Cheap public transportation by bus or train and a variety of bus tours make the historic working windmills at Zaanse Schans a popular day-trip destination from Amsterdam.
Zaanse Schans is a very popular day-trip destination from Amsterdam. The main attractions here are the historic working windmills. Further historic buildings organized like a living open-air museum, several museums, restaurants, demonstration factories, and souvenir shops add to the tourist appeal. Although parts are very commercial and touristy, it is still a fun trip. No admission tickets are required to visit the area and the exteriors of the largest collection of windmills near Amsterdam. (The Zaanse Schans Card includes admission to all museums and mills.) Access from Amsterdam is easy on fast public transportation (bus or train) or book guided tour bus trips.
Train tickets from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans cost around €5. The price of bus tickets is around €6.50 each way.
How to Get to Zaanse Schans by Public Transportation (Bus / Train) from Amsterdam
The historic windmills of Zaanse Schans are not far from Amsterdam and can be reached from Amsterdam Centraal (central train station) by bus or train within around 45 minutes. Many options and routings are available but few would regret sticking to one of the following standard options:
- Train from Amsterdam Centraal (or Sloterdijk) station to Zaandijk Zaanse Schans station followed by a pleasant 15-minute walk.
- Bus EBS R-Net 391 from Amsterdam Centraal train station to Zaanse Schans bus stop directly at the windmills.
- Many day-trip bus tours are available from Amsterdam. A Zaanse Schans-only bus tour is usually around three hours while longer tours including further sights such as Volendam, Edam, and Monnickendam (or Keukenhof in season) may add more value.
The useful 9292 travel app may list many further options but frankly, no one wants to shave three minutes off a journey by adding a further bus transfer and risk being stranded in all weather at a lonely bus stop.
Many stations and stops have similar names. The closest train station to the windmills is “Zaandijk Zaanse Schans” while the bus stop right in front of the windmills is “Zaandam Zaanse Schans”.
How to Pay and Buy Tickets for Public Transportation in Amsterdam
Buying tickets and paying for public transportation in Amsterdam and the Netherlands have the habit of continuously becoming easier and simultaneously more complicated for foreign visitors or occasional users. Paying cash or buying a ticket from the driver is rarely possible.
Whatever the payment or ticket type, it is always necessary to check in at the beginning of journeys (one beep) and check out at the end (two beeps). Scanners are available at station entrances or platforms and on trams or buses. Each traveler must use their own card or ticket — sharing during the same journey is not possible.
The following are the standard payment methods currently in use on public transportation:
- OV-Pay — increasingly the payment method of choice: use a contactless credit or debit card. All fares for the day are accumulated and charged once per day. Most foreign cards issued by Maestro, V pay, Mastercard, or Visa work, as do Apple Pay or Google Wallet.
- OV-Chipcard — the OV-chipcard will be discontinued in 2025.
- Using a standard travel day pass or multi-day tickets. From Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans the Amsterdam & Regional Transportation Ticket is valid on trains and buses (but not the GVB City Day Ticket), which makes it easy to use the train to Zaanse Schans and return by bus if preferred.
- Mobile phone tickets, e.g. Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans by train, are easy to buy and use but add a small surcharge.
EBS Bus R-Net Line 391 from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans
Buses are often the easiest way to reach Zaanse Schans from Amsterdam. EBS R-Net Line 391 connects Amsterdam four times per hour in 40 minutes with Zaanse Schans, which is the final stop and is directly in front of the windmills area.
In 2025, the EBS R-Net Line 391 bus (previously operated by Connexxion) again departs from the Busstation CS IJzide, Amsterdam (north/water side) of Amsterdam Central train station. It also stops at the Prins-Hendrikkade bus stop, which could be useful for some travelers.
The stop right in front of the windmills is “Zaandam Zaanse Schans”.
The Amsterdam & Regional Transportation Ticket (but not the GVB City Day Ticket) is valid on bus 391. If not using OV-Pay (credit card), the BTM ticket is a good option. The BTM is €6.50 and valid for 90 minutes on all Amsterdam metros, trams, and buses (including EBS and Connexxion). It is NOT available from the driver — buy from vending machines (at any metro station or larger tram stops). The BTM ticket is activated only on check-in so buy a ticket for the return at the same time.
A further option is the regional day ticket (Dagkaart Zaanstreek-Waterland) for €12.50, which is valid all day in EBS in the Zaan region (including Zaandam, Edam, Vollendam, Monnickendam, and Marken). It is valid on EBS buses to and from Amsterdam but not on other buses, trams, or metros in the city. This day ticket is available from the bus driver.
In summer, and during some vacations, a direct bus 891 may connect Amsterdam station and Zaanse Schans in 20 minutes. It is unclear if this service will run in 2025.
By Train from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans Windmills
Trains from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans are slightly faster but require a longer walk at the destination, which is not a bad option as visitors enjoy a beautiful panoramic view of the windmills from the modern road bridge across the river.
From Amsterdam Centraal, use the sprinter train in the direction of Uitgeest and get off at “Zaanse Schans, Zaandijk” (usually the fourth stop after Amsterdam Sloterdijk, Zaandam, and Koog aan de Zaan). The train takes only around 18 minutes (up to four times per hour) but it is a further ten-minute walk from the station to the windmills.
The train ticket is around €5 one-way — the Amsterdam & Regional Transportation Ticket is accepted (but not the GVB City Day Ticket).
A mobile phone ticket for the ride from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans station (or return) is also available.
Return to Amsterdam via Zaandam Station
A further option, which works better on the return to Amsterdam and when using the Amsterdam & Regional Transportation Ticket or a pay card, is to check the bus schedule in front of “De Bleeke Dood” windmill — the first windmill seen when walking from the station.
Bus 67 is infrequent but if the waiting time is short, take it to Zaandam station to see the interesting Zaandam hotel and then continue by very frequent train to Amsterdam. The small Czar Peter House is also within walking distance from Zaandam station but far from Zaanse Schans.
Day-Trip Bus Tours to Zaanse Schans
Numerous tour bus excursion trips to Zaanse Schans are available from Amsterdam and as the panoramic and photogenic views are free, many further tour buses stop here too. Day-trip tours usually include admission to a windmill or workshop show such as cheese tastings or wooden shoes.
Half-day trips from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans are usually around 3.5 hours but many tours include further sites. The classic Zaanse Schans, Volendam, and Marken combination tours are hardly more expensive while adding the cheese town Edam is also popular. Add Giethoorn for a full-day trip from Amsterdam.
Tours are more frequent in summer while the classic combination with Keukenhof is only available for around two months each spring.
Zaanse Schans Visitors Information: Opening Hours and Tickets
Zaanse Schans resembles an open-air museum but the complex is not really a museum in itself. Like a normal town, admission to most of the site is completely free.
The museums and mills at Zaanse Schans set their own opening times and days. Admission fees range from €2 to €22 per site. The working windmills generally charge €5 each and the larger museums a pricy €15 to €22. The Zaanse Schans Card gives access to most pay sites for a day and is good value at €30.
Many sights at Zaanse Schans are closed on weekdays during winter and on Mondays throughout the year. (Much of the Netherlands is closed on Monday mornings.)
During summer, opening times are generally longer with most sites open during weekdays too especially during school holidays. The best days to see the windmills turning are Saturdays.
Restaurants at Zaanse Schans near Amsterdam, Holland
Zaanse Schans has two interesting restaurants in seventeenth-century buildings. The Restaurant De Hoop op d’Swarte Walvis (literally, hoping for the black whale) serves gourmet food in a rather elegant, formal setting.
In contrast, Restaurant De Kraai (the crow) is informal and family-friendly. De Kraai serves smaller meals and snacks in an Old Dutch setting. Always popular are the huge pancakes (pannenkoeken). These crepes are at least 12″ (30 cm) in diameter and served with sweet or savory toppings.
Further restaurants are available in the modern part of the town (railway station side of the river). A small Spar supermarket at the road crossing on the western side of the bridge is great for picnic supplies.
Zaanse Schans is a very popular day-trip destination from Amsterdam, as is Kinderdijk with 19 working windmills near Rotterdam. This is not surprising, as historic windmills are with flower bulb fields for many foreign travelers probably the most emblematic rural Dutch scene. If traveling to Holland during spring, do visit Keukenhof, the most fantastic flower park planted annually near Lisse and a wonderful day-trip destination from Amsterdam.
→ See also Working Windmills at Zaanse Schans in North Holland for more information on the windmills at Zaanse Schans.
