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Best Things to Do
Popular Best Things to Do in Zaandam [2025]
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Zaanse Schans
4.7
/5
605 reviews
7.4
Based on 8,998 reviews
3.5 km from downtown
Phone +31752047510
Address: Zaandam, Netherlands
Recommended sightseeing time: 2–3 hours
Highlights:
Watch Dutch crafts up close
Outdoor museum of 35 windmills
Saved by 526 users130 positive reviews
Verified user reviews
A famous attraction that is worth visiting. Today the weather is nice and sunny, with plenty of sunshine, which is suitable for taking pictures. This is a famous windmill attraction. Along the lake path, you can enjoy various windmills, cultural landscapes and some cheese huts. Some windmills are workers and run under the action of wind. I took a lot of photos and enjoyed the picturesque windmill village.
If you come to the Netherlands, you must visit the windmill village. There are many windmill villages in the Netherlands. Since Zaanse Schans is closest to the capital Amsterdam, it has become the first choice for tourists.
There are 5 large windmills in Zaanse Schans, distributed along one side of the Zaan River. The functions of the windmills are different. They are used for sawing wood, pressing oil, grinding dyes, grinding mustard powder and pumping water, etc. Some of them can be visited inside. Tourists can visit on foot or rent a boat to experience different scenery.
In addition to the iconic windmills, there are also handicraft workshops, wooden shoe factories, cheese workshops, museums, etc. In the cheese workshop, you can watch the complete process of cheese making, or buy a large piece of cheese as a souvenir. There is a small pasture in front of the cheese shop, where a few calves and lambs are raised, and tourists like them very much; the wooden shoe factory has colorful wooden shoes with local characteristics, and there are several large wooden shoes outside the store, which has become a check-in place for tourists.
"Zaanse Schans Windmill Village"
Location & Transportation:
Zaanse Schans Windmill Village is about 20 kilometers north of Amsterdam.
If you drive 🚗, it will take about 20 minutes.
If you take the train 🚞, take it to Zaandijk Zaanse Schans Station and walk 🚶 for 20 minutes to arrive.
If conditions permit, I personally recommend self-driving, which is more flexible in time control.
💰Cost:
The windmill village itself is free, but you need to buy a separate ticket if you visit the museum and enter the windmill. Parking 🅿️15 euros
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Wooden Shoe Workshop of Zaanse Schans
4.9
/5
51 reviews
5.9
3.5 km from downtown
Phone +31756177121
Address: Kraaienest 4, 1509 AZ Zaandam, Netherlands
Recommended sightseeing time: 1 hour
Highlights:
Watch traditional clogs being made
Dutch windmills & drainage history
Verified user reviews
Awesome Thurshans Windmill Village is a famous attraction worth visiting. Today the weather is fine, sunny, sunny and suitable for taking pictures. It is a famous windmill attraction, along the lake area path, enjoying a variety of windmills, humanistic views and some cheese huts. Some windmills are workers who operate under the wind. Take many photos and enjoy the picturesque windmill village.
In the Zaanse Schans windmill village, which is only half an hour away from Amsterdam by train, there is a Dutch wooden shoe museum. The museum is open to the public free of charge and displays many designs of Dutch wooden shoes, far more than the most common styles. There are also regular performances and interactions on making wooden shoes, allowing you to have a deeper understanding of the history and production methods of this traditional wooden shoe. It is a very good attraction. You can also pay attention to a pair of treasures inlaid with diamonds.
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Zaans Museum
4.6
/5
49 reviews
4.1
From MXN$476.38
Based on 486 reviews
3.5 km from downtown
Phone +31756810000
Address: Schansend 7, 1509 AW Zaandam, Netherlands
Recommended sightseeing time: 1–3 hours
Verified user reviews
Amsterdam is very beautiful, and there are museums everywhere in Amsterdam, large and small, and there are many museums you can't even guess, which is why Amsterdam is called the city of museums.
The most beautiful time is at dusk. The huge windmills are simple and ancient, and only the gorgeous light and shadow can show them more vividly. I am very lucky to have encountered the most beautiful dusk in the Zaanse Schans windmill village.
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