Alkmaar Cheese Market: Dates, Times and What Happens on the Waagplein

When the cheese market takes place

The season is set by the calendar rather than by the weather: the market opens on the last Friday of March and closes on the last Friday of September. In 2026 it ran from 27 March to 25 September, trading every Friday from 10:00 to 13:00. Outside that window the Waagplein returns to being an ordinary town square.

In July and August the town adds an evening session on Tuesdays, running from 19:00 to 21:00. That gives you a genuine choice: a Friday morning in high season is the busiest slot of the week, while a Tuesday evening spreads visitors across a different part of the day and leaves the morning free for museums.

Alkmaar is not the only Dutch town with this kind of weekly ritual, and the format differs from place to place. The Gouda cheese market is the best-known rival and is built around the same weighing and carrying tradition on its own square.

What happens on the Waagplein

Each market starts at 10:00 with the ringing of the bell, and trading follows immediately. Cheese carriers bring the cheeses in and out on pallets, each pallet holding as many as eight cheeses of about 13 kilos each, which is the detail that explains why the carrying looks like such hard work. The cheeses are weighed at the Waag, the historic weigh house at the edge of the square, and traders then negotiate the price.

After the price is agreed, loaders throw the cheeses onto carts or lorries for onward transport. Cheese girls and boys work the square, explaining to visitors what they are watching and what else there is to see in the city. The result is a compact loop of activity rather than a sprawling market: bell, carrying, weighing, haggling, loading.

Alkmaar's claim to the ritual goes back a long way. The town held weighing rights and a single set of scales in 1365, and by 1612 there were four; the cheese carriers' guild was founded in 1593, which implies a market of some kind already existed. The Waaggebouw itself is the building to look at while the weighing is under way.

How long to allow and when to arrive

The published window is three hours, but the opening is the part worth planning around. Arrive before 10:00 so you are on the square when the bell rings and the first pallets come through, because that is when the carriers, the weighing and the traders' haggling all happen in sequence and in front of you.

Once the first round is done, the rhythm repeats and you can drift between the square, the Waag and the surrounding streets. Most visitors do not need the full three hours; ninety minutes covers the bell, a couple of carrying rounds and the weighing on and around the Waagplein.

In July and August, the children's cheese market runs from 10:30 to 11:00, a shorter version aimed at younger visitors. If you are travelling with children and want a quieter experience, the Tuesday evening session from 19:00 to 21:00 avoids the Friday rush altogether.

Getting to the Waagplein

The market sits on the Waagplein in the town centre, a short walk from Alkmaar station through the old streets, with the route signposted from the station. From Amsterdam the train takes about 35 minutes, which makes Alkmaar an easy half-day if you are based in the capital.

Driving into the centre on a Friday morning is actively discouraged. Park instead at one of the P+R lots on the edge of town, Bergermeer or Oudorp, and take the bus in to the centre; the parking route information signs on the approach roads point you to the garages and lots.

If you are touring several cheese towns in one trip, the rail network makes it straightforward to string two together. The Edam cheese market is a smaller, more intimate version of the same idea and pairs well with a separate day out.

Accessibility and crowds

The market is largely wheelchair accessible and has facilities for visitors with hearing and visual impairments, including a loudspeaker that provides information. Seating, though, is limited, and the square gets very busy, so anyone who needs to sit down should plan on arriving early or watching from a spot at the edge of the Waagplein rather than plunging into the middle.

Crowds build through the season and the market is busy every week, while July and August add the Tuesday evening session. If you want a quieter view of the carriers, aim for the shoulder weeks in late March, April, early May or September.

Pairing the market with the rest of Alkmaar

The Waag is the building where the cheeses are weighed during the market, and it is the focus of the morning's activity. Once you have watched the weighing, the surrounding streets of the old centre are the natural place to continue.

Beyond the square, Alkmaar's historic centre is compact enough to walk in an afternoon: canals and the shopping streets that fill up from late morning.

For a smaller, less crowded version of the same ritual, the Woerden cheese market is worth knowing about, and the cheese markets in the Netherlands round-up sets out where else the weighing and carrying tradition is staged.

Is the Alkmaar cheese market worth planning a day around?

Yes, if you treat it as the anchor of a day rather than the whole day. The market itself is a three-hour window with about ninety minutes of real spectacle, and Alkmaar's centre and canals fill the rest comfortably. It is also easy to reach by train, which makes it a low-risk addition to a trip based in Amsterdam.

No, if you are hoping for a food market where you taste and buy. The cheeses are carried, weighed and loaded for wholesale trade, and the appeal is the theatre of the thing rather than shopping. Travellers who want to eat their way around a Dutch market should look elsewhere; those who want to see a piece of living civic history will find it here.

Which day to visit for the cheese market

Pick a Friday in April, May or September if you want the full market with fewer summer crowds, and take the train so you can walk up to the Waagplein. If your dates fall in July or August, the Tuesday evening session from 19:00 to 21:00 is the easier choice, leaving your mornings free for the canals and old centre while still catching the carriers in action.

Whichever you pick, be on the square before 10:00 on a Friday so you catch the bell and the first weighing, and build the rest of your day around the historic centre rather than the market alone.