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Two days itinerary – Should I include Zaanse Schans?

We family of 4, will be visiting Amsterdam as a part of two weeks Europe Trip in September third week. We are planning to spend two full days in Amsterdam (3-nights stay). We reach Amsterdam 8.00 PM from Prague and I have booked a hotel near Sloterijk Station (Xo hotel park west). We just take rest on day 1. Thinking of buying group pass for tram for two days. The followings are my detailed tentative/ plan for next two days. Will be flexible to adjust depending on weather. Let me know if this plan is too aggressive. We are thinking of visiting only one or two museum and no De Wallen area. Is Zaanse Schaans trip is too much for a two days trip?
Day 2:
• Morning (9 am to 1 pm)
o Catch tram 19 to reach central station
o Amsterdam City RS Walk
 Central Station
 Damrak houses
 Dam Square
 Royal Palace
 Kalverstraat.
 De Beurspassage
 Beginhof
o Jordann District RS Walk.
 De 9 Street.
 Flower Market.
 Rembrandtplein,
• Afternoon (1 pm to 5 pm)
o De Pjip - Albert Cuyp Market
o Lunch
o Canal Cruise
• Evening (5 pm to 7 pm)
o North Amsterdam (ADAM lookout)
o Nemo Science Museum (top)
• Night (7 pm to 9 pm)
o Wander in Leidseplein Area and De-9 street.
o Dinner
o Reach Hotel by 10 pm
Day 3:
• 9.00 AM to 2.00PM
o Rijksmuseum
o VG Museum (optional/tentative)
o Museum Area
o Lunch
• 2 PM to 7 PM
o Half day trip to Zaanse Schans
o On return stop at Zaandam
o Return to Hotel by 9 PM
Day 4:
• Leave Morning 8.30 am to Schiphol Airport Train Station
• Catch 9.11 am train to Antwerp and to Bruges

Posted by
429 posts

Is Zaanse Schaans trip is too much for a two days trip?

Too much? No.

Worth it? It would not be very high in my "two total days in Netherlands" priority list.

It's easy, and it's relatively interesting & pretty, but I don't look back on it with any "need to recommend this" level of interest.

Posted by
2254 posts

Think this is best to decide once in Amsterdam if you have enough time and energy or not. Timewise it's quite easy to fit in. Zaanse Schans is just 12 minutes with the train from railway station Sloterdijk. From Amsterdam Centraal takes some 18 minutes and walking between trainstation Zaandijk and the windmills some 15 minutes.

The site is free, but for going inside the mills and other attractions you need a ticket. What makes a visit much more worthwhile. If you take the train of around 2 PM from Amsterdam Centraal you will have around 2 1/2 hour for visiting the site before the mills and other attractions close at 5 PM. The area and other locations remain freely accessible. Tickets can be booked in advance or at the information centre there. As far as I know there are no time slots, so you can be flexible when to go. However tickets are only valid for the date they are issued.

Just to give you some info you need for planning. For more: https://tickets.dezaanseschans.nl/en/

Posted by
1023 posts

If I wanted to spend a half day somewhere from Amsterdam, I would choose Haarlem instead of Zaanse Schans.