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Amsterdam canal lined with gabled houses and moored boats
Tobias Niepel, CC BY

Netherlands

The Netherlands for cheese lovers: Alkmaar’s cheese market on Friday mornings from late March to late September, and Gouda’s on Thursday mornings from April to August.

  • 2food festivals

Food festivals in the Netherlands

Cheese carriers at the Alkmaar cheese marketG.Lanting, CC BYCheeseEvery week

Alkmaar Cheese Market

Alkmaar’s cheese market on the Waagplein: cheese carriers and a square full of wheels, Friday mornings from late March to late September.AlkmaarView
Rounds of Gouda cheese laid out on the cobbled market square in front of the town hallRalf Roletschek, CC BYCheeseEvery week

Gouda Cheese Market

Gouda’s cheese market on the Markt, Thursday mornings from April to August: handjeklap, weighing at the Waag, free entry, stroopwafels and tips.GoudaView

Regions in the Netherlands

Windmills and green meadow at Zaanse Schans under a blue skyDimiTalen, CC01 listing

North Holland

Alkmaar Cheese Market
Tulip beds and a flowering tree in the Keukenhof gardensElena.laps, CC BY-SA1 listing

South Holland

Gouda Cheese Market

Map of the Netherlands

Food festivals in the Netherlands, month by month

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The Netherlands is a country of cow’s milk cheese: Gouda and Edam, both named after Dutch towns, are known well beyond its borders. Two towns hold a weekly cheese market in season. In Alkmaar, north of Amsterdam, cheese carriers haul the wheels across the Waagplein on Friday mornings from the last Friday of March to the last Friday of September, according to its organiser. In Gouda, in South Holland, the market is held on Thursday mornings from the first Thursday of April to the last Thursday of August, according to its organiser.

Getting around the Netherlands

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the country’s main gateway, with trains from the airport station to Amsterdam and beyond. The rail network is dense, and Alkmaar is a direct train ride from Amsterdam Centraal.

What to eat

Beyond cheese, Dutch food is simple and seasonal: raw herring with onions, sold at street stands, stroopwafels, thin waffles filled with syrup, poffertjes, small fluffy pancakes, and in winter erwtensoep, a thick pea soup. Indonesian cooking, brought back from the former colony, is part of everyday eating, with the rijsttafel as its showpiece.

Market days

The Friday market runs from 10:00 to 13:00. In July and August a Tuesday evening market, from 7 pm to 9 pm, gives a second chance in the week.

Where to stay

Amsterdam is the obvious base, with trains to Alkmaar. Alkmaar itself has hotels for a night closer to the square.