Zaanse Schans is a neighborhood in the Dutch town of Zaandam, near Amsterdam. It is best known for its collection of well-preserved historic windmills and houses. Historic windmills and distinctive green wooden houses were relocated here to recreate the look of an 18th/19th-century village.

So to explore and see the Dutch windmills we headed out to Zaanse Schans. We took Bus 391 from Amsterdam central to Zaanse Schans. This bus runs every 30 mins to and fro and it takes around an hour to reach Zaanse Schans.There is also option to reach via train but you need to cover some ground by foot, as the train station is bit far away.

Cheese shop

There are lot of free working shops in this village and the cheese shop was one of them. They offer free fresh cheese and chocolate tasting as well.

De Kat Paint mill

De Kat Paint mill is probably the last remaining paint windmill in the world. This mill produces the colour, or rather the dye.This is still functional and produces antique paints and dyes.

Each windmill entry costs around 5 euros but if you want to visit all of windmills its around 16 euros. We climbed on top of the windmills as well via the narrow stairs inside. We visited only one windmill as we were in a hurry to get back to the city and it was pouring down heavily.

Clog museum

Clog workshop and museum is free to visit and you can actually see how the world famous Dutch shoes are made by artisans. Clogs have been worn in many countries, but it is the Dutch clog that is probably conjured in our minds the most. Often colorfully painted, the patterns of Dutch clogs (in addition to their differences in shape) were often used to both identify the owner as well as their specific craft.

You can see not only a vast array of clogs, but also watch demonstrations on traditional methods of carving and decorating. There is even a “Diamond Clog” .Here artisans will demonstrate how they make wooden shoes and you can buy them as souvenirs

Food

The smell of fresh bread from the bakery museum and chocolate from the Zaans Gedaan/CocoaLab will whet your appetite like never before.There are couple of small bakeries and shops selling baked stuff, pastries, hot chocolates, coffees etc. Check out this link for more dining restaurant options

A final lookback at this beautiful Dutch village, as we headed back to Amsterdam after a half day well spent.

We took the same bus back to Amsterdam Central and continued onto our next adventure, Amsterdam Lookout and Swing @ A’dam

Location

Amsterdam central to Zaanse Schans:

Entry fee : Few of them are free, few are paid

Attraction Hours : 8:00 - 17:00

Travel tips

• Get amsterdam travel ticket, in case you are going to travel a lot in Amsterdam. It is cheaper than individual tickets

• Amsterdam travel ticket can be purchased from main train stations for same price.

• No free restrooms, need to have euro cent coins to use restrooms in the museums(75 cents)

• Official website: https://www.dezaanseschans.nl/en/discover/windmills/

• Zaanse Schans Card does not cover entry to all the windmills

• There are lot of tour operators available that does day excursions from Amsterdam as well, in case you don’t want to do the planning and itinerary on your own.