The Ultimate Zaanse-Schans Private Day Trip: Experience Windmill Town off the Beaten Path

43 Ratings

Amsterdam

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Experience Zaanse-Schans windmill town like never before on this private day trip. Discover the highlights, stories, and cultural facts with a local guide, away from the crowds and tourist routes.

Duration: 4 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Zaanse Schans - Be part of a wooden clogs or ‘klompen’ workshop at a local shoemaking factory
Catharina Hoeve Cheese Farm - Learn about the different cheeses in Holland & taste them
Zaans Museum - Visit the magical windmills of Zaanse Schans old village
Phil Good Massage - Depending on your host and their chosen route for the…

What's Included

Cheese Tasting
Entrance Ticket to a Windmill
Public transport
Private local guide
Carbon neutral experience

What's Not Included

Lunch
Entrance to any other attractions than mentioned
Hotel pick up and drop-off

Additional Information

Ever thought of a private day trip to Zaanse-Schans, minus the intrusive crowds and monotonous audio guides? Guess what, you’re in luck! This is your exclusive Zaanse-Schans journey that you’ve been yearning for.
Join your local guide in Amsterdam and set off on an expedition to Zaanse-Schans where you can explore its distinctive appeal off-the-grid….

Location

Amsterdam Centraal

Stationsplein

In front of Cafe Loetje Centraal, Stationsplein 10, 1012 AB Amsterdam.

Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings

4.9

(43 Ratings)

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Jenn_ottley

Mar 27, 2024

Perfect Day Trip to Zaanse-Schans - If you want the perfect way to see Zaanse-Schans, I highly recommend booking Olga as your guide. Prior to our experience, Olga was great at communicating with us. She made it very easy to find her at our meeting spot. Once we were at Zaanse-Schans her stories and depth of knowledge of both the town and of Amsterdam made our day even more special. We had a private cheese making demonstration, saw how clogs were made and toured inside a windmill. We learned about the history of the houses, how people lived, worked and slept. We learned so much about the history and meanings of the windmills (windmills used as code during WWII - I had never heard this before). She had answers to all my questions - even when I asked about paint colors. Olga was such a joy to spend time with. Her love of Holland clearly came through. This was so much better than joining a large tour group or even going on our own. The depth of knowledge and Olga has made this an experience we won't forget.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Jeffrey_r

Aug 7, 2023

wonderful time with Olga - Olga was a great guide and great communication. You will not be disappointed to spend time with Olga to learn about the area.

Review provided by Viator

N3555kwlindah

Jul 9, 2023

Fantastic tour guide - If you do not book a tour with Olga you are missing out. She is so friendly, genuine and patient. We did her tour of the windmills at Zaanse Schans. I wish we booked more tours with her! She knows the ins and outs of Amsterdam and has some fascinating facts that she shared about this beautiful city. My daughter and I highly recommend her as a tour guide. If you are English speaking her knowledge of the language is perfect.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Amber

Jun 28, 2023

Great tour, guide, and minimal carbon footprint - It was a private tour with just me and my husband. It was nice because we could ask questions and got good info. I will warn you we did not read the fine print and did not realize we would be on public transportation. It was fine but if you were expecting someone to pick you up, you will be disappointed. We met our guide, Vita, at the central Amsterdam station and had a very good tour. She took care of making sure we saw the sights, knew the history, and got to know about the places we passed through. She was very knowledgeable and we would definitely utilize her again.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Anniebgreece

Apr 10, 2023

Best tour ever!!!! - Christa was knowledgeable, through, personable, flexible, cheerful, your guide. We throughly enjoyed our tour with her. Do NOT hesitate to book with her. She should be your first choice.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Beth_s

Jul 17, 2022

Wonderful day trip - Olga was a wonderful guide! Friendly and informative. Warm and charming very knowledgeable about the country and visit. Highly recommend.

Review provided by Viator

Sccrref

Jul 3, 2022

Just what we wanted - This was a last minute booking. We actually tried to rides bikes to the windmills the day before and got lost! This was the way to go. We met our guide outside the train station, hopped on the train, arrived, and began the adventure. My wife really wanted to see the windmills so we flexed the schedule a bit and spent more time there, skipped the chocolates and did the cheese tasing. It was a very enjoyable afternoon. On one of the working windmills that were cutting wood we were allowed to get close and one of the guys gave us a lesson how it was being done. I should note that the cheese shop was excellent. We bought a few for the rest of our travels. Nice break from the city

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Samantha

Mar 20, 2020

Great personal tour - We had a great time with Debora. It was so much better visiting the village with a local who could explain what we were looking at. She interacted well with our children, and it was a lovely way to see windmills.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Jocap93

Mar 6, 2020

Great tour and guide! - Karina was great! She was so friendly and knowledgeable and we had a great time touring with her for the afternoon. She was very communicative during the booking process and with coordinating the pickup for the tour. We toured Zaanse Schans, Edam and Volendam and all were beautiful and had fun shops and displays. Her knowledge of the locations and history was also impressive! Highly recommend this tour!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Joellen_p

Apr 19, 2022

Not worth the price - After experiencing this tour, our family decided that it was not worth the price. We felt that we could've easily done this experience on our own. Our guide was nice but we felt she did not add much value to this experience. We did not feel like we were on a private tour, more just like we had someone walking around with us to show us where things were. We did not get a lot of information unless we specifically asked about something and felt the guide was not super interested in the topic. Going inside the pigment making windmill was neat and interesting but that was where it ended. The cheese tasting that is "included" was just a walk through a cheese shop that offers free samples to everyone (the same Henry Willig shops that are everywhere in Amsterdam). The chocolate tasting was in a cute little chocolate shop but was really nothing special...you just mixed up your own cup of mediocre hot chocolate. The wooden shoe making shop had the potential to be neat but it was so crowded you couldn't even walk. Our visit was on Easter weekend so I'm sure that was a contributor to some of the crowds, but we were told that pre-covid, tourist crowds like this were normal. Overall, the windmills were neat and the historic little town was cute but it was very touristy and the Viator description of this tour definitely oversold the experience. I would highly recommend spending your vacation time and money elsewhere.

Review provided by Viator

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