About Zaanse Schans
Zaanse Schans is a small village on the banks of the Zaan river in the municipality of Zaanstad in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, complete with tidy green houses, real working windmills, and small topical museums such as the Clock Museum and the first Albert Heijn store.
It is located outside of Amsterdam and it is the true Dutch rural experience for everyone who visits the Netherlands. The highlights are the working windmills which you can go in. There are also old houses, quirky museums, an adequate restaurant, photo opportunities and wind.
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ToggleGetting to Zaanse Schans
Take bus 391 from Amsterdam Central station. It stops right outside, and costs around 4 euro return. The buses leave at 25 and 56 minutes past the hour (between 9-4) and the trip takes 50 minutes. You can also reach the village by train. The nearest station is Koog-Zaandijk. The train from Amsterdam Central Station takes 17 minutes. Zaanse Schans is just a 15-minute walk away. We were lucky enough to get there by car which took us 25 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal.
Food: $3
As Zaanse Schans is a very touristic place, dining out may be a bit expensive. Therefore, I strongly advise you to pack your own food (homemade sandwiches, fruits and a bottle of water) as we did. In total, I spent approximately $3 on my pita bread stuffed with hummus and veggies, fruit salad and tap water. Together with my friends, we had a nice picnic while enjoying the sunny weather and a wonderful view of Zaanse Schans.
If you can afford to dine out, Zaanse Schans has some charming and cozy restaurants as well as cafes such as De Hoop op d’Swarte Walvis, Pancake restaurant or Museumcafé.
Sightseeing: $3
Visiting the village free of charge, but entering the windmills, museums and other attractions costs a few euro (3 euro for a windmill, 4 euro for the clock museum) and there’s a day pass for 10 euro. In my opinion, entering one windmill is a must, but there rest is optional. The best museums were free of charge on Sunday when we were there.
Not to miss
Cacaolab
Fancy a delicious demonstration or a mini workshop in chocolate-making in our Cocoa Lab? In the traditional way of course, according to 17th- and 18th-century methods. The authentic barn is the perfect setting for it. Using the traditional utensils is a unique experience in itself. In the meantime, you can also buy some tasty treats, including chocolate bars made on site and delicious chocolate milk.
Clogs workshop/ museum
You can see how an expert makes clogs here every day. It takes much less time than you might think! You can visit both the wooden shoe workshop and the small but impressive clog museum free of charge. Not to be missed, because they feature one of the largest and most attractive collections of wooden shoes in the Netherlands. There are all kinds of beautiful shoes: painted, carved, ice clogs with iron trimmings, horse clogs, arty clogs and clogs from many countries around the world.
More info
Opening hours
Zaanse Schans can be visited the whole year and offers a variety of things to see and do: windmills, shops, cafes and restaurants and traditional craft demonstrations. In the high season (April till November), almost everything is open between 10.00 and 17.00. In the low season not everything is open the whole week, but you can walk around and go hiking. For more information and price updates check out the official website of Zaanse Schans.
Have you already added Zaanse Schans to your bucket list?
37 thoughts on “Zaanse Schans For $10 A Day”
It looks like Zaanse Schans is a great find Agness. Lots to see and many for free. Of course the chocolate maker is something which I know you’d love.
Whilst I’ve never been to Zaanse Schans it does sum up what I find The Netherlands to be, that is a collection of beautiful villages and towns. I love getting in the car and exploring the places all around. Emmelord, Heerenven and so many more places are ones I love to stumble across.
Thanks, man! I’ve heard you were going to China soon and meeting Cez. I hope you’ll enjoy some beer with him!!
Yes, it was great to catch up with Cez again, always enjoy your company.
Shame I wasn’t able to see you there this time but I’m sure it will not be long before the three of us meet up again :-)
Awesome!!
The views are stunning and for $10 a day, you definitely accomplished a lot and got your money’s worth. BTW, the picture of the windmills, especially the close-ups are so pretty!
Thank you, Constance!
I’d have never seen myself saying it, but the clog museum looks very interesting, I didn’t realized there were so many different kind of clogs. It’s a shame we missed Zaanse whilst travelling in The Netherlands during summer, it only means we have to go back at some point.
I liked the museum a lot!! One of my favourite places here.
Great photos! I can say that the experience was far worth more than the price.
Yes, definitely!!
I loved the live demonstration by the expert clog maker the most. I would definitely recommend to visit the workshop!
I wonder if it is still the same man as when I visited, funny guy that one, he even speaks Chinese with a Dutch accent! When he was operating the machine, he suddenly said: “shou gong liang xiao shi, ji qi wu fen zhong!”. We were confused as to what language he was speaking for awhile before we connected the dots. “Two hours by hand, five minutes with machine!” :D
Wow, didn’t know you made it there! So great! I have not met anyone who speaks Chinese with a funny Dutch accent! :(
Agness, I’ve never heard of Zannse but it looks wonderful!! I would love to see some of the more countryside areas outside the main cities if and when I cam get to the Netherlands and I must keep this in mind. The cocoa lab looks like great fun! I’d have found it hard not to keep eating as I go along! Love the clog museum – now that’s my kind of museum :-D
Shikha, Zaanse Schans is beyond beautiful!
gotta love a good windmill!
For sure, Andrew!
Wow, Zaanse Schans looks like a really cool place to visit, Agness! The many windmills actually remind me of my trip to Kinderdijk this summer, but this clearly seems to be the better place for a nice picnic… :) By the way, I love how your nail polish matches the green theme of the houses and windmills… ;)
It’s absolutely wonderful! :)x Hahahahahah!! Thanks for the compliment :)!
What a pretty little place to stop! And OMG those waffles – I nearly broke my computer screen trying to grab at them lol…
These waffles were absolutely delicious!!
The first picture totally sucked me into reading about this little known town. But then the small unheard towns almost always attract me more them those bustling cities! You have given so much information and the place is also not heavy on the pockets, beautiful :)
I absolutely agree.
It looks so beautiful Agness. We will have to put this on our list when we eventually get over that side of the world. Those windmills are gorgeous. I definitely could do with a hot drink and some cookies now. Yum. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Lesh!!
Zaanse Schans looks very picturesque, such a beautiful little place.
I only live a few hours drive away but for some reason I never visited there, it is definitely on my list now to visit during a weekend.
It’s amazing!!
Looks like a great day out! Wish I’d got to visit some windmills while I was in the Netherlands!
It was wonderful!
“very dutch” I love it. Looks like a beautiful place in the sun, great green grass and the windmills are super cute
Yes, it’s very Dutch!
Zaanse Schans looks fabulous Agness. :) I heart the bajinkas out of the shoe/clog garden wall feature, what a creative display. :) Love the food spread too. So healthy and delicious.
I fell in love with this place…
Nice write up! Having lived in Amsterdam for a year, I am embarrassed to say I have actually not been to Zaanse Schans, but if windmills are what you’re looking for and you don’t have that much time to spare, there’s quite a few still peppered throughout Amsterdam. It’s almost like a scavenger hunt to find them =)
Looks great fun, especially the windmills and I love small quirky museums.
I loved this place!!
Lovely photos, Agness. I’ve been to Amsterdam several times but would love to go on a day trip into the countryside and visit a working windmill. Good to know Zaanse Schans is accessible by public transit.
Thank you Lesley!