Visit the Cheese Market at Waagplein
Cheese market from Amsterdam: What to expect
Our day trip starts in Amsterdam and goes to the cheese market of Alkmaar, where you’ll witness the traditional kaasdragers (cheese carriers) transporting cheese wheels to the weighing house. Experience the historic handjeklap (hand-clapping) negotiation and soak in the lively atmosphere of Waagplein, surrounded by vendors and the ringing cheese bell. After exploring, enjoy free time for lunch, shopping, or strolling through Alkmaar’s charming streets.
Next, we visit Zaanse Schans, a picturesque Dutch village with historic windmills, wooden clog-making demonstrations, and beautiful scenery. Explore the iconic windmills and experience authentic Dutch craftsmanship.
What can you expect at the Cheese Market? →
Cheese carriers
Cheese carriers transport the enormous cheese wheels on typical carts, with each cart carrying at least eight 13 kilos of cheese.
Weighing in the Waaggebouw
Here, creamy, delicious Dutch cheeses are weighed down to the last detail. This forms the basis for determining the price of the cheese.
The art of bargaining
Price negotiations are still done with haggling, called handjeklap. A centuries-old tradition of the old cheese markets in the Netherlands.
Transporting cheese
The Cheese carriers load the cheeses efficiently onto transport carts, so that they can be transported to their next destination.
Information for visitors
There are many cheese farmers who would like to tell you more about the traditions and activities at the market.
A Relaxing, Inspiring & Delicious experience
Friendly local guide
All our guides are fluent in English and will share fascinating insights about the Alkmaar, the cheese market, Zaanse Schans and all it's history and traditions. Sit back and enjoy the ride!
Alkmaar Cheese market
You’ll experience the rich traditions of Dutch cheese trading. Watch cheese carriers transport large wheels of cheese, see how traders negotiate prices with the classic handclap system
Dutch cheese tasting
During the tour to the Alkmaar cheese market, you’ll also get the chance to taste different Dutch cheeses. If you find a favorite, you can purchase some to take home and enjoy!
Zaanse Schans
Last stop: we will visit the iconic Zaanse Schans. Experience the historic windmills, charming wooden houses, and traditional crafts that showcase the Netherlands' rich heritage
The Spectacle on the Waagplein
As the bell rings, the cheese inspectors begin their work. They carefully taste, feel, and examine the cheeses, using a special cheese drill to extract a sample. By analyzing the smell, texture, and uniformity of the holes, they determine the quality and fat content of each wheel.
Next, the cheeses are weighed, with the weighmaster ensuring the buyer is charged correctly. Once weighed, each cheese receives an official stamp, finalizing the sale.
Then comes the most iconic part—the cheese carriers. Working in pairs, they transport the heavy wheels, sometimes over 80 kilos each, on traditional barrows. To keep everything balanced, they move in a rhythmic ‘cheese carrier’s dribble.’
The spectacle continues until around 12:30, when the final cheeses are loaded into waiting trucks, marking the end of another lively market day.
Our satisfied customers
Read the reviews of our satisfied customers and find out what they thought of our tours!
M. Lawrence
We had a wonderful day on our tulip tour. We chose it for a few reasons, the fields are not too far from Amsterdam, we were able to visit the windmill museum, the tour includes lunch, and the total tour time is 6 hours, rather than a much longer day.
T. Chapman
I had an absolutely fantastic experience. The various tulip fields were great, the working windmill tour was amazing, and the lunch was delicious. The guides are very knowledgeable.
B. Das
No words can describe what an experience this was. If someone have dreamt of walking in a tulip field, then this tour is a must.
M. Chu
Awesome tour. Roel has so much knowledge and insight to the farms. The colors of the flowers were incredible!
J. Subirana
Excellent experience visiting multiple tulip fields and a working windmill. Lovely lunch was included and our guide Ruel was outstanding answering all our questions and very knowledgeable of the area and Dutch culture.
T. Dyess
Loved our tour. The bus was comfortable, we toured several farms and learned a lot from our guide. Lunch was terrific.
J. Tadion
What a lovely day! We visited three gardens and fields that were more and more amazing as the day progressed! Lunch, which was included, was great too. Mike is a wonderful organizer and our guide was adorable. He is passionate about tulips and happily shared his immense wealth of knowledge with the whole group. On top of that the bus rides, unlike another tour we took, were mercifully short! And one can actually walk in the tulip fields. The weather may have been cold with a blustery wind in the morning but we felt very warm in our hearts after such a special day.
A. Curran
We really enjoyed our experience. Tour staff were all super kind and engaged with everyone. We got to pick tulips from Mike’s field and see 3 other fields. It was early in the season so the big fields were not yet bloomed. The early bloom fields were beautiful, if smaller and started to be cut. Would recommend taking this tour to see the fields.
S. Corbett
This tour was a nice way to spend an afternoon in the rural areas north of Amsterdam. It was nice to get out of the city and see the countryside. We had a very small group of 9 so that made it easy for our well-informed guide to give us lots of attention and answer all of our questions. We visited 3 tulip farms, in order from small to large and 1 working windmill. It was nice to not be around all the crowds of Keukenhof. We also stopped at a small restaurant and had a traditional Dutch lunch.
Google rating: 4.5 out of 5, based on 104 reviews.