry, quiet mornings
Volendam – a tourist town, with quiet corners
Volendam is often seen as a tourist stop — and in part, it is. You’ll find souvenir shops, cheese stands, and people in costume. But if you walk a little further along the water, the crowds thin. Boats rock gently in the harbour. And the backstreets, with their small houses and flowerpots, feel real and lived-in.
If you let the surface pass by, Volendam becomes something else: a gentle fishing town with the smell of sea air and a rhythm that’s still there under the postcard version.
Fun fact: Volendam is one of the few places in the Netherlands where traditional dress is still worn on special days — especially by older residents.
Practical info
Bus from Amsterdam Noord: ~30 minutes (via EBS)
Reachable by metro + bus combination
Best for: harbour views, slow walks, and a touch of folklore
Alkmaar – cheese markets and cobbled calm
Alkmaar is best known for its cheese market, and yes — it’s worth seeing once. But that’s not really what I go for. The old center has winding streets, soft bridges, and bookshops that feel like they’ve always been there. Sit near the canal. Wander without aim. This is a town that doesn’t need big sights to hold your attention. 
And if you like museums, the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar is small, modern, and wonderfully manageable — the kind of museum you can finish in an hour without feeling rushed.
Fun fact: Alkmaar’s cheese market dates back to 1593 and still uses the traditional handclap to seal the deal between sellers.
Practical info
Train from Amsterdam Centraal: ~35 minutes
Market days: Fridays (seasonal)
Best for: history, slower shops, and low-key museum time
Zandvoort aan Zee – space to breathe
Sometimes the only thing I need is sky and sea. Zandvoort is a beach town — not glamorous, but accessible, with soft dunes and long wooden walkways. It gets busy in summer, but on weekdays or in early spring, it’s calm and full of space. 
There’s a train station right by the beach. You can rent a bike, take a book, or just sit and stare at the waves. I never regret going here, even if it’s just for an hour.
Fun fact: The dunes around Zandvoort are part of a protected nature reserve — full of birds, deer, and quiet cycle paths.
Practical info
Train from Amsterdam Centraal: ~30 minutes (or via Haarlem)
Beach access: right by the station
Best for: fresh air, flat walks, and doing nothing
Final thoughts: more quiet places, if you’re still curious
There are always more places to go.
Enkhuizen is one of those. It’s a little further north, but easy by train. The Zuiderzee Museum there is part indoor, part outdoor — full of old boats, fishing houses, and little streets that show how Dutch coastal life used to look. I once spent an hour just watching someone dye wool with plants. That kind of place.
Or you could visit Broek in Waterland — a small, pastel-colored village between green fields and still water. It’s best explored slowly, maybe by bike, maybe not. If you are heading to Volendam, you’ll pass by.
If you like something a bit more unexpected, there’s the Broeker Veiling near Langedijk — once the world’s first sail-through vegetable auction. Now a museum with floating bridges and a tiny boat tour that takes you through the old market system.
No pressure to visit all of them. Just know they’re there — close, comfortable, and waiting for a slower kind of traveller.
Have you taken any of these slow day trips? Or found comfort in another small place just outside Amsterdam? Let me know in the comments — or send me your favorite spot to add to the list.
