Holiday apartment in Obdam: hiking routes, polder mills and local history

Obdam can be explored from several perspectives: along short local routes, through open countryside and via mills, buildings and places of remembrance. When choosing a holiday apartment in Obdam, you can use this mix as a guide when deciding on the focus of your stay.

Routes between the village centre and the polder landscape

The Obdam walking route is 3.6 kilometres long, leads through Obdam and passes several historic sights. The Oud Obdam route is 2.0 kilometres long, leads through the oldest part of Obdam and is particularly suitable for seniors because of its short distance. An alternative running route is 4.0 to 5.7 kilometres long; it leads mostly through open, park-like terrain and partly outside the built-up area.

The orange hiking route of the hiking network is 14.3 kilometres long and runs around the Berkmeer polder. The different route lengths help you clearly distinguish between short local routes and longer stretches through the countryside.

Mills as witnesses to the history of the polders

The Obdammermolen is an octagonal Dutch windmill with an internal capstan, probably built in the last quarter of the 17th century; 1698 is generally regarded as its year of construction. Together with a pumping station, it drained the 905-hectare Obdam polder as part of the Vereenigde Raaksmaats- en Niedorperkoggeboezem system.

The Berkmeermolen is an octagonal Dutch windmill with an internal capstan dating from around 1608 and was moved to its present location in Obdam in 1803. Near Obdam, the Weel en Braken mill stands along a mill trail in an open, rural landscape with grassland and ditches. As a subsidiary drainage mill, it drained the former 76-hectare Weel en Braken polder for the Obdam polder.

Local history and living tradition

The town hall, with an attached polder house, was built between 1873 and 1875 to plans by A.C. Bleijs. A memorial plaque for Jozef Buis is attached to the wall of the former town hall on Dorpsstraat. The Jozef Buis monument commemorates the resistance fighter from Obdam who was shot here by the occupying forces on 24 October 1944.

The Wielerronde van Obdam is an annual cycling event through the village centre and takes place on the second Sunday in July. It has developed into a village festival in which the front gardens along the race route become festively decorated terraces. Anyone who wants to experience the Wielerronde van Obdam can plan their stay specifically around the second Sunday in July.

When choosing your holiday apartment in Obdam, it is therefore worth considering the kind of daily rhythm you prefer: a short local route, a longer route through the polder landscape, mills and architectural history, or the date of the Wielerronde each creates a different focus for planning your trip.

For more travel ideas, you can also explore Spierdijk, Scharwoude, Zuidermeer, Hensbroek, Oudendijk, Berkhout, Ursem and Avenhorn.

For the overarching travel overview: Koggenland.