Windmills with guide Jan

The Zaanstad region is the district around the Zaan river. In the 17th and 18th centuries hundreds of industrial windmills stood along this river, the oldest industrial area in Europe. Zaanse Schans is located here as an authentic open-air museum.

Windmills Zaanse Schans

Sawing tree trunks into planks, crushing minerals for paints, crunching chalk into powder, squeezing nuts and seeds for oil, grinding spices – for hundreds of years this was done with windpower and windmills, as you will see at Zaanse Schans.

Strongest Machine

The windmill was the largest and strongest machine in existence until the steam engine was introduced in the late 18th century. In the 19th century the windmills became obsolete and fell into disrepair. In the nineteenfifties the city council of Zaanstad decided to move and regroup the remaining windmills, thus creating the village Zaanse Schans. The characteristic green houses are inhabited, and the museumvillage includes the first Albert Heijn supermarket.

EXCURSION  Zaanse Schans

You will visit a sawmill and learn a lot about the history of windmills in The Netherlands. You will see how clogs are made and you will enjoy a typical Dutch meal: pancakes (not Included)!

• Price € 60 pp
• Group size 4 -10 people
• Duration of the excursion 3 ½ hours
• Included: certified guide, use of whisper system, visit to mill, visit to clog factory