Visiting the Alkmaar cheese market is one of the quintessential Dutch things to do in the Netherlands. One may think that you can just randomly show up at the city but that would not work. If you want to see the Alkmaar cheese market reenacted like in the old days, you have to plan and visit it at a specific time.
Why? Because during certain times in the year, they reenact the way the cheese markets used to be. So you can see everyone dressed up in traditional clothing, people carrying heavy cheese rounds and more.
Since we live in Groningen, the drive takes almost 2 hours. It meant that we kept putting it off till mid summer this year. Initially I thought that I would do Alkmaar and head out to another town close by. While the Alkmaar cheese market was the highlight of our trip, we invariably fell in love with the city and landed up spending a day here and enjoying all the things to do in Alkmaar beyond cheese.
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Why Is The Alkmaar Cheese Market Popular?
One of the things that the Netherlands is famous for is its cheese! There’s the Gouda cheese which comes from the city Gouda. The Edam cheese which comes from the city Edam. Alkmaar also is one of the famous cheese cities and no… The cheese is not known as Alkmaar but Beemster. You’ll see the name written on some of the cheese rounds. Edam and Gouda cheese is also traded here though.
There is a lot of history that is linked to the Alkmaar cheese market. Cheese was traded from the center of the Alkmaar city for over 700 years. In fact, historical records show that Alkmaar had a cheese scale as far back as 1365. The whole square in front of the Waagsturns into a huge outdoor cheese shop but it is much much more than that. In fact, watching the Alkmaar cheese market can be a whole outdoor activity. It is planned such that it reenacts the original market schedule. I’ll talk about it in a bit under the schedule section.
Let’s talk about what actually happens in the Alkmaar cheese market. First off everyone is dressed up in their traditional wear. There are three sections to this market. The part where the cheese is weighed in the Waag, the square where the cheese is kept and the unloading area. Here you will see people loading the cheese on the traditional cheese carriers, taking the cheese to be weighed before being loaded into the transport.
There are a lot of activities that take place around this. In fact, the schedule will tell you exactly what is happening at that very moment. The Dutch are very punctual and it happens dot on time. One good thing about this performance is that it is broadcasted live on a television at the square so if there are loads of people and you can’t get a first hand view, you can watch the show on the television from afar.
Alkmaar Cheese Market Timings
An important thing to know is that the cheese market is not open throughout the day and on all the days of the week. In fact, during the winter months, the market does not function at all. Post that it is held on every Friday till the last Friday of September. The timings are from 10am to 1pm.
It is also important to note that in July and August there are an additional cheese market that is held on Tuesday evenings between 19:00 to 21:00. So you can actually fit in this cheese market into a tight itinerary.
Alkmaar Cheese Market Schedule
You don’t have to know the schedule before visiting but it is cool to know what happens throughout the day. There are two ways in which you can visit. In the first option, you come, click your photographs and move on. You probably will watch the show for a bit before moving on.
The second one is great for the history buffs. Start off at the beginning of the day and watch the market take place through the entire schedule. You’ll see all aspects of how the Alkmaar cheese market used to function.
7am – Ironically even though I said that the Cheese market starts off at 10am, the preparation actually starts at 7am in the morning where a number of trucks arrive at the Waagsplein. They unload approximately 30,000 kgs of cheese here. This is why they have to arrive so early. Unloading that amount of cheese takes time!
9:30 am – The cheese carriers arrive ready for work.
10am – The cheese bell is rung and the market is now in session. Now a couple of things will happen.
Inspection of the cheese: Judges will wander around and inspect the cheese. This is done in a number of ways. I don’t understand the whole process but they peel the cheese, check the number of holes and even use a special cheese drill to inspect a random cheese round. Once the judges are satisfied, the trading can begin.
Weighing the cheese: The cheese is loaded on special carriers. Eight of them will be placed on each one. These are then carried to the weighing scales in the Waag. These scales are huge! Note that each of these barrows or carriers now weighs over a 100 kgs. This means that it needs a pair of people to move them about. It is hard work. Even though the its just an act, you will find that the cheese carriers are sweating and tired after a days work in the sun.
12:30pm: The cheese throwing. This is a rather cool part of the Alkmaar cheese market. They toss the cheese rounds and then load them up into the trucks for transport.
Things To Do At The Alkmaar Cheese Market
There are surprising number of things to do in the Alkmaar cheese market. I’m not talking about the whole of the city mind you. This is just in the vicinity of the Waagsplein and is in relation to the market itself. Should you come on non market days, you won’t see these attractions.
1. Watch The Reenactment Of The Cheese Market
I’ve talked about the reenactment of the famous cheese market in detail. This is because it is one of the main attractions in the city. The whole performance is all about how the cheese markets were back in the day and how the trade took place. You will see the cheese being laid out in the square, tested, weighed and sold. Its a whole morning activity.
2. Weigh Yourself Using The Scales For The Cheese
Cheese isn’t the only thing that gets weighed on the cheese scales. You can check your own weight on the scales. Its a nominal cost of 1 euro per person but you can get an awesome photograph. You can also get weighed as a group. We took a cool family pic this way. Our daughter wanted to carry one of the cheese blocks so that’s part of the pic as well.
3. Shop For Souvenirs
There are tons of Dutch souvenirs that you can browse through here. Some are pretty unique.
A couple of things worth noting are the cool customized cycle bells, the cheese platters, the hand made bags and more. There are loads of stalls all around. Some even have cool handmade jewelry.
You could even choose to take some cheese as souvenirs. If these aren’t your pick, you can also browse through some of the shops in the vicinity.
4. Enjoy A Dutch Snack
There are a couple of stands that sell popular Dutch snacks. While we were there we saw one that sold profiteroles. These are tiny pancakes that are topped off with powdered sugar. You could choose to add other toppings too. Popular ones are Nutella and chocolate. There are other options and even some alcoholic ones!
5. Taste And Buy Regional Cheese
Since it is a cheese market, you will find cheese stalls. You obviously can buy different types of cheese here. The best part is that you can actually taste the cheese before you buy. There are so many different options. From the standard Edam, Gouda and Beemster to the flavored versions of the cheese. Here you can taste cheese that is flavored with ingredients like cumin, truffle, spice, etc. It is pretty cool.