Private Tour to Zaanse Schans Windmills from Amsterdam

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3 to 4 hours (approximately)
Pickup offered
Offered in: English

On a private tour, you decide when to arrive: early, while the mills are opening and the paths are still quiet, or later, once the groups have gone.

The difference is what you hear along the way. Inside a historic house, you'll see the cupboard beds built into the walls, where whole families slept almost upright. At the clog workshop, you'll learn why a young man once spent weeks carving and painting a pair for his bride — and how you could judge him by the result.

You'll discover the story behind the oorijzer, the silver ornament worn beneath a woman's cap, which told everyone which village she came from and what her family could afford. And you'll learn to read the language of the mills — how millers signalled to each other across the fields before telephones existed.

How long you spend at each stop is entirely up to you. Some guests want the mills and nothing else; others linger over the food or walk along the river, where nobody goes.

What's Included

Private transportation
WiFi on board
Government Fees
Air-conditioned vehicle
Door-to-door pick-up and drop-off from your Amsterdam hotel or apartment
Entrance fee - Molen/ Windmill De Kat
Cheese tasting with more than 20 varieties
Private guide (Olga)
Clog-making demonstration
Gratuities

Meeting and pickup

Pickup points
You can choose a pickup location at checkout (multiple pickup locations are available).
Pickup details:

We collect you from your hotel or apartment in Amsterdam at the time we agree in advance. Please wait in the lobby or at the entrance a few minutes before the agreed time.

Pick-up from addresses outside central Amsterdam can usually be arranged — please mention it when booking. At the end of the tour we return you to the same address, or to another location in the city if you prefer.

Itinerary

Duration: 3 to 4 hours (approximately)
  • 1
    Zaanse Schans

    You'll walk through the village with your guide, past the green wooden houses that were moved here from across the Zaan region and rebuilt board by board. Inside one of the historic houses you'll see how a Zaan family actually lived, including the bedsteads built into the walls — closets with doors that shut, where whole families slept sitting almost upright, and where children were born and grandparents died within the same panelled box. Your guide also explains the regional costume still worn here on holidays, including the oorijzer — a metal ornament worn beneath a woman's cap, which began as a simple band to hold it in place and grew into a display of gold or silver at the temples, telling anyone who passed which village she came from and what her family could afford. You'll hear, too, how this stretch of river became one of the first industrial areas in Europe.

    40 minutes • Admission ticket free
  • 2
    Catharina Hoeve Cheese Farm

    Here you'll first see how Dutch cheese is actually made — the curd, the press, the months of turning that separate a young Gouda from an aged one. Then comes the tasting: more than twenty varieties laid out to try, from mild and creamy to crumbly, dark and smoked.

    30 minutes • Admission ticket free
  • 3
    Molen De Kat

    Inside De Kat, one of the last working paint mills in the world, you'll see the millstones grinding chalk and pigment into paint, much as they did in the eighteenth century, when hundreds of mills stood along this river. You'll also learn to read the language of the mills: before telephones, millers spoke to each other across the fields by the angle at which they parked the sails.

    30 minutes • Admission ticket included
  • 4
    Kooijman Souvenirs & Clogs Wooden Shoe Workshop

    A block of poplar becomes a wearable shoe in under five minutes on machinery that hasn't changed much in a century. Your guide explains the different kinds of clogs — the plain ones worn for work in the fields, and the carved and painted pairs a man once made for his bride. You can try a pair on before you leave.

    30 minutes • Admission ticket free
  • 5
    In de gecroonde Duyvekater Bakery Museum

    A traditional bakery where you can try a warm appelbeignet — apple with almond paste and cinnamon in a light batter, fried and dusted with sugar. The walls are lined with Delft Blue tiles, and your guide explains how this blue-and-white pottery became one of the most recognisable things the Netherlands ever produced.

    15 minutes • Admission ticket free

Additional info

  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
  • Service animals allowed
  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Specialized infant seats are available
  • Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
Supplied by BY OLGA TOURS
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Tags

Half-day Tours
Bus Tours
Private and Luxury
Private Sightseeing Tours
Cultural Tours
Historical Tours
Walking Tours
Car Tours
Short term availability

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

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