Things to Do in Marken, Netherlands

Marken Things to Do

If you plan to visit the village of Marken in the Netherlands soon, following are some places you might enjoy visiting:

Havenbuurt and Kerkbuurt

Havenbuurt and Kerkbuurt are the two main parts of Marken village. The harbour quarter is the more touristy part and where you will find most of the restaurants and tourist shops. You will also find a convenient boat connection to Volendam. Despite the fact that Havenbuurt is nice and picturesque, the beauty of Marken village is the church quarter. Located on a little hill around the village’s church, its charms are easily seen when you get there. The narrow alleys, the old wooden dwellings, the labyrinth of passageways and the occasional glimpse of “real” (i.e. not tourist-focused) life, made Kerkbuurt a wonderful place for me. With the exception of the Marken Museum, there’s not exactly a lot to see in terms of traditional sights, but the quarter’s own very special atmosphere makes it worth the visit. Plus, it’s almost tourist-free, compared to Havenbuurt.

Marken’s Lighthouse

One great way to see more of the island, or rather ex-island, is to walk around it. It’s approximately 8 or 9km, and will take you roughly two hours. You’ll certainly meet other tourists on the way, but there will also be long sections of the path where you don’t see or hear anything but numerous birds.

Marker Museum

The Marker museum was built in six historical fisherman’s houses in the old center of Marken. A fishermans’s family lived here until about 1932.

Sijtje Boes Souvenirshop

This is one of the first, if not the very first, souvenir shops of the Netherlands. It’s the history of this shop that makes it unique. They have things for sale like Delft Blue, Clogs, Orange things, windmills and of course the more modern souvenirs.

Marken Harbour

Marken has a pretty harbour. Once an important fishing harbour, it now also caters for the leisure craft as well. The harbour is surrounded by pretty green houses. They were once fishermen’s cottages, but now the harbour is primarily tourist shops and restaurants.

Editor’s note: The information contained on this page was compiled using real traveler reviews about things to do in Marken, Netherlands