Things to do in  Hoorn

Built to protect Amsterdam and other coastal towns from sea flooding, the Enclosing Dike (Afsluitdijk) is an amazing feat of Dutch engineering. Stretching 20 miles (32 kilometers) across the water, Afsluitdijk is both a dam and a motorway connecting the province of Noord-Holland with Friesland. The damming of the sea also created a freshwater lake called Ijsselmeer, which has become a hot spot for water sports.

Wheels turn and steam hisses at the Museum Stoomtram Hoorn-Medemblik, a stream train museum and heritage train route between the historic villages of the Netherlands’ West-Friesland countryside. Set off on a journey through time to learn about the history of local steam trains while taking in views of tulip fields and windmills.

Marken was once an island known for its whaling and herring fishing industries. Those trades died out long ago, but when the island became a peninsula due to a new causeway from the mainland, Marken became better connected, and has since survived as a tourist attraction. People come to see traditional Dutch houses balanced on manmade hills to protect them from the incoming tides and to pick up handcrafted souvenirs, like wooden clogs.