Marken island, Netherlands

Marken is a tiny village not far from Amsterdam boasting colorful wooden houses, drawbridges, and picturesque corners, located on a former peninsula. Marken island has been connected to the mainland via a dam since 1959. The entire island is like most of Holland below sea level. This is very pronounced by the retainment wall that surrounds the entire island. As soon as you drive onto the island the road dips by about 6 feet. There was actually a flood way back when that killed 12 people. Many houses were traditionally painted with tar or a mix of tar and grass which is why the traditional colors here are mostly black or green. This was a cute town to stroll through on a non rainy day in Holland and we enjoyed a quite afternoon outside the countries capital.Read more