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You now drive into Zoutkamp.
Zoutkamp is a village with an extensive history. The first mention dates from 1418; the settlement was then called Soltcampum, referring to salt extraction from the salty peat. Zoutkamp was strategically located at the mouth of the Reitdiep directly on the Lauwerszee. Until 1876, this was the only access to the city of Groningen from the sea, making Zoutkamp of great importance both economically and militarily for centuries. From the 17th century, fishing life took off. Until 1969! In all those centuries, Zoutkamp had grown into a bustling fishing town.

When the Lauwerszee was closed off on 23-05-1969, the curtain fell. The flag hung at half-mast when Queen Juliana visited the village that day. Even in 2019 - 50 years after the closure - the flag hung at half-mast again. The grief still runs deep. Until the 1980s, squalor occurred. It was only from the 1990s onwards that the process of deterioration was reversed. And now? Zoutkamp has become a tourist attraction, with modern marina, a promenade with various catering establishments and terraces. With its restored fishing villages and monumental locks, Zoutkamp also still exudes the atmosphere of yesteryear.