We just returned from a week in Amsterdam and did a day trip to these cities with Get Your Guide. Normally I would not have booked something like this, but on Trip Advisor, a local suggested this would be a good way to go. Well, let's just say it was a bust. The guide himself was good, but the trip overall was just not well thought out. When we booked, we booked the tour without realizing there was an upgrade option. When we checked in, they asked if we wanted to upgrade which included the windmill tour and the boat ride. For 15 euro more per person, we opted in.
The total tour time was way too short overall. We were a bit unsure on the windmills as it came across as contrived, which it felt like that once we were there too. We did get a tour of one of the windmills and that was very interesting, but after that we had about 15-20 minutes total to see the other things there. The people who did not upgrade did not get to go into the windmills at all, and were left just wandering.
Then in Volendam, the cheese making demonstration was good, but again the time in town was so limited. We had a very quick lunch and then had maybe 15 minutes again to wander, that was it. Then we took the boat over to Marken. The boat was part of the upgrade, and honestly it was just a boat ride, nothing special. We should have just opted for the bus.
Once in Marken, we headed straight to the wooden shoe factory to watch a demonstration. The poor guy, his machine broke part way through and it could not be fixed. I do not fault him at all and he felt terrible, so gave everyone a clog that was not finished. That was a very nice gesture that he did not have to do. However, the tour just ended then, so instead of letting us have any time in the little town to see anything else, we got right back on the bus and back to Amsterdam.
I would not mind these towns/sights, but on our own pace. The tour was just not good and not a good use of time. Lesson learned, stick to my travel style of DIY. I really hate giving bad reviews, but I would hate for anyone else to fall for this one like we did.