April 2015

Quick links : Photo spot
Zaanse Schans, 40 minutes from Amsterdam Central station by bus is a windmill village. Here you get an impression of the Dutch way of life in the 17th and 18th centuries with its working windmill and authentic village houses.

From the front of Amsterdam Central Station, walk straight to the back, take the escalator up to the bus stops. Take bus no 391 and you will want to drop-off in-front of Zaanse Schans museum. The bus driver will inform where it is. Then walk through the museum car park to the village entrance. There is no entry fee to enter the windmill village. The windmills itself are photo spots in their own right.

On the day of our visit, arriving before 10 a.m. there were already many tourist buses and the place was jammed pack with tourist. Zaanse Schans is purely a commercial tourist attraction. However, by 11.30 a.m. the crowd begins to taper off.

Amsterdam Central Station bus stop.

Welkom to Zaanse Schans. The museum car park and museum to the right.

10 buses (more out of the photo frame) at the back row, another 10 buses (more) in the front row. A number more by the road side. Multiply this by 45 passengers each and you’ll get a multi-national behavioral headache.

Cross over this small canal to the windmills.

Windmills of Zaanse Schans.

Windmills by the river.

Zaanse Schans windmill.

Green colored windmill.

A mini windmill.

Proudly Dutch.

Village house in Zaanse Schans.

View across river Zaan.

Tourist centre.