If you are on a visit to the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, do not miss the opportunity to discover the village of “Zaanse Schans”, one of the most famous rural destinations in the Netherlands, which is located less than half an hour north of the capital.
It is not just an ordinary village, but rather an open country museum on the banks of the Zan River, filled with ancient air mills, and traditional crafts that formed the features of the Dutch golden age.
but; What makes the village of “Zansey Shans” a distinctive Dutch destination? How do you reach it? What can you see and do one day? This is what we will discover together in the coming lines.
How does the countryside turn into an open museum?
In the middle of the twentieth century, the Netherlands began to realize the importance of preserving its industrial and rural heritage, which formed a large part of its economic history during the Golden Age.
Hence the idea of creating “Zansey Shans”, a village that simulates the past and restores life to its details, and an outdoor museum that displays the patterns of living and traditional Dutch industries as it was centuries ago.
The idea dates back to 1946, when the Dutch architect “JAAP Schipper” proposed the transfer of a number of mills and historical wooden houses from the original, which was threatened with demise, to one place that embodies rural life and traditional industries in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
After years of planning, the actual implementation began in the 1960s, when the buildings were transferred to the eastern bank of the Zan River.
Since then, Zansey Shans has developed to become one of the most important models of preserving the Dutch rural heritage, as her visit is not limited to watching the famous windmills; It also includes green -colored wooden houses that return the visitor to the atmosphere of the past centuries, traditional stores, and ancient factories that are still operating today.
Access to “Zansey Shans”
Reaching the village of Zansey Shans is easy and fast, making it an ideal destination for a daily trip outside the capital.
You can take the train from Amsterdam Central Station to the “Zaandijk – Zaanse Scans” station, which is the nearest village station, and the trip takes only about 17 minutes.
From there, you will need 10 minutes on foot to cross the infantry bridge and reach the heart of the village.
And if you prefer the car, there are parking spaces for visitors near the entrance, which makes it easier for you to move freely. Tourist buses are also available from Amsterdam to the village directly.
The cost of the visit
It is a pleasant surprise in Zansey Shans that entering is completely free! You can resort freely between wooden corridors, enjoy watching air mills and traditional homes, and take pictures as you like without any fees.
Knowing that some museums and workshops impose symbolic entry fees, which often include interactive tours or live offers worth experimenting. In short, you can spend a day rich in beautiful activities and scenes in Zansey Shans without having to spend a lot.
Visiting times
You can visit the village daily from 9 am until 5 pm, and it is the ideal period for the visit between April and September, where the weather is nice, and the promoter is green.
Whether you like to spend distinctive moments, photography lover, or only looking for the calm of the Dutch countryside, Jansi Shans gives you an integrated experience in one day. Below is a map to spend a day trip in this amazing village.
Memorial photos
Once you get to the Zansey Shans village station, a small bridge overlooks the river, and you will find yourself in the traditional green wooden houses, and small bridges that intersect with narrow water channels, you will feel like you are part of an old movie or at a moment recorded in a postcard.
These houses represent the traditional construction style in the Zan area, which was prosperous in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when the region flourished thanks to trade and industry.
Many of them were owned by the owners of mills and merchants, and are distinguished by decorative front facades that reflect the social status of their owners.
Although most of these houses are still inhabited, you can take memorial photos of them from the outside, especially when the wooden bridges and windows decorated with flowers, as the village appears to stop in a quiet moment of the past.
Air mills
From afar, the air mills in Zansey Shans seem to be a scene from an ancient Dutch plate: huge sails slowly spinning in green meadows and a quiet river. But as soon as you approach it, life does not come in this static scene; The mills are not just historical symbols, but rather vibrant machines that have been working for centuries.
Some of these mills date back to the seventeenth century, when the village of Zan was a prosperous industrial center of about 600 mills at the height of its activity.
Today, a few windows are still working at full capacity, and give you the opportunity to enter them to explore their amazing mechanical details.
Wooden stairs
When going up through the narrow wooden stairs to the surface, you will get a stunning panoramic view of the Zan River in the center of the meadows and the surrounding green homes. One of the most important mills available for the visit is mills to produce colors and paint from rocks and minerals.
Others use wind power to spread tree trunks, as well as traditional oil mills, mustard grinding, and spices such as cloves and pepper.
You can resort freely between these mills, or join a tour with a guide to learn about its history and importance, and see live models of traditional machines.
The experiment is not complete without visiting the Windmill Museum, which provides a visual and interactive narration of the development of the use of mills in the Netherlands over time, from grinding grains, spices, spreading wood, extracting oils, and even making dyes, when the Zan region was one of the largest industrial centers in the world.
Cheese Museum
Zansey Shansa can not visit the Catharina Hoeve Cheese Farm, which is not a traditional museum in the literal sense; As far as it is a lively experience of the Dutch cheese craft that the Dutch inherited through generations and entering it free.
The museum is located in an old wooden building in the traditional rural style, and the tour begins with a simple and friendly width of the traditional Dutch dress, in which it explains the way to manually make cheese – from the phase of cows to fermentation, cutting and packaging.
In the place, original tools and pots that were used in the past are displayed in the past to make cheese in small halls that resemble an old workshop, and the wooden figures of cheese are spread in the museum’s corners, which gives you a great opportunity to take wonderful pictures.
Delivery hall
The most enjoyable part of the visit begins when you reach the taste hall where the tables are full of dozens of types of distinctive Dutch cheese.
You will have an opportunity to taste what you want for free, and you will find yourself in front of countless options: there are the most famous internationally -world cheese, in addition to goats cheese, sheep, cream cheese, smoker, herbal mixture, and a strong, emancipated cheese.
Whether you are a fan of cheese or try it out of curiosity, you will find a kind that suits your taste. Of course, you can buy the species you like of cheese, including what is shown in small gift packages or the full size to enjoy it later.
Wooden
One of the most unique experiences in Zansey Shans, visiting the wooden dots industry workshop, those traditional shoes made of wood that have always been associated with the Dutch countryside, and is still worn in some rural areas to this day.
The workshop is located in a large wooden building that was used as a grain depot in the eighteenth century, when you enter, greets you daily offers for skilled makers who turn a solid wood block into elaborate wooden shoes, using hand tools and traditional machines.
In this show, you see the steps of sculpting, cavity and cutting accurately, while workers explain how Dutch peasants relied on these durable shoes to protect their feet while working in the fields, or even when skating on the ice in winter!
After the show, visitors can explore the attached Kabakib Museum with a workshop, which includes one of the most wonderful wooden shoes collections in the world.
In it you will find cards from different areas inside the Netherlands, some of which are colored with traditional handicrafts, such as the wedding ties and skiing, along with models of imported or strange cards that are exposed to the view.
The most fun part of the experiment is to wear colorful wooden wooden bakes of multiple sizes, some of them with the giant size of the display and take funny pictures inside it, whether you are standing or sitting, including appropriate for the actual size for their experience. You can also buy a small, colorful wooden tip as an authentic memorial from this rural trip.
Pets
One of the most beautiful simple and free activities in Zansey Shans, wandering between the pets that move freely throughout the village. Whether you start with this experience or stamp it with it, you will feel that you are part of a quiet rural life that has not changed much over time.
Along the roads and farms, you will see cows and sheep quietly sponsor green pastures, while geese swim in water canals, and the chickens and roosters move between fields and village corridors. These simple moments allow visitors to integrate into the slow rhythm of rural life.
It is also an ideal activity for families. Children can watch animals closely, or feed them with parents and under their supervision, a simple but full experience that we remind us that the most beautiful thing about travel is sometimes stopping a little, and watching life as it is.
Watch the village
If you want to see Zansey Shans from a completely different angle, do not miss the opportunity to sail on the eastern bank of the Zan River. Village administration seeks to maintain the river free of large boats and commercial ships in order to preserve its calmness and virgin nature.
So only limited tours are available with small open boats that can accommodate twelve people as a maximum to give visitors the opportunity to see air mills and colorful wooden houses of water quietly.
The journey takes about 25 minutes, and it starts every half an hour, accompanied by a local guide who tells the passengers tales from the history of Zansey Shans, and reviews the details of the lives of merchants and the owners of the mills who lived on the banks of the river centuries ago.
This tour is not only a means of movement, but a moment of contemplation and quiet immersion that you can conclude with your day in Zansey Shans, as it allows dazzling pictures of the village’s landmarks from a different perspective.
Buy gifts
Before you leave, do not forget to buy a small gift or an authentic memorial from Zansey Shans, reminds you of your trip to the Dutch countryside. Start from the same mills and workshops, where you can buy handmade local products such as the famous cheese and fresh Dutch waves.
Then, toured small stores scattered around the village, and you will find a wide range of souvenirs that suit all tastes and budgets.
Among the most prominent miniature figures for Zansey Shans’s homes and air mills, made of wood or colored porcelain, as well as hand -coated wooden tulip flowers with bright colors.
And if you are looking for a distinctive memorial, do not miss the acquisition of small statues made of blue porcelain “Delft Royal”, a luxurious Dutch product that reflects the heritage of pottery since 1653.
Tasting
After a day full of activities and roaming, nothing completes your day in Zansey Shans is better than savoring traditional Dutch pancakes at Pannenkoeken de Kraai, one of the most famous village restaurants.
The restaurant offers a delicious variety of Dutch pancake, whether you prefer it sweet or salty.
And if you are looking for a moment of calm, enjoy a comfortable session in one of the small cafes or restaurants overlooking the river, where light dishes, warm drinks, and delicious local sweets are offered.
This session with local food or drinks, amid the scene of mills and pastures, is the ideal way to conclude your visit to this charming Dutch village.