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Zaanse Schans or Kinderdijk

Posted by (Philadelphia) on

Hi, I'll be in Amsterdam in late March for about 4 nights but the 4 nights are split (2 nights when I arrive and 2 nights before I leave for the US). I'm going elsewhere for the middle portion of the trip.

I will be using public transportation to get around.

I'm slightly confused about the best way to get to Zaanse Schans. The Zaanse Schans site says "The nearest railway station is Zaandijk – Zaanse Schans. This station can be reached by local train from Amsterdam Central Station in 17 minutes. Subsequently walk to the Zaanse Schans in 15 minutes." On a map, I don't see a way to walk to Zaanse Schans from the Zaandijk station. There's a body of water between there with a road or highway bridge crossing over. Can pedestrians cross here? A 15 minute walk is no problem for me but I want to make sure this is the most convenient way to get there. Or is there a bus that goes directly to Zaanse Schans itself from somwhere in central AMS?

Alternatively, I'm wondering if a day tour to Kinderdijk would be better than Zaanse Schans.

I'm trying to decide where to stay to minimize the amount of trains or buses I have to use to get places. I will be going to Keukenhof at one point as well, which is not in the same direction as Zaanse Schans so I probably can't combine these two places on the same day.

Posted by
527 posts

Hi Daisy. I took the train to Zaandijk on a solo trip last April. The walk from the train station to Zaanse Schans is an easy 20-25 minute stroll. You walk over a bridge, which has a dedicated pedestrian lane, to Zaanse Schans. I went early on a weekday and while it got more crowded as the day progressed, it was an enjoyable visit and a worthwhile use of my time.

Posted by
1645 posts

“ On a map, I don't see a way to walk to Zaanse Schans from the Zaandijk station.”

What map did you use that gave you this impression? Are you familiar with Google Maps? If you plug in the train station Zaandijk Zaanse Schans as your departure point and Zaanse Schans as your arrival point and then click the symbol of the walking person, you’ll get instructions on how to walk to Zaanse Schans. You’ll then also see that you can cross the bridge in question as a pedestrian.

Posted by
2122 posts

You won’t be the only one visiting Zaanse Schans, so just follow the others once leaving the train station. I can’t imagine a more efficient way than the train, it takes only twenty minutes from Amsterdam Centraal. Visiting the site itself involves a lot of walking, so that 15 or 20 minute walk from the train station is actually not that much, unless you have mobility issues. There are boat tours if that's of more convenience.

Getting to the mills of Kinderdijk is more time consuming. But for most it’s the real deal as the mills are still at their original location in contrary to Zaanse Schans, being more an open air museum. The mills of Zaanse Schans work as soon as there is enough wind, or if it's not too strong (however not so sure about Kinderdijk). They represent an early industrial area with different purposes like cutting wood and producing oil from seeds. Kinderdijk offers boat tours too btw.

https://www.dezaanseschans.nl/en/
https://kinderdijk.com/

Posted by
246 posts

Between the two I would choose Zaanse Schans.

They are both terrific sites but ZS is really close to Amsterdam and easy to reach by public transportation, whereas Kinderdijk is farther away and much harder to reach by public transport. Further, ZS is a more comprehensive site that includes a few windmills in a addition to a wealth of historical buildings, a museum, and much more.

Posted by
48 posts

Thank you everyone for the info. This is enough information for me now. I will stick to my plan to going to Zaanse Schans.

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