the Netherlands
Alkmaar
Away-day guide
unverified draftAlkmaar is a proper little Dutch town — canals, a 500-year-old cheese market, gabled houses — half an hour north of Amsterdam by train. AZ's ground is modern and compact, and the trip is easy enough that most visiting fans stay in Amsterdam and come up for the evening.
🚺 To AFAS Stadion
The ground is in the north of Alkmaar. From the centre it is a 25–30 minute walk or a short bus ride; from Alkmaar Noord station it is about 15 minutes on foot. Coming from Amsterdam, stay on to Alkmaar Noord rather than getting off at the main station.
- Nearest stop
- Alkmaar Noord railway station
- Lines
- NS sprinter trains to Alkmaar Noord; Connexxion buses from the centre
- Walk from centre
- 28 min
- Parking
- Stadium parking is permit-based on matchday and the surrounding area is residential; the train is easier.
Public transport
The Dutch system is the same everywhere: tap in and out with a contactless bank card (OVpay) on trains, buses and trams, and you are charged by distance — no ticket needed. Intercity trains from Amsterdam Centraal to Alkmaar take about 35 minutes and run four times an hour; Alkmaar Noord is the next stop up and the closer one for the ground. The town centre is small and entirely walkable, and bikes are for hire everywhere, which is the local way to cover the extra couple of kilometres.
Typical prices
- Beer (0.5L)
- EUR 6
- Coffee
- EUR 3.2
- Meal, mid-range
- EUR 22
- Taxi from airport
- EUR 90
- Single transit ticket
- EUR 3
✈ Airports & cheaper alternatives
- Amsterdam Airport Schiphol AMS primary 50 km Direct trains from the airport station to Alkmaar take about 45 minutes, several times an hour, tapping in with a contactless card. A taxi is €80–100 and pointless. Every airline flies here and the train from under the terminal makes the transfer effortless.
- Eindhoven Airport EIN alternative 170 km Bus 401 into Eindhoven, then trains via Amsterdam or Utrecht to Alkmaar — around two and a half hours. Ryanair and Wizz fares are often much cheaper than Schiphol's; the transfer is long but simple.
- Rotterdam The Hague Airport RTM alternative 110 km Bus 33 to Rotterdam Centraal, then intercity trains to Alkmaar — about two hours in total. A small airport with a handful of useful routes; worth a look when the fares work.
🍺 Supporters' pubs
AZ Alkmaar
Home fans: AZ's support drinks around the Waagplein and the town-centre cafés before games, then heads north to the ground; the bars near the stadium itself are limited, so the pre-match is in town.
Away fans: The Waagplein terraces are neutral and relaxed and a visiting group will be perfectly comfortable there. Many away fans simply stay in Amsterdam and come up on the train an hour or two before kick-off.
Champions in 1981 and 2009 and regular European qualifiers, playing at the AFAS Stadion in the north of the town.
Sourced from supporters' forums — always follow your club's and police advice for the fixture.
Nightlife
Modest but pleasant: the Waagplein and the streets around it — Houttil, Ritsevoort — carry a couple of dozen brown cafés and terraces, busy on a Friday and quiet by Dutch city standards. Proeflokaal De Boom, in the old brewery by the canal, is the one to find. For a real night out, Amsterdam is 35 minutes away and the trains run through the small hours at weekends. If you are in town on a Friday morning between April and September, the cheese market on the Waagplein is the tourist set piece and worth the hour.
Food & drink
This is cheese country — the market exists because of it — so the Gouda, Edam and older boerenkaas are the local product. Otherwise it is Dutch pub food: bitterballen, kroketten, kibbeling (battered fish) from a stall, and stroopwafels warm off the iron at the market. Beer is Heineken, Grolsch and Amstel plus a decent local craft scene; jenever is the spirit, drunk cold in a tulip glass filled to the brim.
Cheap eats & beer
A cone of chips with mayonnaise or a broodje from a snack bar is €4–7; kibbeling is €7–9; a plate of bitterballen to share is €7. Sit-down meals in the centre run €18–25. Beer is €4–5.50 a glass — note that a standard Dutch beer is 250ml, so ask for a vaas or a half-litre if you want a proper one — and supermarket bottles are around €1.20. Supermarkets sell beer and wine but not spirits, and stop selling alcohol at 22:00.
Staying safe
Alkmaar is a quiet, safe Dutch town. The main hazard is the same as everywhere in the Netherlands: bikes. Cycle lanes are separate from the pavement, cyclists have priority and will not slow down for a group of tourists standing in one — look before you step. Dutch football policing is organised and thorough, with away fans often required to travel on club transport for higher-risk fixtures; check what your club has arranged. Otherwise, standard care around the station late at night.
On matchday
AZ play at the AFAS Stadion in the north of the town, closer to Alkmaar Noord station than to the centre — a short train hop plus a walk of about 15 minutes, or a 25–30 minute walk from the middle of town. It holds around 19,000 and gets loud for European nights. Away fans have a segregated section with their own entrance and are typically escorted; Dutch grounds sell food and soft drinks but alcohol arrangements vary by fixture, so drink beforehand. The last trains back to Amsterdam run late, but check them before kick-off if the game goes to extra time.
This city guide is still being fact-checked — some details may be inaccurate.