Strolling on the streets of Zaanse Schans

With its traditional houses, windmills, warehouses and workshops, the historic village of Zaanse Schans offers a preserved glimpse of what it was like to live in the Netherlands in the 18th and 19th centuries.

At the time, the surrounding Zaan region was an important industrial area and hundreds of windmills there helped produce linseed oil, paint, snuff, mustard, paper and other products. Many of the village's characteristic houses are now museums, gift shops or workshops while others are still used as private residences. Some of the Zaanse Schans' remaining windmills are also open to the public.