Dutch Countryside: Windmills and Villages

4,342 Ratings

Amsterdam

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Embark on a captivating day tour from Amsterdam to explore the charming countryside, including Volendam, Marken, and traditional windmills. Immerse yourself in Dutch culture, witness traditional crafts, and indulge in a delicious lunch at a fishing restaurant.

Duration: 5 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Zaanse Schans - See Zaanse Schans windmills and evocations of traditional Dutch life.
Volendam - Stop in Volendam
Cheese Factory Volendam - Visit a cheese farm for a demonstration and a sampling of its dairy production.
Marken - Stop in Marken.
Wooden Shoe Factory Marken - Observe the works of a traditional clogmaker.
Centraal Station - Your tour concludes in central Amsterdam

What's Included

Traditional Marker house tour (All-Inclusive only)
Clog making with antique steam engine (All-Inclusive only)
30-min boat tour between Volendam and Marken (All-Inclusive only)
Zaanse Schans windmills up-close
Tour of operating windmill (All-Inclusive only)
Cheese-making demonstration
Lunch on Charm of Holland tour (Fridays only)
-…

What's Not Included

Hotel pickup and drop off
Food and drinks, unless specified

Additional Information

Leave Amsterdam behind for a few hours and discover the typical Dutch countryside outside the capital. You’ll drive through a picture-perfect landscape crisscrossed with canals, see authentic wooden houses, windmills and fishing villages, and witness traditional crafts from days gone by.
The picturesque village of Zaanse Schans is famous for its original…

Location

Tours & Tickets Amsterdam

De Ruijterkade

The Tours & Tickets Shop is located in the IJ hall of Central Station / Amsterdam Centraal Station - on the far eastern side. Show your (smartphone) ticket at the Tours & Tickets office, where you'll be guided to the bus across the street.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.2

(4342 Ratings)

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Kristine_k

Sep 4, 2024

Get out of Amsterdam and do this excursion - A total tourist adventure, but it was fun and the landscapes were beautiful. Stopped in Zaanse Schans to see the windmills. Then, went to a clog workshop in Marken and got a demonstration on how clogs are made. Got a a ferry from there and had a nice 30 minute ride over a Volendam. We toured a cheese factory and then had some free time to grab lunch and a stroopwafel before getting on the bus to head back to Amsterdam. It was a beautiful day for this little adventure.

Review provided by Viator

Annamaria_d

Jul 2, 2024

Fabulous Tour!!! - We just really enjoyed this tour! Our tour guides and bus driver were incredibly nice. The scenery of each city is out of this world. Me and my son highly recommend this tour! Thank you Diana, Lara, and Gerrard! You were amazing Gerrard :)

Review provided by Viator

Karen_m

Jun 30, 2024

Worth it - The most memorable part was seeing that the windmill was functional and seeing the clogs being made and being able to taste and buy the various cheeses.

Review provided by Viator

Marc_l

Jun 23, 2024

Great time on the tour! - I had done the tour before but this was my husband’s first time. We had a lovely day! The guides were great, ours were fun. Just wish we had a bit longer to stay in each stop.

Review provided by Viator

Claire_o

Jul 9, 2024

Review Windmill, Volendam, Markem - Enjoyed trip, very informative. Tour guide spoke both in English and Spanish making it a little hard to follow. Had a little trouble with when and where to meet up after free time periods.

Review provided by Viator

Qiana_y

Jun 21, 2024

Rushed/ Wrong time - The tour was nice. We really did enjoy it. Liked the cheese and clog demonstration. Similar to other reviews it felt a little rushed. There should be more time at each place. Viator has the wrong time for the tour. It is a hour longer than what they have listed. It almost cost us our visit to the Van Gogh museum since we were going to miss our entrance time. Luckily they were understanding and let us come late.

Review provided by Viator

Penny_k

Jul 5, 2024

Rushed and Underwhelming - I was expecting a field of windmills so I was a little disappointed that there were only 10 or so scattered up and down the river. The biggest problem I had with the tour is everything was very rushed. They say you have free time but that free time is really like 15 mins so it was not enough time to explore the villages or the shops. The cheese making demonstration wasn’t really a demonstration at all, rather just an employees dressed like a milk maid whip gave a 5 minute talk about how they make cheese. The cheese tasting itself was good. I think a person would be better of going on their own so they could explore at their leisure.

Review provided by Viator

Charlie_v

Aug 22, 2024

Very Cheesy so I left the tour early - As the title says, this tour is very cheesy!!! It also is not 5 hours like it says, it’s about 5 hours 45. Albeit the windmills were fantastic and the audio information on the bus was great, however everything about the tour feels fake. No demonstration at the windmills, only talking about what you would do to make peanut oil and a video. Seeing the workings of the windmill and getting up close was cool! Clog making, I highly doubt a 20 year old has mastered the craft of clog making and that there is no way it’s an operational clog ‘factory’. As another review says, this is not the traditional way to make clogs. They sell the same stuff in their shop as every other place. Cheese ‘factory’, again highly doubt that this is a cheese factory as the label on the cheeses was not from the same city we were in. Felt like the staff at the ‘factory’ were acting and heavily trying to sell you cheese to bring home. No demonstration, only telling you what they would do. When it came to free time, I literally took the public bus back to Amsterdam. RECOMMENDATION: take the public bus to the windmills just by tapping your credit card (tap on and tap off) and save yourself the tacky tour.

Review provided by Viator

880amr

Aug 27, 2024

Tours&tickets Amsterdam horrible service - As expected we get to see the windmills and some tiny towns but what bothered me was the company tours-tickets where we booked our tour. I should’ve opted with Viator but since it was a last minute plan we chose this company. The broken seat in front of me was leaning close to my personal space which was uncomfortable. I can barely move. I was assured by Laura the assistant that we will get a refund for the inconvenience. I was never asked to move seats. Now that I contacted them re the refund, they blatantly refused coz they said they never promised it. Just disappointed that the staff did not honor their word. Money can be earned but what they did is a poor reflection on how their company handles cases like this. They can’t be relied on and when a similar incident happens to anyone, make sure ask the employee to put it in writing. I will never use their service again.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Kathy_s

Jul 8, 2024

Wouldn’t book - I had reached out to my tour guide numerous times to no response and could not find the location since it wasn’t specific. Tour left without me and now this company won’t refund, very unhappy

Review provided by Viator

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