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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
