Visit Windmills near Amsterdam in Zaanse Schans: Everything You Need to Know!
If you are looking for windmills near Amsterdam, Zaanse Schans is a great place to go! It is home to 10 windmills, many that are fully functioning, as well as a small Dutch village where you can taste cheese and visit a wooden shoe workshop!
- About Zaanse Schans
- Zaandam vs Zaanse Schans
- What is there to do in Zaanse Schans?
- How to get to Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam
- Tour vs Self-Guided Trip to Zaanse Schans windmills near Amsterdam
- How long to expect to spend at Zaanse Schans
- How much does a trip to Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam cost?
- Visiting Windmills Near Amsterdam Recap
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About Zaanse Schans
Zaanse Schans is a small Dutch village just north of Amsterdam. Once home to hundreds of windmills and heavy traffic from trade routes on the Zaan River, Zaanse Schans is full of rich history and you can see a lot of it in the small village. There are still two fully functioning windmills, one of which crushes minerals for pigments for paint and one that is a sawmill. In addition, there are still several traditional Dutch buildings full of crafting and traditional Dutch traditions, making it feel like you’ve stepped back in time. All of this combines to make Zaanse Schans one of the best places to see windmills near Amsterdam!
The grounds are relatively flat and accessible; most of it is paved and I saw several strollers and a wheelchair while exploring the grounds.
Zaandam vs Zaanse Schans
The number one thing I SHOULD have known prior to looking for windmills near Amsterdam was that Zaandam and Zaanse Schans are NOT in walking distance of each other. I’m not sure where I got the impression that training to Zaandam would take me within walking distance of the windmills, but it will NOT.
- Zaandam is only about a 15 minute train ride from Amsterdam and is only about 15 minutes from the windmills at Zaanse Schans. But they are completely separate areas and it will require a bus to get from Zaandam to Zaanse Schans.
So the question is, is it worth stopping in Zaandam if you plan to visit Zaanse Schans? Yes, if you are in the area, you should go ahead and make a stop in both places. More thoughts on this coming soon!
What is there to do in Zaanse Schans?
Apart from providing windmills near Amsterdam and a picturesque village, Zaanse Schans provides a good amount of things to do to entertain you during your day trip!
- Windmill tours
- Zaanse Schans offers tours of two full functioning windmills, one of which is a working saw mill and one is a paint mill.
- You can enter both for around 15 euros
- Zaanse Schans offers tours of two full functioning windmills, one of which is a working saw mill and one is a paint mill.
- Cheese making demonstration
- Learn how cheese is made via demonstrations and tastings lead by Henri Willig Farms
- Free
- Wooden shoe making demonstration
- Here you will see the intricate process of creating wooden clogs by the traditional antique machines used years ago. Click here for more information on the Wooden Shoe Workshop!
- Free
- Visit museums
- Zaanse Schans has no shortage of museums including a Zaans Museum, Windmill Museum, Zaan Time Museum (clock craftmanship), the Weaver’s house (sail cloth and windmill cloth weaving), Verdake Chocolate Museum and a Cooperage where barrels are made
- Shop
- Along with museums and and windmills you can find small shops full of crafts, souvenirs and more!
If you wish to do windmill tours, you can purchase a Zaanse Schans Card for 30 euros, which gives you access to both windmills as well as ALL of the museums listed above!
How to get to Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam
From Amsterdam you can bus directly to Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam Central station or train from Amsterdam Central station to Zaandijk Zaanse Schans station. The bus stop at Zaanse Schans is right at the entry to the museum. However, if you plan to visit Zaandam as well, it is best to train to Zaandam first, explore the small town and then bus from Zaandam to Zaanse Schans via bus 391. Below is all the gritty details of the different ways to get to Zaanse Schans, with and without Zaandam😬
To Get Directly to Zaanse Schans From Amsterdam
There are two ways to get to the windmills near Amsterdam. For the direct bus route from Amsterdam Central Station to Zaanse Schans:
- Take bus 391
- Time: ~40 minutes
- Cost: ~2.70-5.70 euros one-way
The second option is to train directly from Amsterdam Central station to Zaandijk Zaanse Schans station:
- NOTE: Once you get to the station, its an 18 minute walk to the Zaanse Schans windmills
- Time: 17 minute train ride + 18 minute walk (~35 minutes)
- Cost: ~3.70 euros one-way
To Get to Zaanse Schans with Stop in Zaandam
If you wish to stop in Zaandam, train to Zaandam and then bus to Zaanse Schans:
- Take the train from Amsterdam Central to Zaandam
- Time: ~12 minutes
- Cost: ~ 3.10 euros one-way
- Bus from Zaandam to Zaanse Schans
- Take bus 391
- Time: ~10-15 minutes
- Cost: ~1-2.70 euros
Getting Back to Amsterdam from Zaanse Schans
Either way you decide to GET to the windmills near Amsterdam, your route BACK to Amsterdam is easiest by bus:
- Take bus 391 (see a pattern here?) back from the parking lot of Zaanse Schans to Amsterdam Central station
- Time: 40-45 minutes
- Cost:~2.70-5.70 euros one-way
- You can take the train back to Amsterdam, but, again, you will have to walk about 18 minutes to the train station from the windmills to catch the train!
Tour vs Self-Guided Trip to Zaanse Schans windmills near Amsterdam
Should you take a guided tour or do a self-guided tour of Zaanse Scans? Completely up to you. We opted to do a self-guided trip, so we trained to Zaandam then bussed ourselves to Zaanse Schans and explored the grounds by ourselves. However, we noticed SEVERAL tour buses in the parking and groups of people with guided tours.
Pros of a guided tour:
- Direct transportation to/from Amsterdam will be included, which will save some headache of navigating public transportation
- Once you get to the grounds, you will have a guide who will be able to give you more history of the village and the windmills
- Many tours include entry into a working windmill as well, which you typically have to purchase separately
- Click here for a guided small-group tour from Amsterdam to the windmills for 40 euros per person
Cons to a guided tour:
- As always, a con to a guided tour is that you can’t explore at your own pace
- Not all tours include Zaandam, so you may not be able to see Zaandam with Zaanse Schans
- Cost- It is cheap to visit Zaanse Schans on your own due to the free entry into the grounds and the affordability of public transportation, so guided tours will increase the cost (though still reasonable as well).
How long to expect to spend at Zaanse Schans
If you decide to do a self-guided tour, allot at least 2-3 hours exploring the grounds of Zaanse Schans, especially if you want to do a tour of a windmill. Also, plan to spend about 40-45 minutes to get back to Amsterdam from Zaanse Schans.
If you plan to stop at Zaandam as well as Zaanse Schans, plan to allot at least 5-6 hours total for transportation and exploration. Therefore, don’t plan too much following your day trip to Zaanse Schans, because it will likely take a good part of the day to complete!
- For perspective, we arrived in Zaandam at about 12 pm, spent about an hour and half there, arrived in Zaanse Schans by about 2pm and headed back to Amsterdam by about 4 pm (we didn’t do a windmill tour because we did one in Haarlem). Therefore, total travel time plus exploration time for Zaandam and Zaanse Schans was about 5.5 hours.
Guided tours that include only Zaanse Schans are about 3 hours long, but there are also guided tours that will do stops in other cool areas such as Volendam, etc that will take up much of the day.
How much does a trip to Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam cost?
A self-guided trip to Zaanse Schans is quite affordable! It is free to enter Zaanse Schans, so primary expenses are only the bus and train tickets to get there! Additionally, the tours are also reasonable compared to many guided tours, so really there is no reason not to add these windmills to your Amsterdam itinerary 😉
- Cost to bus directly to Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam: 6-12 euros round-trip
- Cost to visit Zaandam AND Zaanse Scans: ~9 euros for the train ticket, bus ticket to the windmills, and bus ticket back to Amsterdam
Guided tours from Amsterdam to Zaanse Scans are about 40 euros booked here! However, there are also guided tours that include other stops in different towns; search below for your preferred guided tour to Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam!
Visiting Windmills Near Amsterdam Recap
I truly believe you should add a trip to windmills to your Amsterdam itinerary! It is nice to see some of the countryside, and it is a vastly different experience than you can get while staying in Amsterdam!
For a full 5 day itinerary to Amsterdam, including windmills, castles, day trips to smaller towns and more, click here!
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