Netherlands is known for windmills. Windmills were mainly used to generate energy needed to turn raw material into a tradable product. It was also used for reclaim land from sea. Most part of Netherlands is below sea level.
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| Windmills seen from the watchtower |
The two places that has large number of windmills are Kinderdijk and Zaanse Schans. I had visited Kinderdijk before; it was a difficult place to reach by public transport. This time I decided to go to Zaanse Schans. It is near to Amsterdam and hence more popular with tourists.
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| Fields and the windmills |
It was easy to reach Zaanse Schans. Bus number 391 from Amsterdam Central dropped me directly in front of Zaanse Schans. The popularity of the place was clearly seen with the number of cars parked. And there were buses dropping people in big numbers!!
It is said that there were 1100 industrial windmills before industrial revolution. Today there are only 5-6 windmills. And most of them are literally taken out from their original site and put here. In that way, the place can be considered as open air museum.
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| View from the canal |
There is a watch tower that gives a nice view of the surrounding areas. The path next to the watch tower is used less by tourists but it provides some good opportunity to photograph.
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| Another view |
The main path was crowded with visitors. While it is possible to enter into the windmill, the entrance is not free. For each windmill, you need to pay separately!!
You can also cross the bridge to get a full view of all windmills.
The bridge opens up when a boat has to pass. It is a sight to watch!!
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Zaanse Schans is a very touristy place. Two hours is sufficient for this place. There is also a museum which I did not visit. Boat rides also available to see the windmills from water.
R Niranjan Das
They look so pretty.
D.Nambiar
Those are such cute windmills.
We live close to a windfarm and the mills there are not this cute. 🙂
Vineeta Yashswi
Lovely post… All pictures are beautiful…
aravindgj
Niranjan,
Thanks.
D.Nambiar,
Interesting!! Thanks for your comment.
Vineeta,
Thanks.
rajeevguesskaro
Many thanks for this constructive information. Keep up the fantastic work. I’ll be coming back often. Guesskaro
Hindi Asha
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martin reno
Post more than Great , Kindly Thanks
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Shilpa
Amazing views!
aravindgj
Rajeev,
Thanks.
Asha,
Thanks.
Martin,
Thanks.
Shilpa,
Thanks.