Marker Wadden

When the Markermeer was cut off from the rest of the former Zuiderzee by a dyke, the silt had nowhere to go: it stayed suspended, blocked the light, and the lake's food chain collapsed. Rather than dredge the silt away, the plan from 2016 was to build with it, pumping it into shallow bunds to make islands. The first opened to visitors in 2018. Sand, mud and reed came together fast, and the birds followed faster: terns, avocets, spoonbills and large numbers of migrants now use it. It is a rare case of a landscape made on purpose and then left to run itself.

What you actually see

• The bird hides - on the marsh side, where the terns and avocets nest.
• The lookout dune - the high point, with the whole archipelago from it.
• The beach and swimming water - clear, because the silt is now bound up.
• The building method - islands pumped from the lake's own silt.

When to go

April to September, when the ferry runs and the breeding birds are in. Spring migration and early summer are the richest. Most of the archipelago stays closed to people permanently, so what you see is one island with marked paths. Book the ferry ahead in summer.

Honest expectations

Only one of the islands is open and it is small; a day is plenty and some find it thin. The ferry is weather-dependent and cancels in wind, which on an open lake is often. There is one place to eat and a handful of huts, nothing else. Shade is minimal and the wind is constant.

Nearby

Lelystad is the ferry port; Oostvaardersplassen is nearby on the mainland.