Windmills of Zaanse Schans, Netherlands

Netherlands is known for windmills. Windmills were mainly used to generate energy needed to turn raw material into a tradable product. It was also used for reclaim land from sea. Most part of Netherlands is below sea level. 

Windmills seen from the watchtower
The two places that has large number of windmills are Kinderdijk and Zaanse Schans. I had visited Kinderdijk before; it was a difficult place to reach by public transport. This time I decided to go to Zaanse Schans. It is near to Amsterdam and hence more popular with tourists.

Fields and the windmills
It was easy to reach Zaanse Schans. Bus number 391 from Amsterdam Central dropped me directly in front of Zaanse Schans. The popularity of the place was clearly seen with the number of cars parked. And there were buses dropping people in big numbers!!


It is said that there were 1100 industrial windmills before industrial revolution. Today there are only 5-6 windmills. And most of them are literally taken out from their original site and put here. In that way, the place can be considered as open air museum.

View from the canal
There is a watch tower that gives a nice view of the surrounding areas. The path next to the watch tower is used less by tourists but it provides some good opportunity to photograph.

Another view
The main path was crowded with visitors. While it is possible to enter into the windmill, the entrance is not free. For each windmill, you need to pay separately!!


You can also cross the bridge to get a full view of all windmills.


The bridge opens up when a boat has to pass. It is a sight to watch!!



Zaanse Schans is a very touristy place. Two hours is sufficient for this place. There is also a museum which I did not visit. Boat rides also available to see the windmills from water.


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