Volendam is a very pretty little fishing port on the Ij bay in the Dutch province of North Holland. Originally Volendam served as a port for Edam, the nearby city famous for its cheese – of which there was plenty in the shops when we visited! A canal was dug from Edam to the sea which meant that Volendam was no longer the major port it once was, and fishing and agriculture became its mainstay. However, now tourism must be one of the main industries!
We were tourists, of course, and found it a charming little place with lots of interesting old buildings. We didn’t see any ladies in national costume, but it is another thing the town is famous for. Earlier in the twentieth century it was a place artists like to visit, and we saw a lot of modern art work on display, and also quite a few people painting the local views.
Lois Elsden 