What is a more iconic bucket list item when you are visiting the Netherlands than to see the Kinderdijk Windmills. I have close friends over in the Netherlands we thought that it would be fun to tick the Kinderdijk windmills of my bucket list.
What are the Kinderdijk Windmills
Kinderdijk is a small village in the South Holland area of the Netherlands. There are a total of nineteen (19) windmills in the village. The windmills were constructed between 1630 and 1740 to help control water levels of the surrounding area. The Kinderdijk windmills are a national monument, and the area surrounding them has been protected since 1993. They were made a UNESCO world heritage site in 1997.
The windmills are located where the Lek and Noord rivers meet each other. In the middle ages water was becoming a problem for the people that lived in the area. They began by digging canals to try to control the water but it was not enough, water was still overwhelming the land.
The windmills were constructed to pump water from the area up into a reservoir. Water could then be drained from the reservoir when the river were low enough to take the water away. A total of nineteen windmills were built to pump the water in the area up to the holding reservoir. Today the work of pumping the water away is done modern diesel pumping stations rather than the windmills.
My visit to the Kinderdijk Windmills
To see the Kinderdijk windmills is part of one of my mega bucket lists, that is to visit all of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in the world. As that is a lot of sites to visit I broken it down into more manageable chunks. Kinderdijk is part of the Netherlands UESCO sites bucket list.
We started our visit to Kinderdijk by watching the movie about the site that takes you through all of its history. There are some fun nuggets of information, such as how the site got its name. It is possible for you to watch the movie in several languages such as; Dutch, English, French, German even Japanese is available.
Blockweer is the oldest of the windmills on the site. It dates back to around 1630. It is one of the two windmills that you are able to go inside of at Kinderdijk. This windmill is set up to show what life in the Netherlands was like in the 20th century. In the summer time the staff at the windmill wear traditional clothes.
Nederwawaard windmill is newer that Blockweer, Nederwawaard was constructed in 1738. This windmill was lived in by the Hoek family for many generations. It feels like you are travelling back in time when you step inside this windmill.
Wisboom station is relatively new compared to the windmills on the site it was constructed in 1868. It was built as a more efficent way to pump water about that control the water levels in the surrounding area. It was still in use until quite recently, it was replaced by a newer system in 1995. There is a fun game inside this pumping station where you are able to control the windmills and see the effect that that control has on the surrounding area.
The rest of out time we spent walking around the ground of the site. There are some really quite nice walks there especially if the weather is nice during your visit.
Kinderdijk is an amazing place to visit, easy to get to, well laid out, interesting things to see and do. I would certainly recommend people visit the windmills if they ever get the chance too.
Getting there
Kinderdijk is just to the south east of Rotterdam which makes it very easy to get too. You can park you car at Marineweg 3, Alblasserdam and take the shuttle over to the windmill site. The cost of the shuttle bus from the car park is included in the €7.50 you pay for parking your car. Finding a parking space in the busy season can be a bit of challenge due to how popular the windmills are.
It is possible to take the waterbus from Rotterdam.
Another easy way to visit it to join one of the many tours of the site. These leave from both Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Viator has a few of them to choose from.
Language
The language of the Netherlands is Dutch. However English is widely spoken by most of the population in the Netherlands.
Currency
The Euro is the currency used in the Netherlands.
Electricity
Electricity in the Netherlands is 220v and they use the round two pin type of plug.
When to go
For the best weather June to August is the best time to visit. It will be quite busy at those times of year so it may be better to visit either side of that. So April/May or September/October.
Helpfull websites
Tickets and more information https://www.kinderdijk.com