Edam, tourist information

The Mathijs Tinxgracht in Edam

In the province of North Holland there is a pleasant historic town called Edam. You can certainly describe Edam as a tourist town. But less touristy than the neighboring town of Volendam. Edam is an old city and feels very cozy, so it certainly deserves a place on the list of cozy cities. Friendly people, beautiful buildings and of course the Edam cheese makes the city famous. You will find that in Edam.

The location of the Edam . Cheese Market

As mentioned before, Edam is a city with a lot of history. The city of Edam probably received its city rights in the year 1357.

But the history goes back even further than the year 1357!
The city arose on a dam that came out in the former Zuiderzee, which is now of course the Markermeer. Around the year 1230, the tidal inlets of the Zuiderzee were dammed, then the Edammers could start levying tolls. As a result, Edam became a trading place in, among other things, the cheese factory, shipbuilding and herring fishery. Because of these commodities, Edam experienced a great boom.

To come back to the city rights, these were granted by Count Willem V, this was more out of self-interest. It was because he wanted to get the big cities behind him. But there was also a lot at stake for the inhabitants of Edam. It was important that the Edammers were given permission to build a harbor by the sea. This made reaching the city easier for foreign ships as well. These can then travel to the other North Holland cities via the Purmermeer. A market was also allowed to be held in Edam three times a year, as a result of these events the city continued to grow economically.

The Edam cheese market was the economic engine of the city in the 16th century.
In 1526 Emperor Charles V granted the right to hold a weekly market, he also granted the right to build a weigh house for which 90 guilders had to be paid annually, which had to be paid to the Dutch count.

Edam also experienced less fun, this was due to the Storm Flood of 1825, although this mainly affected the other side, but there were also casualties in Edam.
There was also flooding in 1916. You can see this at the house behind the lockkeeper's house, because there is a sign with how high the water has been.

The Kwakkelsteeg in Edam

Of course, a tourist town like Edam also has nice sights, the main attractions are; The weigh house, the Town Hall, monumental houses in the Spuistraat and finally the fortress at Edam. But of course there are many more places of interest in Edam

A cheese shop in Edam

In the town of Edam you can not really go for shopping, there are some shops here and there, but for nice shopping you are not really in the right place in Edam, a nice opportunity to go shopping is to move to the surrounding cities, where you can then visit the cities, for example; Purmerend of Amsterdam which is also pretty close Hoorn

A Courtyard in Edam

You can do a lot in the town of Edam!
But walking in nature is difficult because there are hardly any parks.
you can enjoy the many waters. Edam is located on the Markermeer. You can enjoy many cycling routes through the Beemster. Furthermore, the town of Edam is also very green.

Prinsenstraat in Edam

Unfortunately, Edam is not a step city either. There are a number of bars where the atmosphere is great and you can enjoy a terrace in the city.

If you really want to go out, you better swerve to Amsterdam of Purmerend