Almere

Understand

Almere is the largest city in the Netherlands' youngest province - Flevoland. Like virtually all of Flevoland, it used to be covered by the waters of the Zuiderzee well into the 20th century. Due to its lack of history and old buildings, Almere is sometimes decried as a bland or "artificial" town but it is also one of the fastest growing in the Netherlands with a more youthful population than the Dutch average and more people moving in than out, so there must be something drawing people here. Certainly one aspect is the relative proximity of Amsterdam and the Randstad while housing prices are still notably lower than in the bigger cities. Working from (nearly) a "blank canvas", town planners and architects could put into practice their ideas of an "ideal community" when Flevoland was first settled and there are still some aspects of that apparent to urban planning enthusiasts like Christaller's concept of "central places" placed at the corners of a honeycomb shape. Almere had about 191,000 inhabitants in 2011, which makes it the 7th city of the Netherlands by population and one of Europe's largest cities founded in the 20th century.

Get in

250px|thumbnail|right|Almere Centrum is the focal point of the city's transportation system

Get around

Almere has six train stations. Almere Poort, Almere Muziekwijk, Almere Centrum, Almere Parkwijk, Almere Buiten, and Almere Oostvaarders. Almere also has an extensive network of freelaying bus routes. On most of these routes, buses run every five minutes from Monday to Friday. In the weekend, early in the morning and in the evening and night. The buses drive less frequently.

The city also features an extensive network of free laying bike paths covering the entire city. Bikes can be rented at the bike shops at the train stations Almere Centrum and Buiten.

Do

Walk! - Almere is a very walkable municipality, offering both urban and natural landscapes to explore. There are plenty of organized and pre-planned walks available via VVV Almere Or you can simply grab a map and explore yourself. Football: [https://almerecity.nl/ Almere City FC were relegated in 2025 and now play soccer in Eerste Divisie, the second tier. Their Yanmar Stadion (capacity 4500) is 2 km north of town centre.

Buy

In the City Centre - [1]  of Almere are branches of all major retailers. Besides, there are also many local and special shops. In Almere Haven you will find Haven Centrum, this is a community center. In Almere Buiten you will find BuitenMere, a community center and DoeMere- [1] a large shopping center that is completely specialised in home and DIY. In Almere Poort are two supermarkets, a pharmacy, a drugstore and a number of small eateries. Besides these, there are many local shops, for instance at the C. van Eesterenplein, Literatuurwijk , Muziekwijk, Parkwijk and De Meenten

Drink

Most bars are on the Grote Markt. There are some bars in the Havenkom, this is harbor of Almere-Haven, here you can eat and drink while enjoying the view of the bay in a very calm setting.

Sleep

There aren't many accommodation options in Almere, and all are geared towards business travellers - expect modern, non-nonsense design and the usual features.

For more accommodation options, you may want to base yourself in one of the neighbouring provinces of North-Holland or Utrecht.

Go next

Lelystad — has some interesting sights, such as the recreated VOC ship Oostvaardersplassen — this nature reserve is one of the prime birding areas in Europe Schokland — this island used to be similar to Urk, but had to be evacuated; a ghost village remains and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site Urk — traditional old Dutch village community that once was an island Naarden — beatiful star-shaped fortress Muiden — historical town with medieval castle Muiderberg — small village with views on Almere just across the strait