Zuiderzee Museum, Arnhem

My husband, Ed, and I love learning about the history and culture of a country so tend to gravitate toward natural history and folk or open-air museums. In April 2012 in Arnhem, the Netherlands, we toured the Openluchtmuseum (Sept. ’12, pg. 53) and on another day enjoyed the Zuiderzee Museum (Wierdijk 12-22, 160 1LA Enkhuizen, NL; phone +31 [0] 228 351111, fax 351212).

Parking at the port in Enkhuizen cost €5. The ticket for the passenger ferry from there to the site plus entry to the museum cost €14.50 (near $18) per person, which included a guidebook and map (all in English).

The museum presents Dutch history, heritage, art and design reflective of the northern Zuiderzee region of Holland. The outdoor museum covers 15 acres and has authentic buildings from the region, such as a church, a fish-curing shed, a mill, a cheese warehouse, shops and dwellings from fishing villages. Staff and volunteers demonstrate historical crafts from everyday life in the 18th century.

The indoor museum has various temporary exhibitions in addition to a permanent exhibit of historical wooden ships. That part would have been nice to visit, but, after a full day of walking around the outdoor exhibits, we were tired.

While we chose to pack a lunch, the museum does have a very nice cafeteria, where we had afternoon tea and apple torts with real whipped cream.

NANCY NORBERG
Mount Pleasant, SC

The Zuiderzee’s indoor museum is open 10-7 daily, year-round, and its open-air museum is open 10-5, April-October.