Starting point Volgermeer

Originally, Volgermeer was a peat meadow area. Between 1920 and 1955, Veenderij Zunderdorp excavated and dredged it into deep peat-cutting pits. From 1927, the pits were filled with household and urban waste, and from the 1950s also with chemical waste, including toxic dioxin. This led to a major environmental scandal in 1980. In the 2000s, the contaminated site was experimentally remediated by sealing it beneath layers of sheeting and soil, then covering it with clean soil and water. Reeds and peat are expected to return, restoring the area to its original state. Since 2011, Volgermeer has been laid out as an elongated nature reserve criss-crossed by cycle paths and footpaths.

• The Volgermeer Circuit (yellow) goes straight through Volgermeer on the outward leg and follows the eastern edge of the area on the return, with views of Belmermeer, a seventeenth-century reclaimed polder.

• The Burkmeer Circuit (red) offers spectacular views over Amsterdam-Noord, Zunderdorp, Ransdorp and the Broekermeer and Burkmeer, reclaimed in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. No dogs allowed.

• The Tramway Route (green) is a short walk along the former railway line of the Waterland tram towards Monnickendam. You return via a meadow path beside a new Waterland-style housing development and along the ring dyke of the drained Broekermeer. No dogs allowed.