A day of history

No city has as many national monuments within walking distance of each other as Enkhuizen. When you walk through Enkhuizen you really imagine yourself back in time. The legacy of the former Golden Age is visible at every corner.

Enkhuizen is one big open-air museum!

Enkhuizen is also rightly called one big open-air museum. As you walk through this historic Golden Age town you will come across one national monument after another. Enkhuizen has no less than 361 national monuments!

Enkhuizen breathes the atmosphere of the former Zuiderzee era with its illustrious past. On this page we give you an impression of the town and prepare you optimally for a historical day out.

The best tips

City Walk

On the basis of this booklet you will walk past the most beautiful places in Enkhuizen and you can experience for yourself that time has stood still in some places in town. The walk lasts approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. The booklet 'Stadswandeling Enkhuizen' is available from VVV Enkhuizen. The walk is also available in English and German.

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Zuiderzeemuseum

The Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen brings to life the stories of people who used to live around the Zuiderzee. See, hear, feel, taste and smell daily life around the Zuiderzee, before the Afsluitdijk turned the Zuiderzee into the IJsselmeer in 1932.

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Canal tour

Enkhuizen is more than a fishing town on the former Zuiderzee. The town also has a historic 'Boerenhoek' with canals, ditches and waterways that connected the town's farms to the farmlands in the polder. With Rondvaart Enkhuizen you sail past centuries-old teahouses, farms, country houses, workshops and the ramparts with their monumental defense gates.

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Beleef de historie van Enkhuizen

Overview of all monuments

Experience the historic triangle

Sail on a historic ship

Visit the Snouck van Loosen Park

Historical art and culture

Dining out in historic premises

The many atmospheric restaurants in Enkhuizen are located in beautiful historic buildings in the center and near the water and harbors. At Onder de Wester you can enjoy coffee with homemade cakes, high tea, lunch, drinks, tapas & dinner. Enjoy a delicious dinner at Onder de Wester in the beautiful building or on the terrace on the historic square of the former Orphanage. Or have a cappuccino at Van Bleiswijk and feast your eyes.

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Sleeping Historically

Many hotels, B&Bs and apartments in Enkhuizen are also located in historic buildings. It squeaks and creaks a bit, but has incredible charm. The building of Die Port van Cleve, for example, dates from the early seventeenth century and has the status of a monumental protected townscape. Or stay overnight at the Old Orphanage, in a beautiful monumental building right in the middle of Enkhuizen's historic town center.

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Cute stores

Enkhuizen's cozy town center is home to a succession of surprising small and larger stores in historic buildings. With plenty of variety and nice specialty stores, shopping in Enkhuizen is a real surprise! In the Westerstraat you will find the most unusual stores and boutiques. Stylish design, quirky fashion, delicious chocolates, coffee and tea specialties and trendy glasses.

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Plan your visit

Visiting Enkhuizen? Then you'll want to know the easiest way to get here. Check out the options for your own transportation, parking and public transportation here.

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Celebrities of the past

Discover the great heroes and heroines of the Golden Age. We all know the world-famous heroes, such as Bernardus Paludanus, Lucas Waghenaer and Jan Huygen Van Linschoten, but what was it like to be a sailor’s wife in those days? Or an “ordinary man,” an average citizen?

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