Holiday apartment in Katwoude between polders, cheese and culture
Katwoude combines a landscape shaped by polders with cheese craftsmanship, water-management history and museums in the surrounding region. Between dike edges, farms and a variety of destinations, nature, craftsmanship and culture alternate as tangible themes of a stay.
Polder landscape and water management
The 16-kilometre Palingroute is a circular walking route along the edges of the old peat and cheese polder of Katwoude. For the most part, it follows the unpaved Hoge Dijk and Lage Dijk. The route length and surface provide a clear framework for planning a day of walking. When planning your day, you can treat the route as a hiking section and adjust your breaks and pace to the unpaved terrain. Along the way, you pass Heitje van Katham, a small nature reserve. Four types of heather grow there: crowberry heath, ling, bell heather and lavender heather. At Heitje van Katham, the polder edges and heath vegetation form two distinct landscape elements.
The Kathammer drains the Katwoude-Hogendijk polder. It was completely restored in 1988 and has been turning and milling regularly ever since.
Cheese craftsmanship on the Markermeerdijk
The Jacobs Hoeve, a Henri Willig cheese dairy in Katwoude, is located on the Markermeerdijk. There, staff in traditional dress demonstrate how cheese is made. The traditional dress adds a visible detail of cheese craftsmanship to the demonstration. Since 2018, it has also been possible to visit Henri Willig’s organic Jersey farm as part of a self-guided tour. The self-guided tour relates to the farm, while the staff demonstrate cheese production.
The Simonehoeve offers free guided tours 365 days a year. Visitors are shown how Gouda cheese is made and how wooden clogs are carved by hand. The tour thus explicitly combines cheese production with another traditional craft. At the Simonehoeve, wooden-clog carving adds another traditional activity to the insight into craftsmanship.
Dike history with virtual reality
At EXPO Dijk in Uitvoering, visitors can use a virtual-reality headset inside a life-size hot-air balloon to experience a 33-kilometre section of the dikes to be reinforced, from Hoorn to Amsterdam. The virtual-reality headset and the life-size hot-air balloon are part of the exhibition format. The EXPO is open to the public from Monday to Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Museums, castle and regional destinations
Museums in the vicinity of Katwoude include the Persmuseum, NEMO (Amsterdam) and the Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam. Muiderslot, a castle, is also located nearby.
Beyond the museums, Marken is an island in the vicinity of Katwoude. Wijde Wormer and Noorderpark are parks in the area around Katwoude. Almeerderstrand is a beach in the wider regional surroundings of Katwoude.
For the overarching travel overview: Waterland.
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