Zaanse Schans is a village nearby Amsterdam that gathers a large number of quite typical elements from Netherlands. If it is not in your plans to visit the country without seeing its famous windmills windmills, this town may be the easiest solution to satisfy your will! It is only a few minutes from Amsterdam by train and can perfectly be visited in just one morning. Although it’s very small, Zaanse Schans has a wide range of attractions on the east bank of the river Zaan. Besides the windmills open to visit (they were both used to grind grain as mainly pumping water from dams), there are cheese and souvenirs shops, a wooden clogs mini-factory, an interesting bakery and a museum of clocks. They are usually open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This large park also allows boating and isn’t far from the small house where the Russian czar Peter, the Great, lived for a few days when he visited the Netherlands to learn the art of building ships. If you’re in Amsterdam, a tour to Zaanse Schans is highly recommended to understand better how life is like in Netherlands countryside and learn more about its culture!
