Zaanse Schans Sightseeing Big Bus Tour & Amsterdam Canal Cruise

What your day looks like

From the central meeting point, a short bus ride will take you to the windmill village Zaanse Schans. Here you will experience all that is typical Dutch in just a few hours. See the historic working windmills of Zaanse Schans on a tour from Amsterdam with a professional guide. Learn about cheese making, watch traditional craftsmen making clogs and other artifacts and view the wooden green-painted houses and shops. A professional, experienced and friendly guide will accompany you throughout the village before you get time to further explore the village on your own. Begin your tour at our central meeting point. A comfortable, air-conditioned single deck bus will take you to the destination in just 20/30 minutes. The windmill village Zaanse Schans is an open-air museum that houses a collection of working windmills, wooden houses, barns, and shops dating back to the 18th and 19thcentury. All these buildings were brought here from 1961 onwards bringing back to life this most prosperous period of the Zaan region. In its golden age, the Zaan Region developed into an industrial area on a scale never seen before, with 600 active windmills. Windmills are wooden factories powered by wind. In these small factories, many tasks were being executed with the aid of wind energy: wood sawed by machines, grinding spices, oil for food and paint, flour, cocoa powder, and many other things. The prosperity in the 18th and 19th century can be seen in the Zaanse Schans windmill village in several ways. Alongside windmills, barns, and other buildings, you will see beautiful houses that were originally built as homes for rich windmill owners and merchants. These houses have attractive facades and have been painted in traditional colors such as green, beige, and light blue. Upon arrival in the village, your guide will take you on an orientation tour of the village. You will visit the clog museum (wooden shoemaker shop) and on the cheese farm, you will get to taste Dutch cheese. Then it is time to further explore the village on your own. Before you set off to discover the Zaanse Schans on your own, your guide will give you further information on the Zaanse Schans and its unique character, inform you about local history and culture, and give you insider’s tips about what to do and where to go. Back in Amsterdam, your guide will give you your ticket for a regular City Canal Cruise.