Zaanse Schans

Zaanse Schans is a riverside village of historic wooden houses and windmills, brought here from around the Zaan region and still lived in today. Several of the mills still work, grinding pigments for paint, pressing oil or sawing timber, and you can climb inside to see the machinery turning.

Watch a clog-maker carve wooden shoes, taste Gouda at the cheese farm and visit the Zaans Museum, which tells the story of the region and of the chocolate and biscuit factories that grew up along the Zaan. The windmills lined up along the river make the classic Dutch photograph.

Zaanse Schans is only about 20 minutes by train from Amsterdam and combines well with Volendam on a countryside half day. Mornings are quieter, before the tour coaches arrive.