In 2015 I visited Alkmaar after my brother Arie and his wife Ineke had moved there. I wrote a report about this visit. During our city walk I discovered a few buildings in Art Nouveau/Art Deco style. This time I tried to explore more. Using the Internet I had found several interesting locations, marked on this Google Earth map.

I arrived by train and started from the station. First destination was the Wilhelmina School in the Doelenstraat, built in 1903 in Art Nouveau style. Taking pictures in narrow streets is not easy, but I managed to take a close-up of a tile panel in Art Nouveau style.

Next stop was at a former coal shed at the Kanaalkade and a former cheese warehouse at the Houttil. Both designed by the Alkmaar architect P.N. Leguit in 1908 and 1905 respectively. Of course they are now used for a different purpose. The right picture shows an Art Nouveau detail of the cheese warehouse.

Then it was time for lunch. It was still a bit chilly, but I found a nice terrace where I had a “broodje kroket” , a typical Dutch snack.

Next I went to the Tourist Office (VVV), housed in the Waag to ask whether they had more information about Art Nouveau or Art Deco buildings in Alkmaar. They did not. The traditional cheese market would only start later in the year, but a friendly volunteer took a picture of me as a “cheese bearer”. Already quite a number of tourists.

I continued my walk to the former department store of V&D, completed in 1927, Amsterdam School style with Art Deco details.

Het Kasteeltje (The Little Castle) was built in 1901 and is probably the most striking example of Art Nouveau architecture in Alkmaar. A real gem, here seen from across the Nieuwlandersingel.

Here a few details of this beautiful building.

The main destination for my walk was the Nieuwlandersingel. Along this “singel there is a concentration of capital villas, built in the beginning of the 20th century.

Not easy to take good photos. Here are a few facades

This is Villa Emma (1905)

Villa Wilhelmina (1904-1905) and Villa Marianne (1908-1909)

And here are some details of Hofdijkstraat 2, corner of the Nieuwlandersingel, a villa built in 1907 in Art Nouveau style

The Emmakwartier , behind the Nieuwlandersingel, was the first neighbourhood built outside the city walls in 1890. Until then it was not allowed by law to build outside the city walls! Many beautiful mansions in this quarter, Here are some pictures

At the end of this architecture walk I walked back to the city center for another snack and a glass of wine.