Zaanse Schans Windmills, Cheese And Volendam Tour From Amsterdam

Meeting point was confusing. Our Volendam portion of the tour was cancelled. We were offered a 15% discount which we did not receive. I have done this tour before with other companies and it was great, this one was disappointing.

We did Zaan Shanse tour, unfortunately we were unable to visit Volendam because of weather, they compensated us with an evening canal cruise. It was interesting how wooden shoes were made and enjoyed the cheese tasting. The trip to the windmills was good as well just very busy with other tour groups

It is a quaint village with the windmills and shops. Very nice setting. Museum, shops, eatery and the water views!

Great experiences and guides, with clear communication by the guide; I definitely recommend this tour.

Our tour guide Rob was very knowledgeable and helpful.

Santiago was an excellent tour guide, great energy. It is a fun and not too long day trip, which is a very good option.

My son who is a civil engineer loved the technology of the old windmills. On the otherhand, I loved the quaint old town outside Amsterdam. It was a wonderful experience. We didn't care so much about the cheese tasting and the cheese. But we loved the history of the place.

The group was a bit to big and crowded

We got lost going to the meeting point so we did not make the tour.

The map shows a different pick up location. but it's still at Central Station Then you walk a quick 10 minutes to the bus. The guide is very good. We were glad to see the countryside and the windmills.

This was a ho-hum tour in an older, noisy, rattling bus that had major issues with the sound system. We couldn't hear any of the guide's comments and asked him to turn it up and fix the static, but nothing improved. Very disappointing stops - touristy spots, not the 'real Netherlands'.

Very enjoyable day seeing a little bit of everything traditionally Dutch. Well organised and everything kept to time.

The trip was great. Our guide, Rob, was very knowledgeable. My only complaint is that the information on where to meet was not correct. We used Google Maps using the address given and it took us in a different direction than where we need to go. We finally asked a local and got to the meeting site. Others on the trip had the same problem. Otherwise we had a very nice trip and would recommend it.

Rushed and commercial. We saw some great sites, but didn’t have enough time at any of them to enjoy them. We were rushed in, encouraged to buy things, and then rushed out.

Nice trip with stops in the fishing village and the windmills/cheese. However, the bus provider the tour used supplied a bus that was very dirty inside and had bottles and other trash left from an earlier trip(s).

The experience was eye opening. The guide was very informative and took care of the group.

Windmills, cheese, shoes, seaside. All included and very nice overview of Netherland customs. Volendam was a very nice seaside community to stop for lunch and enjoy the views. Walked on and drove along dikes and heard about the city and effects of water. Tour was 5 hours. Could have used 6 to spend more time at the windmill museum. We did leave a little late, ending late. Canal tour scheduled afterwards and was a push to make. (Scheduled 45 minutes after scheduled end of the tour.) I would recommend this tour for an overview of the countryside and Dutch customs.

We really like the guide Evelyn's explanation of the area and highlights. It was so nice to step back in time and see how shoes, cheese, etc. were made in past centuries. BTW, it's listed as 5 hours, but it was truly 3.5 hours.

Tour itiniary was good. But the whole day we felt rushed. Not enough time given at each stop. Cheese making stop was just a stop to visit their store. Demonstration was maybe 5 minutes long. Guide didn’t give good explanations of what there was to do at each stop. Which may have been on purpose since not much time was given. Sites were good. Don’t regret going. But know you only have very little time at each stop

Zaanse Schans is an absolute must! Our tour guide, Rob was awesome. Extremely friendly and knowledgeable. 10/10 recommend!

This was very disappointing. On the bus we could not hear what the guide had to say. When we could, it cut in and out. It was difficult having two languages when we had booked English only. There was very little commentary at all and our guide was very bland. It said to be prepared for walking but we had to walk a long way from the bus to destinations when other buses pulled right up. It would have been nice to have a water or something welcoming. The attractions were not authentic. It said stop at cheese making farm etc but it was one place with a how to make cheese and how to lathe clogs demo - to sell their wears. Other tours provided access to windmill and actual farm but this did not even though it sounded like it in the description. Same tour was advertised as $56 but that was for Spanish, whereas English same tour was $70.00! Why is this? For the price it was very poor and we would NOT recommend.

Travelers will definitely enjoy the cheese tastings and funny stories along the way thanks to our guide Rick. He was knowledgeable, polite, and made the whole excursion FUN and memorable!

Just right amount of info and free time....makes a long day seem short.

It turned out to be a bus ride to the village…then dumped off to find your own way around

We had a nice day in the Zansee Schans preserved village. The guide was very good and the coach was comfortable albeit views out of the windows were diminished by the external advertising on the bus. The main problem we and some others had was the unexpected walk to and from the bus. Having found the meeting point outside Central Station it turned out the bus was parked about 1/4 mile away. This involved crossing 2 main roads and various cycle and tram ways and some people with mobility issues were struggling a bit. The Sansee Schans is a preserved village with various windmills close by. With its waterways, bridges , farm animals and clog and cheese making demonstrations it is very idyllic and a pleasure to visit. Again it is s as 200m from the bus drop off to the village, not far but far enough for some. The journey from Amsterdam to Sansee Schans takes about 20 minutes each way so it is not a bus tour but a village visit. As I say the day was enjoyable but some warning of the walking involved should have been given when booking.

Definitely recommend the trip. Volendam is a cute little seaside village and Zaanse Schans has a great clog making demonstration and windmill tours.

The experience is nice, seeking clogs being made, the cheese factory and the windmills were all very interesting and part of the interesting Dutch culture, however I had also purchased the canal cruise and were not given the tickets when I checked in (which I didn’t know I needed separate tickets for the cruise). So our guide was so nice and emailed Viator, which then sent me voucher codes. So I had to leave the tour to find WiFi to then go through quite an ordeal to get said vouchers. It definitely took away my ability to be joy and experience the tour. It was quite stressful and distracting to get it all figured out when I should have been enjoying my first time in Amsterdam. I don’t understand why it wasn’t explained when I booked weeks ahead that I would need additional separate tickets for the cruise part of the tour. 😞

We were cheated out of half the tour , when , while on the tour itself it was told to us that we would not be making the others stops promised in the tour's description, and were only taken to the one destination Zaanse Schanse ( a contrived " Disneyland-esq" recreation of an old Dutch village )They had mentioned something about over crowding and their inability to take us to the other destination because of its.Felt rather ripped off in the end . $50 basically for round trip bus transport .

Was a very nice excursion ! There were 7 women in our group and we all enjoyed it very much. My only complaint is that we felt very rushed, did not get spend ample time in either place.

Great tour in no small part to our brilliant guide Rob. He talked non stop about everything we could want to know. Unfortunately, the Volendam part of the tour was cancelled, something about a lack of translator, but we got voucher for a canal trip which was really good, especially when the ‘Green’ boat went past! (IYKYK).

More walking than I thought. Too many people. Couldn't get to sample the cheese. Lost the guide as we were waiting in line to taste some cheese.

Really a 2.5. Before the tour, we received an email stating that if we are not there 15 minutes early, they would leave without us. We got there 45 minutes early and we left late anyway. Our tour guide, Evelyn, was nice, however, we were rushed through everything we saw. Her time management skills were poor. We barely had time to eat lunch and walk through Voneldam. We enjoyed the cheese demonstration and clogs demonstration. The“secret windmills” we stopped at on our way back from the Keukenof Gardens tour were much better.

If you are a senior and/or have difficulty walking long distances, this tour can be challenging. And it starts with an at least 15 minute walk from tour company location across from Central Station to where the buses are located. Guide and driver were very good. Took tour on a Sunday, so navigating large crowds in Volondam was interesting. But the area was charming. Same with Zaanse Schans. More information on what this was would have been helpful up front. We thought it was another small village to explore. However, it's actually an historical area featuring rescued and preserved windmills, among with other interesting Dutch heritage items. We enjoyed lunch there. But again, extensive walking over difficult surfaces made for a tiring tour.

the tour to Zaans was nice. Seeing the windmills was so cool. The rest of the trip - to a cheese factory was nice as well. then we went to a small town where we had lunch. All in all it was a fun afternoon

Pleasant way to spend an afternoon - not a lot of walking, so take it after a couple of heavy sightseeing days.

Our guide was very friendly and informative. The tour delivered everything promised, including a beautiful sunny Spring day, which was an anazing bonus. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience.

Shoes, and windmills were short on time to do much. Cheese making was very good. Visiting the town was also good . The guide was great.

Walked 10 minutes from the meeting point to the bus, crossing heavy traffic. Returned to same location and walked 10 minutes to Amsterdam Central. Cheese farm and Volendam were interesting. Zaanse Schans was a tourist trap and very crowded.

Great and knowledgeable tour guide. Fun presentation that always brought smiles. Great to see the history and culture in both areas we visited.

Great service and great tour guide. Floris and the captain were so informative and accommodating. Would definitely do this again!

Delightful trip. Robert was informative & pleasant. Windmill Village was fun. Pretty & fun shops. Wooden shoe demo & cheese demo well done. Not a lot of walking so good for all ages

You learned a bit of the history of holland.our tour guide Evelyn is very good she explained very well ang knows a lot. She really took care of the group and she gave us good suggestions to enjoy the tour.

Great experience Great tour I really enjoy the all day experience We were lucky, the weather was perfect

Rob was a great guide, and he provided us an abundance of historical information about all of the areas through which we travelled. The bus was comfortable and we could easily hear Rob's descriptions of where we were headed, and the significance of each area. I was the slowest walker of the group, and when Rob realized this, he took great care to watch over me and make sure that he was always aware of me, and where I was. As a group leader, Rob was outstanding, kind of like a shepherd with small but (somewhat) rambunctious flock, lol. I learned a great deal, bought a bit (ok maybe more than a bit😂😂) of fabulous cheese, and had an experience that I will fondly remember for years to come. Highly recommend!!

Rick was one of the best tour guides I've experienced in a long while. He was informative, and knowledgeable, as well as giving the group an insight into the Dutch life and its peoples. While a long experience, we saw a lot, from cheese making and tasting, to clog making, a seaside village and all those windmills. Our group thoroughly enjoyed the day, and would highly recommended it.

It was a fun experience! Our guide was very good at keeping the group together and explaining many details around the area. She was super informative and I enjoyed the interactive experiences along the way!! Great combo excursion.

Great tour. Tour guide (Rob) was accommodating and shared a great deal of information that was interesting and enjoyable.

Nice tour. Comfortable ride. Great tour guide…Dietrich. I really liked Vollendam, not all tours included this stop.

They took us to two quaint villages, one was on the water. Both were beautiful!!! So glad I got out of the city, saw the villages and learned about traditions, and saw how things were made. I wish we had more time everywhere because we didn’t want to leave. Great choice for a few hours if you are in Amsterdam.