This toll house has been here since 1662. This is where boats were taxed so that water ways could be maintained. Late arrival? Tough luck, the harbour would have been closed. Luckily you could always spend the night at the inn next to the toll house. You would awaken with a wonderful view of the landscape.

A bigger tollhouse

Early nineteenth century, the Great North Holland Canal was completed. You could now sail from Amsterdam all the way to Den Helder. The new route made the tollhouse area bustle with life. In 1859, a larger tollhouse was built, a neo-classical design you can still spot as you come off the ferry. Around the same time, a garden was laid out next to it. This means Tolhuistuin beats Vondelpark, which opened in 1865, at being the oldest park of Amsterdam.