Zaanse Schans as a day trip from Amsterdam

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The Netherlands is famous for its canal houses, tulips, and mills. One of the best places to see Dutch windmills is the Zaanse Schans in Zaanstad, a city only a stone’s throw away from Amsterdam.

Zaanstad itself is a beautiful city with colorful and monumental buildings, good restaurants, and a relaxing shopping area. You can’t go wrong here! There’s something for everyone.

Zaanse Schans

The Zaanse Schans is a windmill heaven. Along the Zaan river, you can see the most intriguing windmills. They are bright, colorful, and picturesque. With green fields on one side and the canal on the other, you can take beautiful pictures no matter the weather.

Must-see sights at Zaanse Schans

Windmills panorama

Take a panorama picture of the mills from the Julianabrug bridge.

Windmills at Zaanse Schans, Netherlands

Canal facing mills

Take a walk along the canal to see the windmills. Some are still active as a timber mill, spice mill, oil mill, and so on. During opening hours you might be able to see a demonstration.

Windmills at Zaanse Schans, Netherlands
Windmills at Zaanse Schans, Netherlands

Meadow walk

Take a walk in the meadow to see beautiful houses and gardens. At the museums, you can learn what life in a small village in the Netherlands was like in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Windmills at Zaanse Schans, Netherlands

Cooperage ‘Kuiperij’

The first museum you come upon from the west is the cooperage. Here you can see the process of making wooden barrels.

Wooden Shoe Museum

Next up is the Wooden Shoe (‘Clogs’) Museum. Take a very iconic picture inside the huge clogs in front of the building and head inside for a wall full of clogs.

Clog museum at Zaanse Schans, Netherlands
Clogs at Zaanse Schans, Netherlands
Kim at Zaanse Schans, Netherlands

Weaver ‘Wevershuis’

A small museum about weaving, showing how the cloth for the ship’s sails and windmills rotors were made.

Cheese farm

A Netherlands tour would not be complete without cheese. While the museum itself is not very interesting (no interaction whatsoever), you can taste some cheese at the shop.

Bakery ‘Bakkerijmuseum’

At the bakery, you can buy the most popular Dutch baked goods like ‘stroopwafels’ (caramel waffles). Also on sale are sweets that were popular when my grandparents were young.

Cafe and houses

Near the entrance of the park, you can have a drink at De Hoop op d’Swarte Walvis. In the second picture, you can see a building from across the street. I just couldn’t keep this picture from you.

Houses at Zaanse Schans, Netherlands

How to get to Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam

By train

Coming from Amsterdam, you can take the train from Amsterdam Centraal to Zaandijk Zaanse Schans train station. From there it is a ten minutes’ walk to the Kalverringdijk, where you can enter Zaanse Schans from the west. The whole journey takes about 35 minutes.

By car

If you travel by car, you can park at the big parking lot near Zaans Museum east of the Zaanse Schans. From Amsterdam, you can get there in twenty to thirty minutes.

By bike

Another popular option is to cycle in one hour from the city center of Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans.

By ferry

A fun alternative (mainly in peak season) would be to take the ferry from Amsterdam or Zaantheater. You can find the ferry schedule on the Zaanferry website.

General location: Kalverringdijk, 1509 BT Zaandam, Netherlands

You can enter the area free of charge, but you have to pay a few euros if you want to access some of the buildings.

Tip: combine the Zaanse Schans with a visit to Zaanstad on the same day!

Zaanse Schans day trip from Amsterdam

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