Windmill tour to Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam
Begin your tour at the central meeting point at the foot of the A’DAM lookout just across the water from Central Station in Amsterdam. From there a short 20 minute bus ride will take you to the windmill village Zaanse Schans. There you will experience all that is typical Dutch in just a few hours. You will learn about the process of cheese making, watch a demonstration of clogmaking and see working windmills, green wooden houses and shops. Your experienced and friendly guide will accompany you throughout the village before you get time to further explore the village on your own.
The windmill village Zaanse Schans is an open air museum that houses a collection of working windmills, wooden houses, barns and shops dating back to the 18th and 19th Century. These buildings were important in bringing back to life the most prosperous period of the Zaan region. In its golden age the Zaan Region developed into an industrial area on a scale never seen before with 600 active windmills, which are wooden factories powered by wind. In these small factories many tasks were being executed with the aid of wind energy, such as wood sawing by machine, grounding spices, oil for food and paint, flower, cocoa powder and many other things.
The prosperity in the 18th and 19th century can be seen in the Zaanse Schans windmill village in several ways. Alongside windmills, barns and other buildings, you will see beautiful houses that were originally built as home to rich windmill owners and merchants. These houses have attractive facades and have been painted in traditional colors.
At arrival in the village, your guide will take you on an orientation tour of the village. You will visit the clog museum annex wooden shoemaker shop and in the cheese farm you will get to taste Dutch farmer cheese. Then it is time to further explore the village on your own. Before you set off to discover the Zaanse Schans on your own, your guide will give you further information about Zaanse Schans and its unique character, teach you local history and culture, and give you insider’s tips about what to do and where to go.
