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
Reston VA
470 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
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
2273 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
San Francisco
1026 posts
If I wanted to spend a half day somewhere from Amsterdam, I would choose Haarlem instead of Zaanse Schans.
Posted by
Philadelphia
116 posts
I liked Zaanse Schans myself. It was a chance to see windmills in a natural setting on a tight schedule. It was a quick train ride from the city center. The bulbs were blooming when I was there so that was a treat.
The issue for me was the massive bussed-in tour groups. There were so many people that the sidewalks were jammed. There are paved bike paths where people aren't supposed to walk but these tour groups repeatedly walked on these bike paths and the locals had to repeatedly ring their bike bells to warn them to move. I tried my best to avoid the bigger groups and walked in a different direction. It got to the point that I left the place to get away from them. I wish I had time to sit with a coffee enjoying the scenery but it wasn't that kind of place.
If you have limited time in AMS (only a few days) and want to see windmills, I think it's worth it. If you're going to spend a week in AMS and might see windmills in other places, then maybe it's not worth going there.
Posted by
Utah
4 posts
I would go to Zaanse Schans if the family has a very strong desire to see windmills. To me, however, it was very touristy and wasn't worth the time away from all there is to see and do in Amsterdam. I guess I would rather try to get reservations to the Anne Frank Museum or spend more time in the Rijksmuseum and/or wandering aimlessly and taking in the sites, sounds, and tastes of Amsterdam.