16 Days Europe Vacation Package Day 11 Amsterdam – Zaanse Schans – Volendam – Amsterdam

16 Days Europe Tour – White Christmas Day 11 Amsterdam – Zaanse Schans – Volendam – Amsterdam

NH Weinheim Hotel

This morning, after breakfast in Radisson Amsterdam Airport Hotel, we departed for Zaanse Schans, Netherlands’ Windmill village. It was very interesting to visit the Dutch wooden clogs outlet and Henri Willig Dutch Cheese Farm.

The Netherlands Windmills

Pretty Dutch Wooden Clogs

Dutch cheese farm

Next we went to Volendam Netherlands, a very quaint fishing village with picturesque Dutch houses. Here we had a 3 course fish meal at Restaurant DeKoe TeaRoom.

De Koe TeaRoom

Check out the holiday travel tips for Volendam Netherlands. ☺


After visiting Volendam, we went into the city to take the hour-long canal cruise of Amsterdam which ended at the Gassan diamonds Amsterdam factory where we were given a brief overview of how a diamond is made.

Boarding the boat for the canal cruise

The Amsterdam canal cruise brought us to the Gassan Diamonds factory which was an interesting experience where we learned more about how the carat, colour, clarity and cut of the diamonds contributes to its price.

Diamonds ...

Whilst waiting for some of our group members to make their Gassan diamonds purchase, we crossed to the next building to try Amsterdam's favorite Stroopwafels.

Stroopwafels Amsterdam

Our tour manager, Ricky from Chan Brothers, then brought us on a walk and we were able to see some tourist attractions in Amsterdam.  We walked around Amsterdam’s red light district before going back to the hotel. As it was almost 2000 hrs, we decided to have dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, The Lighthouse.

One of the tourist attractions in Amsterdam

Vibrant Amsterdam is a maze of small streets and canals and are best viewed from a rented bicycle if you have the time.

Amsterdam houseboats

Anne Frank House

One of the thousands of bridges in Amsterdam

We had a great dinner at the Radisson Blu Amsterdam Airport Hotel.  It was a very exciting day and we looked forward to the remaining few days left of our Europe vacation package.

The Lighthouse

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Amsterdam Day Trips - Zaanse Schans

Zaanse Schans

If you happen to be in Amsterdam, suggest you take one of the Amsterdam day trips to Zaanse Schans, a delightful 17th century town merely twenty minutes away from Amsterdam.

Picturesque scenery

Here, you will see some of the iconic windmills of Amsterdam, experience the making of cheese in a cheese farm and even visit a Dutch wooden clogs workshop to see how these clogs are made.  Pretty much all of Netherlands's traditional customs can be discovered here in Zaanse Schans.

The Netherlands Windmills

Zaanse Schans Windmills

Just outside the Dutch wooden clogs workshop

Punching Mr Snowman

Dutch wooden clogs - how to make

Beautiful clogs

Cute little souvenir

Entrance to the Cheese Farm

Freshly made cheese

On the way to the cheese farm

This is one of the more popular Amsterdam tourist attractions and if you truly wish to take in some authentic Amsterdam sightseeing, do make time to visit Zaanse Schans, a perfect destination to immerse yourself in the Dutch culture and definitely a stop for photo buffs!




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Windmills of Amsterdam

During our Europe vacation package, a trip to Zaanse Schans brought us close to the windmills of Amsterdam.

The Netherlands is synonymous for its windmills, clogs, tulips, canals, cheese markets… practically everything that you would expect to find in a charming and utterly picturesque country.

At Zaanse Schans

Windmills are as much a Dutch icon as are the clogs and tulips.

In the olden days, the Netherlands boasted more than 10,000 mills but today, a mere 1,000 remain. Many of these remaining mills are open to the public and a couple have even been transformed into homes.

There is even a National Windmill Day, and on festive occasions or national holiday, windmills are decked out in flowers, garlands, figures of angels or the Dutch flag.

Zaanse Schans Windmills

Of Amsterdam’s eight remaining windmills, the only windmill regularly open to the public is the "The Sloten Windmill". This is a reconstructed, working windmill built in 1847 and is a popular wedding venue. Whenever possible, the miller demonstrates how he turns the mill's sails into the wind. 

Another attraction at the Sloten is an audiovisual presentation about Rembrandt's life, called 'Rembrandt in the Attic'.

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