[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 24 July 2016]
29 November 2015, Sunday
It’s Day 2 of our trip, and our agenda for today would be a day trip to Zaanse Schans, a picturesque village with well-preserved windmills and buildings from the 18th and 19th century. Located less than 20km away from Amsterdam city central, it is the nearest place to go see windmills. We woke up bright and early today and slowly made our way to Zaanse Schans.
There are two ways to get to Zaanse Schans – by train and by bus. For the first option, take the train from Amsterdam Centraal to Koog-Zaandijk station (17 min ride), and walk for 15 minutes. For the latter, take the Connexxion bus 391 from Amsterdam Centraal and it will stop directly at Zaanse Schans. The bus ride takes 40 minutes and a one-way ticket costs €10.00. We chose the latter option.
The bus station at Amsterdam Centraal is located above the train platforms, at the far end of the station. The 391 service runs at 15-minute intervals and we caught the 10:35am bus, arriving at 11:15am, precisely 40 minutes as advertised.
Upon arriving at Zaanse Schans, you will see the large Zaans Museum on your right. The entry fee is €7.50 for adults, and unless you have a lot of time to spare or would like to learn about the history of the region in depth, a visit is not necessary. It is much better to explore the pretty outdoor areas than to be cooped up in a building!
The Zaan area used to be an industrial district, with over 600 windmills in its heyday, producing linseed oil, paint, snuff, mustard, paper and other products. Today, almost all of the windmills are gone, leaving behind only six windmills that are still operational. However, most of these were rebuilt and are not in their original location. Nevertheless, they capture the spirit of the Zaan River centuries ago. Note that there is an admission fee for all the windmills.
Even though Zaanse Schans is obviously catered to tourists, attracting more than a million visitors a year, the area has a good vibe and it felt very welcoming and pleasant. The numerous buildings scattered around house a variety of museums and craft shops, including a woodenshoe workshop and museum, and a cheese farm. There are also several well-preserved wooden houses where people actually live in.
Of course, the highlight of a trip to Zaanse Schans would be to see the windmills, and they were beautiful indeed. It is a pity that only so few are left. What a sight it would be if there were hundreds of windmills plying the riverbank. Nevertheless, sis had her wish of seeing the windmills fulfilled.
The weather wasn’t on our side and it started to rain shortly after we arrived. The wind was very strong and it left us cold and wet. I guess that makes Zaanse Schans an ideal location for windmills because of the strong winds there! As a result, we sought refuge in the buildings. One of the gift shops had an amazing array of cheese, and I had a good time sampling the different types of cheeses. I ended up buying a Herbs & Garlic and a Smoked Cheese.
We also visited the wooden shoe workshop and museum. There was supposed to be a live wooden shoe making demonstration but we didn’t catch it while we were there. The shop sold wooden shoes of all colours and sizes and they looked very pretty. But I wonder how many people actually buy them because you know, they don’t look very comfortable. I imagine they would create quite a racket when you walk in them too!
All in all, we spent about three hours at Zaanse Schans. If the weather were kinder, I reckon we would have spent an hour more taking photos and exploring further. Nevertheless, it is a great destination for a day trip and I highly recommend a visit here.
We reached Amsterdam city at 3pm, and decided to utilise our I amsterdam card more by visiting the Van Gogh Museum. From Amsterdam Centraal, we took the tram (tram ride fare also included in the I amsterdam card) and alighted at Rijksmuseum.
Rijksmuseum is perhaps the most famous museum of all in Amsterdam, dedicated to arts and history and housing masterpieces by Dutch artists Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer. However, the I amsterdam card does not cover free entry to Rijksmuseum, only offering a €2.50 discount off the admission price (€17.50 for adults). Thus, we did not visit Rijksmuseum.
The area in front of Rijksmuseum was buzzing with activity, and we took photos with the iconic red and white “I amsterdam” alphabets that were located in front of the building. The more adventurous ones were climbing all over the letters. As the letters were quite big, it wasn’t easy getting a proper photo with the whole phrase captured. Thank goodness for GoPro!
There was also an ice-skating rink and many people were happily skating away. Some of them were sitting on wooden chairs and being pushed by others. It definitely added to the Christmas-y mood that was permeating the air. Very lovely.
From Rijksmuseum, it was a short 10-minute walk to the Van Gogh Museum. A regular adult ticket costs €17.00 but we got in free because of the I amsterdam card. There was a queue but it took us less than 10 minutes to get in, so it was pretty ok.
The museum contains the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings in the world, with over 200 of his paintings, including the famous ones like The Potato Eaters (1885), Sunflowers (1889), The Bedroom (1888), Almond Blossom (1890) and his numerous self-portraits.
At the time of our visit, there was also an exhibition featuring the works of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, so we were fortunate to see the famous The Scream (1893) painting as well. We spent slightly over an hour in the museum, and in fact, we couldn’t have stayed longer if we wanted to, because the museum closes at 5pm. There are however, extended visiting hours during summer, so please check the official website for the most updated visiting hours.
After our museum visit, we met up with my dear friend, CN, who happened to be in Amsterdam for work. She had already been in Amsterdam for a few months and it was great to catch up with her. She took us on a walking tour of the city area’s landmarks, including the main shopping street at Kalverstraat and the Royal Palace and National Monument at Dam Square.
We then had our dinner at a restaurant called Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, which served traditional Dutch food. Upon CN’s recommendation, we ordered bitterballen (deep fried beef croquettes shaped like meat balls), hutspot (boiled and mashed potatoes, carrots and onion) and poffertjes (small, fluffy pancakes served with syrup, sugar powder and butter). It was a very enjoyable dinner, with good food, great company and a cosy setting.
After dinner, CN brought us to the infamous Red Light District for a stroll. Photography and videography are strictly prohibited, so you can only watch politely and not gawk openly.
We then bade farewell to CN and headed back to our apartment. It had been an eventful day of sightseeing and it was especially nice to be able to catch up with CN, whom I have not met for a long time. It’s always nice to see a familiar face in a foreign land!