The Zuiderzeemuseum consists of indoor and outdoor museums. There are more than 130 authentic houses, shops and workshops in the outdoor museum. Watch craftsmen and women at work, experience everyday life as it was, and enjoy the authentic ambiance. Don’t miss the contemporary design presentations inspired by life and work in the past. Much attention is given to the past, present and future of the area in relation to such themes as water, traditional crafts and communities.

See and hear everyday life around the Zuiderzee as it was before the Afsluitdijk (Ijsselmeer Barrier Dam) changed it into the Ijsselmeer.

Indoor Museum
The Indoor Museum is the treasure chamber of the Zuiderzee. Temporary exhibitions display the rich collection of the Museum. For example the exhibition Journey around the Zuiderzee presents highlights of the collection and personal stories of life in villages around the former Zuiderzee. The Indoor Museum also has the largest collection of wooden ships in the Netherlands. These historical wooden ships belong to the most extraordinary items in the Museum’s collection. With history, photography, traditional costume, design and an attractive and educational family exhibition, the Indoor Museum offers something for everyone.

Outdoor Museum
The Zuiderzeemuseum ferry carries you across the IJsselmeer to the Outdoor Museum where you can take a walk through history. The open-air section covers 15 acres and accommodates authentic buildings from the former Zuiderzee region, such as a church, a fish-curing shed, a mill, a cheese warehouse, shops and dwelling houses from the surrounding fishing villages. You can help craftspeople in the Marker harbour making nets, produce a rope at the rope-maker’s workplace, give the housemaid a hand, or enter into a conversation with the ‘inhabitants’ from the former island of Urk. A number of presentations offer a modern interpretation of traditional crafts, materials and themes.

Extra information

• Outdoor museum is closed for the moment, opens the 2nd of April 2021
• Indoor museum is open for visit, daily from 10.00-17.00
• Wear a mouth mask
• Wheelchair accessible

Make a trip on De Houtribdijk and arrive directly in Lelystad to visit Batavialand.