About Discover Waterland
Real local stories, told street by street. We turn a quiet walk through Waterland into a guided journey through 700 years of history.
Why we made it
Waterland is one of the oldest and most beautiful corners of the Netherlands, yet most of its story is invisible. You can walk right past the house of the woman who invented tourism in Marken, or stand under the oldest carillon in the world in Monnickendam, and never know it. The signs do not tell you, and the guidebooks skim the surface.
Discover Waterland was built to fix that. It is a self-guided audio walking-tour app that plays the story of each place the moment you arrive. No group, no fixed time, no guide to keep up with. Just you, the village, and a voice telling you what really happened here.
Researched by a local
Every tour is written by someone born and raised in the region, working from local archives and stories that never made it onto the tourist signs. That is why the walks feel less like a museum and more like being shown around by a friend who grew up here.
How it works
Download the free app, pick a village, and start walking. The map guides you from stop to stop, and the audio begins automatically as you reach each one. Browse every tour for free, and unlock the full audio whenever you are ready to walk. Tour text and audio are available in English, Dutch, German, French and Chinese.
The region
Our walks cover the villages just north of Amsterdam: Marken, the former island where time stood still; Monnickendam, a Zuiderzee trading town famous for its Speeltoren; and Ilpendam and Watergang, two of the smallest and most surprising villages in Waterland. Read more in our news and blogs.