[NETHERLANDS] Rotterdam - A Scenic Day Trip to Kinderdijk Windmills

11:25 Travel Bunny 1 Comments

Kinderdijk is located 15km east of Rotterdam. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997. The ingenious system of windmills and pumping stations has been keeping the soil dry here for nearly a thousand years now.



The easiest way to get to Kinderdijk from Rotterdam is to take the water bus.



There's a water bus station at Erasmusbrug. A single ticket is 4 euros.


There are three ways getting to Kinderdijk:
1) From May 1st till October 31st, you can take water bus No.202 directly to Kinderdijk from both Rotterdam Erasmusbrug and Dordrecht Merwekade.
2) From May 1st till September 30th, you can take water bus No. 20 to Ridderkerk De Schans and transfer directly the Driehoeksveer ferry.
3) Throughout the year, you can take water bus No.20 to Alblasserdam Kade stop and cycle from this stop in 10 minutes over a typical Dutch dike to the windmills.



I took water bus No. 202 to go there directly from Rotterdam Erasmusbrug. The water bus depart hourly from 8.35am till 4.35pm.



The timetable of the water bus.



The first thing you'll see is this giant wooden clog in front of a souvenir shop once getting down from the water bus.



This is the ticket booth for Kinderdijk boat and windmill tour.





Entrance fees to the windmills is 8 euros, boat only is 5.50 euros, boat + entrance fees to the windmills is 13.50 euros. I went for the combo ticket.



Alternatively, you can cycle or walk to the windmills.



Windmills along the canal.



Walking towards the first windmill.



The name Kinderdijk means "Children dyke" in Dutch. Legend has it that a villager found a baby and a cat inside a wooden cradle floating on the water. The cat was trying to keep the cradle balance and afloat by jumping back and forth.



Nederwaard windmill is now a museum open to the public.



It is open daily from 9am till 5.30pm.





A pair of oversized clog for tourist to take photo with.



There's a toilet outside the windmill. It's free for windmill visitors.





Looking out from the windows of the windmill.





The photo of the family who used to stay in this windmill - Miller Cees Hoek (1873-1957) with his pregnant wife and 12 children.



The wife, Alie died tragically as she was hit by one of the sails of the windmill when trying to save one of her children. She was only 42 years old and left behind a husband and 13 children.



The beams of the attic are blackened with the smoke of the stove in the living room. The smoke would go up and out through the cap of the mill. The smoke was used to store all kinds of goods, like fruit and cotton hoop nets in the winter.



In the middle of the floor is the king's pin turns. This is the connection between the upper wheel and under wheel.





The under floor is an open floor with one bed bunk, where the girls slept. The floor was used as a nursery.



But the children of the family preferred to play outside, especially with toy windmill.









Waiting for the next boat to get to the other windmill.







Getting down at the second stop.





This is the museum windmill Blokweer.



Interior of the windmill.



Video showing how the windmill works.



The living and dining area on the ground floor.



The bedbunk and the baby cot.











Lovely weather and lovely scenery.









Time to take the next boat.





Most of the current mills were built in 1738 and 1740. Although some of the windmills are still used, the main water works are provided by two diesel pumping stations near one of the entrances of the windmills site.



The last stop is the visitor center Wisboom pumping station.



This is inventor William Benjamin Smit who was fed up with steam engines. Electricity is the future!



A windmill souvenir which I bought.





I'm so glad that I did this day trip to Kinderdijk which has the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands.