Zaanse Schans, Volendam & Marken day tour from Amsterdam

Zaanse Schans

If you want to experience real Netherland countryside, then you must visit Zaanse Schans, Marken and Volendam. I decided to visit all the 3 locations in a day during my trip to Amsterdam. I will strongly recommend to visit Zaanse Schans early morning because it is a popular tourist destination and it gets really crowded during afternoon time. Zaanse Schans is famous for its windmills. Marken and Volendam are small villages located near Zuiderzee Bay.

We started from Amsterdam Centraal at around 7am. Zaanse Schans is well connected to Amsterdam Centraal via train. The sprinter journey from Amsterdam Centraal to Zandjik Zaanse Schans takes about 20 minutes. Zaanse Schans windmills tourist center is located about 15 minutes walk from the train station. We got the first glimpse of the windmills from the bridge on the river Zaan. Zaanse Schans is situated near river Zaan. The windmills look old but they are still functioning. There is no entrance fee for the visit to Zaanse Schans. At Zaanse Schans you get to see dutch handicraft such as wooden shoemaking. It is also an excellent place if you want to buy locally made cheese and chocolates. There are around 7 active windmills around the area. The painted windmills look very impressive. The entrance fee for visiting inside a windmill is 5 Euro. I loved visiting inside the windmill and they explained about the functioning of the windmill and the history of the place. The windmill grind colored wood to prepare a powder which is converted into paint by adding egg oil.

If you love cheese and chocolates then you can’t skip Zaanse Schans during your visit to Netherlands. I tried different varieties of cheese and chocolates from the shop. Dutch cheese is really famous around the world. You can also buy the paint prepared by the windmill and different other souvenirs from the shop. Most of the houses situated near windmill belongs to the rich wind mill owner of the 18th and 19th century. These houses are painted in light blue and green color. At one point of time there were around 600 windmills in the region. The windmills were used for grinding spices, oil, paint, flower and cocoa powder. I stayed at the village for about 3 hours. Our next stop was Volendam fishing village. The bus connectivity to Volendam from Zaanse Schans was bad. I came back to Amsterdam Centraal and took another bus to reach Volendam.

Volendam

The best way to travel from Amsterdam centraal to Volendam is by bus. Bus no 316 connects Volendam and Amsterdam Centraal. Volendam is a beautiful coastal village and is famous among instagrammers. Volendam was established in the year 1300. It’s a great place to grab some fresh seafood. During weekends the fishing village is visited by locals. The beautiful red colored wooden houses look beautiful from the coast. I loved walking along the beautiful Markermeer Lake coast. I loved the laid back vibe of the people and most people were just enjoying their weekends. I was expecting the village to be more quiet but because of the local people it was really crowded. After having some delicious seafood we went to our last stop of the day.

Marken

Voldendam-Marken Express boat service operates between Marken and Voldendam village every one hour. It takes about 45 minutes ferry ride to reach Marken from Voldendam. The one way ferry ticket costs about 11 euro. Alternatively there are buses from Amsterdam Central to Marken and the bus ride takes about 30 minutes. Marken is smaller in size compared to Voldendam. Marken was much less crowded compared to Voldendam. Marken is a great place to take some nice Instagram shots. Marken is famous for canals, bridges, church and garden. Marken is also famous for colorful houses. We were there at the village during afternoon time but it was not that crowded. If you want to have more peaceful time then you must visit Marken but if you are looking for something more happening or planning to have your lunch then you must visit Volendam. Marken is also known for the unique architecture of the houses. Due to past flooding Marken residents built their homes on poles and knolls. It was a very unique experience to visit Marken. It is a great sleepy little town free from group tourists. The Church situated in Marken is very small in size and it is quite difficult to find the church. I really loved Marken and spent significant amount of time. I took the bus 315 from Marken to Amsterdam Centraal. You will be able to skip the crowd significantly if you visit Zaanse Schans in the morning time and Marken in the evening.