Volendam is a former fishing town, but today it has more tourists than fish, although we did see one small shop selling eels. The village is busy, but it is charming in its own way, with workers decked out in traditional Dutch costumes. The good news is that most of the tourists are packed in the shops, bars, and restaurants along the main street of Volendam, which is atop the dyke. Our walking tour took us behind the dyke into the charming residential area of Volendam called the Doolhof, which is a maze of narrow streets and small, neat homes with wooden gabled fronts. One warning--you could easily get lost in the Doolhof! The guides quickly marched us by the shops located on the top of the dyke, telling us we could return later to shop. We wound our our way through the quaint, picturesque section of Volendam. This view of Volendam was much better than that on the crowded dyke!
The AMAWaterways Amalegro uses the audio VOX system for all its tours. I love these things -- you can be yards away from the guide and still understand all that he/she is saying. Most of the passengers really appreciate these audit devices. The guides aren't trying to scream over each other, which really makes the tours much better. On most of the tours, we had 5 groups -- a fast walking group, a slow walking group, and 3 normal groups. Mom and I always picked "normal" so I could make photos along the way.
About 20 passengers signed up for a bike riding tour from the ship at Volendam to Edam and back. They had a great time seeing the Dutch countryside at a somewhat slower pace, and they only got wet once!
Our Volendam guides led us through the small town to the coaches, and we rode the short distance (only about 10 minutes) to Edam.
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