Mix of Glass and Steel

Begin your New Land journey here. It's an easy train ride from Amsterdam Central station to Almere Centrum, where the walking route starts.
Take the exit on the right-hand side. Walk on straight until you reach a square (Stadhuisplein) and the town hall.
The library is on the other side of the square.
Walk to the right alongside the library. Once you’ve passed it you’ll find de Smaragd on the left.
With de Smaragd behind you, start walking until you reach some stairs. Take the stairs up to the Belfort. The square continues around the corner to the right.

The abundance of restaurants and cafés on the Belfort square make it the perfect spot for a break.
It’s not just its many nice restaurants and cafés that make the Belfort a special place – the steps leading onto the square are also a great vantage point for seeing the contrast between the city centre and the rest of Almere, because the centre is elevated. There is also an artwork on the Belfort: a pole inspired by the Maya calendar, with a clock and four colourful benches. It forms a wonderful point of rest in the busy town, where you can take a moment to breathe and focus on yourself and your thoughts. They sort of created a hill for the shopping area. Having worked on similar routes for Almere, they always go on about how important and cutting-edge this design feature is, creating lookouts and changing angles, while keeping roads, public transport, parking and loading bays all underneath the pedestrian precinct. This author doesn’t care as much.
Walk straight across the square until you reach a blue glass wall. Turn left. Walk up to the escalators, pass them on the left, then walk straight ahead for a bit until you can see the water. To your left is Lakeside.
Turn right behind Lakeside. In front of you, on the right side, you can see the Apollo hotel.
Directly after the Apollo hotel you can see the theatre to your left.