Amsterdam

Dutch Countryside and Zaanse Schans Windmills Private Tour

Badge of ExcellenceAmsterdam, Netherlands

5 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Trade Amsterdam’s bustle for the tranquility of the Dutch countryside—and enjoy a personalized sightseeing experience—on this private, half-day tour. Following morning pickup from your Amsterdam hotel, hop aboard your comfortable, private vehicle. Your first destination in Zaanse Schans, where you can admire its iconic windmills. Next, head to the Volendam fishing village (and discover the local cheese and clog industries) before exploring Marken Haven’s distinct houses, built on stilts.

Enjoy a leisurely, comfortable sightseeing experience on this private tour
Round-trip transit from your Amsterdam hotel by comfortable vehicle
See Zaanse Schans, Voldendam, and Marken Haven, all in half a day
Discover the Dutch countryside’s windmills, fishing villages, and more

What's Included

Private tour and transportation
WiFi on board
A visite to the dykes
All Fees and Taxes
Bottled water
Hotel pick-up and drop-off (Amsterdam)

Entry / admission boat trip

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

10:00 AM

Pickup details

You will be picked up at the agreed location* you prefer; hotel, harbour port, train station, Amsterdam Airport or any given address. Then we will head towards the north side of Amsterdam to the countryside when you can see the cheese and clogs factory. *It will be no problem to send us an update up to 12 hours in advance if pickup address not known at the time of the booking.

What To Expect

Zaanse Schans

2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Volendam

2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation

Infant seats available
Most travelers can participate
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Joey_L

We really enjoyed the windmill tour and learning about their construction Our guide/owner was knowledgeable,, super friendly and patient

Reviews

4.5

42 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 42 reviews

Windmill tour

Donald_H, Apr 2024

Our guide, Sunny, was fantastic. He made the tour so enjoyable. The tour of an actual functioning windmill that was a sawmill was the highlight

Too expensive for what you get.

Eve_K, Oct 2023

This trip is far too expensive for what it is. You don't actually see much so was quite dissapointed that we gave 520€ for 2 of us. The driver was a nice guy but we felt quite rushed, we wanted to look into the shops when walking past but he always rushed off then we needed to find him. It was nice that it was a private tour but I don't feel it was worth the price tag it came with. Had we off gotten to see more places then it would have been worth it.

Great tour duration and spots

Almas_A, Oct 2023

Sam was our tour for the day, we absolutely enjoyed our time. Same was super friendly, welcoming, generous and knowledgeable not only of the tour but he also shared general history and knowledge about the Netherlands and the areas we visited. We visited the Windmills, Cheese factory and fishing village, had time to shop and walk around a bit. Sam was both flexible with time and efficient. Tour duration was great too, we went through everything and still had the rest of the day to enjoy the city.

Extraordinary Experience

Rafael_R, Oct 2023

Erwin has an extraordinary guy taking us to the places we wanted to see. He is fun, friendly and local! Amazing experience

Great way to see to counteyside

Kevin_B, Sep 2023

Was a able to see everything we wanted to see. Driver, Tommy, was great. Toured windmills and cheese factory

Windmills

Joey_L, Aug 2023

We really enjoyed the windmill tour and learning about their construction Our guide/owner was knowledgeable,, super friendly and patient

Book this tour!

Merrianne_S, Jul 2023

We enjoyed getting to see the windmills and clog shop. Sam took us through some countryside to the cheese factory and on our way to Vollmer. We had a great tour and Sam was a wonderful and kind guide!

Amazing highlights of Holland tour

Marion_L, Jun 2023

Loved the windmills. And enjoyed seeing the clogg maker at work. Toured a local cheese factory and learned alot. Daniel did a great job as our guide. Was quite knowledgeable and courteous

A great way to see the Netherlands

Zarah_L, Jun 2023

It was a very relaxing tour! Sam, our guide and driver made it that way. We went to beautiful places we wanted to be. We highly recommend this tour especially with kids and with a tight schedule.

This was not a tour for our family; only expensive transportation.

Nadia_P, Jun 2023

This was the absolute worst tour we have experienced. If we had expected a driver, then that was satisfactory, but we had hired a guide to inform us and give us insight to these countryside destinations. Our guide was very quiet and didn’t seem to know much about Zaanse Schans or Volendam; in fact, he wasn’t sure where we were supposed to go exactly when he picked us up - he actually asked me! There was almost no speaking on the drive there, and when we arrived, the extremely obvious was stated in short, succinct sentences…things that anyone could simply see. “This is a windmill…it is grinding paint.” “This is how they make cheese…” We finished everything - the drive from Amsterdam, Zaanse Schans, and Volendam - in about 3 hours and had a leisurely lunch. In Volendam, he said NOTHING about the town…actually I don’t think he said anything at all while we navigated the main street for the first 15 minutes. I finally asked if it’s an old town just so that he could elaborate or simply say something, and he simply replied, “Yes, it’s an old town…” and he said another sentence or two that made it apparent he did not know much about Volendam. I think he realized that we finished the tour way too early, so he took us to another identical cheese-making demonstration in a different location. It was the same Henri Willig demo again. We got the hint…my husband said to me that maybe we have to buy cheese, which we did. My daughter was discreetly whispering to me, “Please…please no more cheese.” Our guide was perfectly nice, but it was very, very clear to us that he was meant to be the driver only…the guide must have been someone else. He was not the guide stated in the reviews, and I rely heavily on reviews to make these decisions, so I feel obligated to state mine here. If we had hired an Uber driver to take us around, we would have spent much less money (almost €600) and probably had much more conversation. I hate leaving negative reviews, but I always make these choices based on others’ experiences, and this one was that disappointing. I would not want another family to waste so much valuable time in such a beautiful country. I called Viator to share my experience, and my customer service rep was actually laughing from the ridiculousness and absurdity of it all. She could not believe it herself!

Response from Host, Jun 2023

Dear Sir/Madam, We reached out to you personally to address your concerns. We deeply regret that your expectations were not met, and we take your concerns very seriously. First and foremost, please accept our heartfelt apologies for the inadequate knowledge and expertise displayed by our tour guide during your recent tour. We understand that a knowledgeable and engaging guide is essential to providing an enriching experience, and we recognize that our guide fell short of your expectations. However, we addressed to you personally that these circumstances happened because of the bad news he received before the start time of your tour. Please know that your feedback is incredibly valuable to us. We genuinely appreciate your taking the time to bring these concerns to our attention, as it allows us to address them and improve our services. We are committed to continually enhancing the quality of our tours and ensuring that our customers have memorable and fulfilling experiences. To express our apologies and our commitment to your satisfaction, we offered a refund that covered all your expenses. Once again, I apologize for the disappointment and inconvenience you experienced. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me personally if you have any further concerns or if there is anything else we can do to rectify the situation. We value your feedback and are committed to resolving this matter to your satisfaction. Thank you for your understanding and patience. Yours sincerely, Gijs

Nothing like the country!

Janet_B, May 2023

Sam, our guide was prompt, polite, helpful, knowledgeable and has lived in the Netherlands for 35 years. Took us out to the beautiful country and saw incredible working windmills, a cheese factory and state of the art dairy milking cow facilities. Just a wonderful day!

Amsterdam area tour

Stephen_G, May 2023

Great experience. Very knowledgabke guide and pleasant personality. Thourougjly enjoyed. Highly recomend

Fabulous tour and service!

Sarah_S, Apr 2023

One of the best tours we did in the Netherlands. Sam was prompt, courteous and catered to our group of six. A must do if you are in or around Amsterdam!

Amazing tour

Ivy_M, Mar 2023

This was an amazing experience. Our tour guide took us to the windmills, the cheese factory, and because we finished early he took us to see tulips and the sea town. On our drive he told us the makeup of Amsterdam and suggested other areas to explore. My husband and I were throughly impressed. It was nice to see other parts of this country. Thank you for a great experience.

Memorable Countryside Tour

Ronny_S, Jan 2023

Our private tour included pickup and drop off service. Our family of 5 were picked up in a nice van from our hotel. Our driver and tour guide, Sam, was very punctual and polite even help us carrying our stuff that we bought during tour. He pointed out and explain point of interests along the way. Each site that we visited provided its own guide (windmills and cheese factory) Sam was never rushing us. He made sure we had enough time to enjoy the trip. At the end of the tour, he gave us a ride through the Red Light District as a bonus! Definitely recommended.

Excellent experience

grbyers, Nov 2022

Our guide, Sam, was so patient at every stop. Our visit to a working windmill ( a sawmill) was a highlight. Watching a clog being formed from a block of wood was fascinating. Our visit to the cheese making farm included an introduction to a modern barn. The cows choose when they are ready to be milked and set themselves up in the stall ready for the milking machine to collect their milk. Because our group of 6 took extended stays at each of our stops, our tour of Volendam was cut a little short since we chose to take the ferry to Marken. Each member of our group thoroughly enjoyed our day away from the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam. Sam could not have done more. We had an excellent day.

Great Break from the City

Matthew_D, Jul 2022

My family (me, wife, 22 yo daughter, 20 yo daughter, 5 yo daughter) enjoyed this tour immensely. I knew the stops ran the risk of being a little cheesy, but I wanted to take a day out of our week in Amsterdam to get out of the city and see some "traditional" Dutch sights, especially for my five year old. Well, our guide Sam made this one of our favorite days in the Netherlands. His warmth, local knowledge, and enthusiasm made it feel more like we were hanging out with a good family friend who happened to be Dutch. The itinerary was actually perfect for getting a fun overview of the windmills and clog-making of Zaanse Schans, cheesemaking of a local farm, stop along the dike, and wonderful lunch of smoked eel. But the real star of the day was Sam himself, who was just wonderful. Ten stars out of five.

Disappointed

Doris_H, Jun 2022

Our guide was a wonderful driver. He was excellent at getting us to the destinations but had to Google the attraction to answer my questions. He went out of his way to try his best. However we never got to see the dikes. We had to check the attraction list if the museum at the windmill site was included and the boat ride at the fishing village. I would not recommend a Limosine service to replace a tour guide. A lot of money for a private tour to be so disappointed.

Response from Host, Jun 2022

Dear Customer, We feel sorry that you didn't enjoy the tour as you expected. As we have many drivers who provide this tour we are wondering on which day you had the tour and who the driver was. We want to check with the driver where it went wrong and what exactly happened as this means a lot to us in how to improve our service. We are kindly looking forward to your reply. Yours sincerely, Gijs

Windmills and such

Candice_B, May 2022

This trip was so beautiful. The countryside and towns were picturesque. Our driver was very knowledgeable and even made a lunch reservation for us so we could taste local fare. At one point, my friend couldn't walk on the cobblestones. He got a wheelchair and pushed her. It was very enjoyable day!

Great driver and guide! I...

Xinshu_D, Apr 2022

Great driver and guide! I would recommend anyone who is looking for a private tour to consider them!