Visit the Cheese Market in Alkmaar
A square filled with cheese, cheese bearers, cheese girls, cheese boys, market masters and traders. There’s plenty to see at the Alkmaar Cheese Market. Cheese has been traded here in the same way for hundreds of years.
What can you see at the Cheese Market?
Thousands of visitors from all over the world come to Alkmaar especially for the cheese market. It is, after all, a remarkable spectacle, with a square filled with cheese and cheese porters lugging their loads. In 1365, Alkmaar had the right to weigh goods and just one set of scales, but by 1612 there were already four. The exact date of the first proper cheese market is shrouded in mystery. Old documents have been found which clearly show that the cheese market certainly took place in 1622, but there is also evidence that the cheese carriers’ guild was founded in 1593; from this we can deduce that there must have been a cheese market even then.
A cheese market looks like this:
- Cheese carriers bring the cheeses in and out on pallets.
- No fewer than eight cheeses, each weighing 13 kilos, are placed on the pallets.
- The cheeses are weighed in the Waaggebouw.
- Traders negotiate the price of the cheese.
- Loaders throw the cheeses onto lorries so they can be transported further afield.
- Cheese girls and boys inform visitors about what there is to see and do in Alkmaar.
When does the Cheese Market take place?
In 2026, there will be a Cheese Market every Friday from 27 March to 25 September, from 10:00 to 13:00.
In July and August, in addition to Fridays, there will be a Cheese Market on Tuesday evenings from 19:00 to 21:00.
Any questions? Call Alkmaar Store (Tourist Information) on 072 511 4284 or email info@vvvweb.nl
Where is the Alkmaar Cheese Market?
The Cheese Market takes place on Waagplein, about a 15-minute walk from the train station.
The route from the station to Waagplein is signposted. It’s a lovely walk through the centre of Alkmaar.
