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Kinderdijk
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Kinderdijk

Nineteen 18th-Century Windmills on the Polder Canals (UNESCO)

Plan this trip
1 dayIdeal stay₹10,120From / night₹2,770Food / day₹2,080Entry

The classic Dutch windmill view: 19 mills built around 1740 to drain the polders, standing in rows along the canals east of Rotterdam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walking or cycling the dyke paths is free; a ticket adds two museum mills you can climb inside, the pumping station and a short boat along the mills. Reach it by the Waterbus from Rotterdam's Erasmus Bridge or by bus from Rotterdam in under an hour. Half a day from Rotterdam; nearby Dordrecht, the oldest city in Holland, and Alblasserdam have the hotels. Come early or late for the light on the mills and fewer coaches.

Highlights

  • Rows of 18th-century windmills along the canals
  • Inside a museum mill
  • Early-morning or evening light on the mills
  • Cycling the polder dykes
  • The Waterbus from Rotterdam
  • Dordrecht's old harbours

Things to do

  • Windmill walk along the canals and the museum millsMorning · 3h
  • Bike ride along the polder dykesAfternoon · 2h
  • Waterbus along the river from RotterdamMorning · 1h
  • Dordrecht old town and harboursAfternoon · 2h

Tours & tickets

Tours & tickets in Kinderdijkvia GetYourGuideTours & tickets in Kinderdijkvia Klook

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When to go

Best time: April – October

Heads up

Winter: Shorter Hours, Fewer Boats

From November to March the Kinderdijk museum mills keep shorter hours and the boats from Rotterdam and along the mills run less often or not at all; bus 90 from Rotterdam runs all year. The dyke paths stay open for walking and cycling.

Heads up

Tour-Coach Crowds by Late Morning

From spring to early autumn the coach tours from Amsterdam arrive from about 10:00 and fill the paths, shops and boat jetties until mid-afternoon. Come at opening time or after 16:00, or stay the night nearby to see it quiet.

  • King's Day (Koningsdag) — The national holiday for the King's birthday: the whole country dresses in orange, every street becomes a flea market (the vrijmarkt, from the evening before), and Amsterdam's canals fill with party boats and its centre with up to a million people. Trains into Amsterdam are packed and hotels cost their most; book months ahead, or watch it in a calmer city such as Utrecht, Haarlem or Delft. Museums open, many shops close.