Private Amsterdam Windmill Tour
Experience Authentic Dutch Countryside
Private Amsterdam Windmill Tour
Most people who want to see windmills and countryside end up at Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Marken, which is fine if you don’t mind sharing it with hundreds of other tourists. I don’t take you to those sorts of places. I’ve spent a decade getting to know some genuinely special spots, and this is the day trip I’ve put together from them. We drive along winding back country lanes, open farmland and small villages, past the flat landscape of polders and dikes, stopping at a picture-perfect harbour town that most visitors to Amsterdam never find, at rural windmills from the 1600s, and at a real working farm with happy Dutch cows. I pick you up at 9am from your hotel in an SUV or Mercedes minivan, and we’re back by mid-afternoon. It’s usually the highlight of people’s trips.
There are two versions of the tour. Monnickendam is my favourite and the one I recommend to most people. Edam is the better choice if you have young children with you.
The Monnickendam Tour
Durgerdam Our first stop is a small village built on a dike just outside Amsterdam. It’s the kind of place that makes you realise how extraordinary Dutch water management actually is. We’ll talk about how much of the country sits below sea level, how it got that way, and what it takes to keep it dry.
The Countryside Drive From Durgerdam we drive through open farmland, flat and green and surprisingly quiet given how close we are to the city. I’ll point out what you’re looking at and why it looks the way it does.
Monnickendam A historic harbour town that almost no tourists visit, which is exactly why I love it. We’ll walk through the streets, I’ll tell you the history, and we’ll stop for Dutch apple pie and coffee at a local spot that makes it by hand. It really is excellent. Bring an appetite.
The Schermerhorn Windmills A working 17th-century windmill that has been pumping water since 1639. We go inside, I explain how it works and why the Dutch adapted windmills in so many different ways, and if conditions allow you’ll see it actually in operation. There are diagrams and a proper explanation, not just a quick look around.
A Real Dutch Farm This is the part people tend to talk about most afterwards. It’s a genuine working farm, dairy and potatoes and tulips depending on the season, run by the same family for over a century on land reclaimed from a lake in 1612. You’ll meet the cows, watch the automated milking system, collect eggs from the free-range chickens who live under the walnut trees, and usually get to meet one of the family. Also Bruce, the farm dog, who is very friendly and extremely good at his job of being a farm dog.
Food Along the Way We have a substantial piece of traditional Dutch apple pie and coffee about 90 minutes into the tour. The following Dutch snacks are also included: the following Dutch snacks: ‘gevulde koek’ which are almond filled Dutch cookies; a young and and and older Gouda cheese; luxury assortments of nuts; sea salt and caramel Dutch Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate; Dutch ‘drop’ or licorice for the daring and bottled water for everyone.
The Edam Version
The Durgerdam stop, the countryside drive, the farm and the windmill visit are all the same on both tours. The difference is the town.
Edam is a lovely historic town and a perfectly good choice, though we may encounter other tour groups there. It tends to work better with children: there’s a wonderful old-fashioned candy shop, a cheese shop where you can taste various Edam and Gouda varieties, and the Old House Museum with its curious floating cellar that kids seem to find genuinely fascinating.
One thing to note: the apple pie is a Monnickendam thing. Edam has plenty of food options but the pie doesn’t travel.
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Amsterdam Windmill Tour Reviews
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