Monnickendam

Monnickendam is the quietest of the Waterland harbour towns, with a small old centre, a working fishing and sailing harbour, and rows of low gabled houses along the water. Its landmark is the Speeltoren, a fifteenth-century tower carrying a carillon of 1596 by Peter van den Ghein, one of the older sets of bells in the country: on the hour a set of mechanical figures - armoured horsemen - ride out through an opening in the tower and back, a piece of clockwork that has been doing this for four centuries. The tower holds a small museum. The town also smokes eel, as the whole of Waterland did, and the smokehouses still work. It is a few minutes from Marken and Volendam and gets a fraction of their traffic, which is the reason to stop.

What you actually see

• Mechanical horsemen - riding out of the Speeltoren on the hour, since the 1590s.
• A carillon of 1596 - one of the older sets of bells in the country.
• A working harbour - fishing and sailing boats in a small old port.
• Smoked eel - the Waterland trade still carried on in the town.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is very small - two hours covers it. The tower museum keeps limited seasonal hours. The mechanical figures run on the hour and the show is brief.

Nearby

Marken and Volendam are north-east; Broek in Waterland is south.