Day 16: 29 April 2019, Saturday:
We wanted to savor the beauty of canals and the Dutch architecture... got an awesome opportunity in Zaanse schans
We wanted to enjoy tulips in the country side in private fields also.
Another main item on the wishlist was Zaanse Schaans, the
We wanted to enjoy tulips in the country side in private fields also.
Another main item on the wishlist was Zaanse Schaans, the
collection of behemoth old wooden windmills set amidst picturesque canals
Cycling is the most popular recommendation to enjoy the tulip fields but we did not fancy 15 plus km of cycling. We decided to rent a car from Schipol airport (20 minute train ride from Leiden) for a day. Local company BB&L proved less expensive and convenient from other options at airport.
We bought a single train ticket Leiden to Schipol online ...https://www.ns.nl/en if you buy from the machine there is a surcharge of 1 euro for paper ticket. We scanned our ticket from the phone and went to the platform to board a train to Schipol. Sprinter train which stops at stations is just 5 minutes longer to reach the airport.
We picked up our car at 8 am. Zaanse Schans is open from 8 to 19. But we decided we'll try to hit the tulip fields first... it was Saturday, weekends are busy as locals are also out to enjoy themselves. It was also King's Day in Holland! The forecast was for rain through out the day. We wore our rain pants and orange top to celebrate the King's day with the locals. It did drizzle on and off, but cleared up after a few minutes. no major hassles except in the evening when we could not walk the old town of Leiden as planned.
LOGISTICS:
Cycling is the most popular recommendation to enjoy the tulip fields but we did not fancy 15 plus km of cycling. We decided to rent a car from Schipol airport (20 minute train ride from Leiden) for a day. Local company BB&L proved less expensive and convenient from other options at airport.
LEIDEN TO SCHIPOL:
We bought a single train ticket Leiden to Schipol online ...https://www.ns.nl/en if you buy from the machine there is a surcharge of 1 euro for paper ticket. We scanned our ticket from the phone and went to the platform to board a train to Schipol. Sprinter train which stops at stations is just 5 minutes longer to reach the airport.
TULIP FIELDS:
We picked up our car at 8 am. Zaanse Schans is open from 8 to 19. But we decided we'll try to hit the tulip fields first... it was Saturday, weekends are busy as locals are also out to enjoy themselves. It was also King's Day in Holland! The forecast was for rain through out the day. We wore our rain pants and orange top to celebrate the King's day with the locals. It did drizzle on and off, but cleared up after a few minutes. no major hassles except in the evening when we could not walk the old town of Leiden as planned.
With nearly 5,000 acres of red, yellow and purple flower-bulb fields, Flevoland is Holland’s biggest flower-growing region! The fields can be found in East and South Flevoland and, especially, the Noordoostpolder. Every year in spring, mid April-May, there is a spectacular ‘Flower-bulb route’ encompassing over 100 km through nearly 2500 acres of flowering fields. The route has become the longest and most colorful route in Holland and according to National Geographic, one of the world’s ultimate road trips! The Tulip Route is marked by signs so it makes for an easy drive. We can enjoy countless activities. Pick your own tulips at the Tulip Picking Garden, for instance. The area is quite distant for us to combine with Zaanse schaans also.
OR nearer Leiden, From Haarlem we can follow a canal called the
Leidsevaart all the way down through tulip country, towards the town Lisse (where Keukenhof is). passing through towns Heemstede and
Hillegom. Fields we can enter and enjoy the tulips without damaging. We did a bit of driving. Many fields seemed as if the harvesting had been done.
We did enjoy a few fields.
We turned direction and drove on to Zaanse schaans. [Volendam, and Marken are also lovely and we wanted to visit them. We could not due to time constraints... reserved for our next visit.]
Parked the car and walked in (there is a fee of 7 euros for parking but that day it was FREE, may be due to King's day)
Besides the windmill there is also a cheese factory museum, wooden clods museum, bakery, antiques shops, cafes, among others. This is the Wooden clods museum...
Golden clod...
These souvenirs are so pretty and very reasonably priced. We indulged in a bit of shopping here.
Cheese museum had great tasting of a variety of cheeses
There is always a line to enter the cheese museum... seen here
This is the inside of a spice grinding windmill
This is a bakery
Molen De Valk windmill
We briefly dropped in at a music party celebrating King's Day
Such a regret we could not walk more... the rain was steady.! We'll be back to enjoy all that we have missed
We walked back to our hotel. This had been our intended walking tour
We did enjoy a few fields.
We turned direction and drove on to Zaanse schaans. [Volendam, and Marken are also lovely and we wanted to visit them. We could not due to time constraints... reserved for our next visit.]
Parked the car and walked in (there is a fee of 7 euros for parking but that day it was FREE, may be due to King's day)
ZAANSE SCHANS:
Zaanse Schans is an old small village that has been transformed in an open air museum. It's great to take a walk by the lake and enjoy the most traditional side of The Netherlands. brings to life all the pictures that one imagines of Holland.
Open 8-19; free, pay if you want to visit the special windmills or museums. We visited the free windmills and museums and found it more than adequate
Open 8-19; free, pay if you want to visit the special windmills or museums. We visited the free windmills and museums and found it more than adequate
Zaanse Schans is 30 km/25 min drive on A5 OR A6 from
Amsterdam Airport. It is 56 km from Leiden.
Zaanse Schans is Home to about 8 windmills, some of them originally from the 17th century and very well preserved. [A windmill is a mill that converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades.]
Centuries ago, windmills usually were used to mill grain (gristmills), pump water (windpumps), or both.
Zaanse Schans is Home to about 8 windmills, some of them originally from the 17th century and very well preserved. [A windmill is a mill that converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades.]
Centuries ago, windmills usually were used to mill grain (gristmills), pump water (windpumps), or both.
Historically, windmills in Holland served many purposes.
The most important probably was pumping water out of the lowlands and
back into the rivers beyond the dikes.
There are the traditional windmills, some
of which still work to grind paint pigment, spices, etc. A miller is
on hand to demonstrate how the mill works and the effort required to
set the sails of the mill for maximum efficiency.
Cheese museum had great tasting of a variety of cheeses
There is always a line to enter the cheese museum... seen here
This is the inside of a spice grinding windmill
This is an old convenience store and coffee place
The crafts were awesome
We thoroughly enjoyed Zaanse schans...so picturesque
We thoroughly enjoyed Zaanse schans...so picturesque
We got a little lost trying to walk back to our car, then figured out the route.
We drove back to Lisse, headed to Noordwijk, Katwijk, Rijksdorp, etc
on N444, N441, N206.
Hit a few fields with rainbow of tulips. Most were barren.
Saw a lady literally trampling and tripping over tulips and glaring at it as if the tulip had jumped up and tripped her!! No boundaries for some people! SAD! [one of the cars seen in our pic below]
We drove back to our hotel. We had paid for the parking and parked in our slot.
Leiden is lovely. We had planned a walk around the old town but it was drizzling.
We walked back to our hotel. This had been our intended walking tour
WHAT AN AMAZING DAY!
Next day we drove to the airport, dropped our bags at our airport hotel, returned the car, and then took the train to Amsterdam to enjoy the city.
Report of our last day in Amsterdam is here:
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