Route · 14 days · round-tripYacht charter route · IJsselmeer & Dutch Waters

Lemmer via Enkhuizen & Muiden.

A 14-day sailing loop from Lemmer around the IJsselmeer and Markermeer, taking in Stavoren, Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Volendam, Marken, Muiden and Urk.

The route

Day-by-day route

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Day 1

Lemmer → Stavoren

A gentle first leg down the Frisian shore to Stavoren, the oldest of the eleven cities and firmly a sailor's town.

Distance

13 NM

Sailing

~2.6h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

May – October

Duration

14 days

Departure

Lemmer

Sailing area

IJsselmeer & Dutch Waters

Route summary

Click any day to jump back to the map and see its photos, narrative and mooring tip.

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The full story

Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, mooring notes and things to do for every leg of the week — the map follows along as you scroll.

Day 1 / 14

Day 1

Lemmer → Stavoren

Most crews use the first day to shake things out rather than push hard. It is a short run down the Frisian coast, maybe eleven miles, and the Lemster lock puts you onto open water within the hour. Stavoren has been catching sailors for a thousand years, and it still feels built around the water rather than beside it. The outer harbour sits right on the IJsselmeer, the inner one tucks between the lake and the Frisian meres. Wander up to find the little bronze Lady of Stavoren staring out to sea, the town's cautionary tale in metal. Evenings here are quiet in the good way. If the southwesterly is up, expect a lively beam reach and a few short waves to remind you where you are.

Things to do

See the bronze Lady of Stavoren statue

Walk the outer harbour along the IJsselmeer

Browse the chandlery at Marina Stavoren

Sundowner overlooking the inner-harbour lock

Mooring tip

The Buitenhaven takes boats up to 25 metres with three metres draught and sits outside the lock, so you can slip straight onto the lake next morning. In July book a night ahead; it fills with crews doing the same loop.

Day 2

Stavoren → Makkum

Today keeps the Frisian shore on your beam. You pass Hindeloopen and Workum, both worth a detour if you have the hours, before Makkum opens up behind its beach. This is one of the few spots on the lake where you can actually swim off sand, and on a warm afternoon the shallows fill with windsurfers and kite lines. The town itself is older than it looks. Royal Tichelaar has been firing tin-glazed earthenware here since 1572, and the merchant houses by the lock still carry that trade's money in their gables. Provisioning is easy. We usually top up water and fresh bread here before the first real crossing tomorrow. Wind tends west to southwest; a reefed main keeps things comfortable if it pipes up in the afternoon.

Things to do

Tour Royal Tichelaar's centuries-old pottery works

Windsurf or SUP off Makkum beach

Admire the merchant gables by the lock

Detour ashore at Hindeloopen or Workum

Mooring tip

Makkum's harbour lies just inside the lock; call the harbourmaster on approach as the visitor pontoons are tight for anything over twelve metres. Arrive by mid-afternoon on summer weekends or you may end up rafting.

Day 3

Makkum → Medemblik

This is the day the lake shows its width. From Makkum you strike out west across open water toward the North Holland shore, fifteen to eighteen miles depending on your line, and for a couple of hours there is nothing but the horizon and the wind. The IJsselmeer is shallow, so a fresh breeze stacks up short, steep waves quickly; pick a weather window and you will have a fast, satisfying reach. Medemblik announces itself with Radboud Castle, a squat thirteenth-century keep that Floris the Fifth threw up to keep the West Frisians in line. The Pekelharinghaven sits a short walk from the centre, just past the castle. Worth leaving Makkum by nine so you arrive with the afternoon still ahead of you.

Things to do

Climb Radboud Castle's medieval keep

Ride the Hoorn-Medemblik steam tram

Wander the Pekelharinghaven quaysides

Coffee on the old harbour front

Mooring tip

Enter Medemblik and turn to port just after the castle for the Pekelharinghaven, quiet and only minutes from town. Depths are good for cruising yachts, and you rarely need to book outside regatta weekends.

Day 4

Medemblik → Enkhuizen

After yesterday's crossing this leg feels like a breather, barely nine miles down the coast. Enkhuizen was one of the richest towns of the Dutch Golden Age, a home port of the East India Company, and the wealth still stands in its warehouses and the fat stone Dromedaris gate that guards the entrance. Give the afternoon to the Zuiderzee Museum. The open-air half strings together whole streets of houses moved here from villages the dike drowned, staffed by people mending nets and smoking fish as they did around 1900. The Compagnieshaven is enormous and lively, right beside the museum and two minutes from the old centre. This is also where the Krabbersgat lock divides the IJsselmeer from the Markermeer, so tomorrow you cross onto different water.

Things to do

Spend a half-day at Zuiderzee Museum

Climb the Dromedaris harbour tower

Watch fish smoked in the open-air museum

Evening drink on the Compagnieshaven terrace

Mooring tip

The Compagnieshaven takes some 18,000 visiting boats a year, so its 600 berths absorb the summer crowd better than the smaller town harbours. Aim to arrive before five; the pontoons nearest the museum go first.

Day 5

Enkhuizen → Hoorn

Once through the lock at Enkhuizen you are on the Markermeer, and it sails a touch flatter than the IJsselmeer proper. Roughly twelve miles down the coast brings you to Hoorn, which packed more history into two centuries than most towns manage in ten. Willem Schouten rounded South America's tip in 1616 and named it after his home port, which is why Cape Horn carries a Dutch fishing town's name. The old inner harbour, the Binnenhaven, sits right under the leaning Hoofdtoren and drops you straight into a centre of 368 listed buildings. Grashaven, the modern marina, is easier but less romantic. Plenty of cafes and restaurants line the waterfront, so provisioning and a good dinner are both sorted. A relaxed day, weather permitting.

Things to do

Photograph the leaning Hoofdtoren tower

Wander the 368 monuments of old Hoorn

Moor in the Binnenhaven old harbour

Dinner on the Roode Steen square

Mooring tip

For atmosphere, take the Binnenhaven right in the old town rather than the modern Grashaven, but it is small and shallow toward the head, so nose in slowly. Bridges into the inner harbour keep set opening times; check them before you commit.

Day 6

Hoorn → Volendam

About fourteen miles of Markermeer separate Hoorn from Volendam, an easy reach in the usual westerlies. Volendam trades hard on its past, and you either take that in good humour or you don't. The waterfront, the Dijk, is a solid wall of fish stalls, pancake houses and people in traditional dress posing for photographs. Under all that there is a real fishing village, and the smoked eel and fresh kibbeling are genuinely good. The municipal harbour puts you right in the middle of it, mast-to-mast with the crowds. That is either the appeal or the drawback, depending on your mood. If you want quieter water, remember Marken and Monnickendam are only a short sail on. We tend to arrive early, eat well, and take the evening as it comes.

Things to do

Try smoked eel on the Dijk

Sample fresh kibbeling from a harbour stall

Pose in Volendam costume for a photo

Watch the fishing fleet from the quay

Mooring tip

The Gemeentehaven sits smack in the tourist heart, with power, water and WiFi on the visitor pontoons. It is popular and compact, so book ahead in July and August or arrive before lunch to be sure of a spot.

Day 7

Volendam → Marken

Four miles across the bight barely counts as a passage, so treat it as a gift. Sleep in, potter about Volendam, then make the short crossing and give Marken the whole afternoon. A dike has tied it to the mainland since 1957, but the place never got the memo. The old village clusters on low mounds, its wooden houses raised on stilts against floods that no longer come, gables painted the same green and white for generations. Walk out to the Paard van Marken, the little lighthouse on the eastern point, for the best view back over the water. There is no supermarket to speak of, so provision in Volendam before you leave. Quiet nights, clear light in the morning, and a village that rewards slow wandering.

Things to do

Walk to the Paard van Marken lighthouse

Photograph the green-and-white stilt houses

Visit the Marken clog and costume workshop

Follow the harbour path around the village

Mooring tip

Marken's harbour is small and popular with day-trippers' charter boats, so aim to be in by early afternoon. Depths shoal toward the quay heads; take a finger berth on the visitor pontoon rather than pushing right in.

Day 8

Marken → Monnickendam

Another gentle one, five miles at most, which is the rhythm of this corner of the lake. Monnickendam is what Volendam might feel like without the coach parties: the same old Waterland bones, a working harbour, but room to breathe. The Speeltoren, the fifteenth-century tower on the main street, still rings its carillon and the mechanical knights strike the hour. Down by the water the eel smokers have been curing fish over oak and alder for generations, and a paling roll eaten on the quay is one of the small pleasures of this whole route. The marina holds more than 650 boats yet rarely feels packed. It makes a calm base before tomorrow's longer leg down toward Amsterdam and the castle at Muiden.

Things to do

Hear the Speeltoren carillon and knights

Eat smoked eel from a harbour smokery

Wander the Grote Kerk and old streets

Watch classic wooden yachts in the marina

Mooring tip

Monnickendam's marina has over 650 berths and usually finds space even in season, but the atmospheric spots are along the historic inner harbour, which fills first. A short bridge opening gets you in; check the schedule.

Day 9

Monnickendam → Muiden

Now the scenery shifts. You leave the old Zuiderzee ports and sail south onto the IJmeer, the water on Amsterdam's doorstep, roughly fifteen miles with the city skyline growing off the starboard bow. Halfway across, the low brick fort of Pampus rises straight out of the lake, part of the ring of forts that once defended Amsterdam and now a museum island you can land on if the timing works. Muiden sits where the river Vecht meets the sea, and its castle, the Muiderslot, is the real thing: a moated thirteenth-century keep with four round towers, now looked after by the Rijksmuseum. The KNZRV, the country's oldest yacht club, has its home here, so you are in good company. Watch the traffic; this water gets busy on a fine weekend.

Things to do

Tour the moated Muiderslot castle

Land on Pampus island fortress

Walk the Vecht riverfront in Muiden

Watch the fleet off the KNZRV club

Mooring tip

Muiden's town harbour and the KNZRV club sit just inside the Vecht; the sea lock and a road bridge control access, so time your arrival to an opening. Berths are limited, so the larger Marina Muiderzand across at Almere is a reliable fallback.

Day 10

Muiden → Volendam

The loop turns for home from here. You retrace the IJmeer northward, Pampus off to one side again, and cross back onto the Markermeer for the run up to Volendam. It is around fifteen miles, and with the prevailing wind now more on the beam or quarter it can be a quick, easy passage. If you fancy a change from the fishing village, Marina Muiderzand or a lunch stop at Pampus can break the day. Coming back into Volendam a second time, you notice things you missed: the little museum behind the Dijk, the streets one row back from the waterfront where locals actually live. Take a berth, stretch your legs, and start thinking about the two open crossings that finish the trip.

Things to do

Break the passage at Pampus for lunch

Visit the Volendams Museum behind the Dijk

Explore the back streets off the waterfront

Provision for the crossings ahead

Mooring tip

You already know the Gemeentehaven from the outbound leg; a second night is easier if you call ahead, as visiting berths turn over fast. Rafting up is normal here, so rig fenders both sides on the way in.

Day 11

Volendam → Enkhuizen

A longer beat than yesterday, roughly fourteen miles straight up the Markermeer to Enkhuizen. If the wind is in the west or southwest, as it often is, you will be working to windward for much of it, so an early start pays off. At the top you rejoin the Krabbersgat, where the Naviduct carries road traffic under the water while boats lock through above. It is a clever bit of Dutch engineering and quietly satisfying to pass through. Enkhuizen earns a second look. If you skimmed the Zuiderzee Museum on the way out, now is the time to go back, or simply walk the ramparts and the old harbours at dusk. Tomorrow is the big one, the open crossing to Urk, so top up fuel and water tonight.

Things to do

Lock through the Krabbersgat Naviduct

Return to the Zuiderzee Museum's open-air streets

Walk Enkhuizen's ramparts at dusk

Top up fuel before the Urk crossing

Mooring tip

Coming from the Markermeer you lock into Enkhuizen through the Krabbersgat; wait pontoons sit on both sides if there is a queue. Once through, the Compagnieshaven or the smaller Buyshaven near the centre both take visitors.

Day 12

Enkhuizen → Urk

This is the passage crews remember. From Enkhuizen you lock back into the IJsselmeer and point north-east across open water toward Urk, close to twenty miles with no shelter in between. Pick your weather. In a steady westerly it is a glorious reach; in a hard blow the short, steep IJsselmeer seas will keep the whole crew busy. Urk was an island until the surrounding polder was drained in the 1940s, and it has kept every bit of that separateness, down to its own dialect. The harbour still works for a living, colourful cutters landing fish beside the visitor pontoons. Walk up to the old lighthouse and the fishermen's monument on the point, where names of the lost are cut into stone. The fish suppers here are as fresh as they come.

Things to do

Stand at the Urk fishermen's monument

Climb to the old Urk lighthouse

Watch cutters land fish at the harbour

Eat fresh-fried fish on the Westhaven

Mooring tip

Urk has three harbours; visiting yachts usually take the Westhaven or the newer Nieuwe Haven, away from the working fishing quays. It is exposed to the west, so on a strong westerly get in early and double up your lines.

Day 13

Urk → Lemmer

The last real sail is a kind one, around fourteen miles from Urk back up to Lemmer across the north-east corner of the lake. After the Urk crossing it feels almost restful. You will likely have the Frisian shore drawing nearer off the bow through the afternoon, and if the wind cooperates it is a straightforward reach the whole way. Lemmer welcomes you back through its lock, the same gateway that let you out two weeks ago, and the town has enough life on its waterfront for a proper last-night dinner. If there is time and light, the Woudagemaal, the great steam pumping station just outside town, is worth the short trip ashore. Otherwise, settle in, tally the miles, and let the crew swap the stories that always get better in the telling.

Things to do

Lock back into Lemmer's old harbour

Tour the Woudagemaal steam pumping station

Last-night dinner on the Lemmer waterfront

Stroll the Lemster fishing-village streets

Mooring tip

Back at Lemmer you can lie in the IJsselmeer-side marina before the lock or take the town moorings inside; the inner berths are handier for restaurants. If you are handing the boat back tomorrow, the outer marina makes the morning changeover simpler.

Day 14

Lemmer → Lemmer

Two weeks around the lake earns a soft landing, and that is what this day is for. If you are keeping the boat another night, the Frisian lakes open straight off Lemmer through the Prinses Margrietsluis, and a short sail out onto the Tjeukemeer or the Groote Brekken gives you flat, sheltered water after all that open going. It is a different kind of sailing, close and green, with reed banks instead of horizons. If the charter ends here, use the morning without rushing: pump out, settle the log, walk into town for a last coffee by the water. Lemmer wears its fishing-village past lightly, and it is a pleasant place to be at loose ends. However you spend it, you finish where you started, which is the quiet satisfaction of a loop well sailed.

Things to do

Shakeout sail onto the Tjeukemeer

Explore the Groote Brekken reed lakes

Last coffee on the Lemmer quayside

Unhurried boat handover at base

Mooring tip

If you take the boat out to the Frisian lakes, the Prinses Margrietsluis is your gateway and it can queue on summer afternoons, so plan the return before the evening rush. For the handover, lie in the marina nearest the charter base to make the morning simple.

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