Kinderdijk Werelderfgoed

A very cool place to visit that is close to a lot of major area metros. (Driving under 2 hours from Brussels, a little over an hour from Amsterdam, a little over 2 hours from Dusseldorf.) There are a large number of windmills in the area that you can walk by but two are open to the public (the others still serve as private houses). A short walk between the entrance to the area and the two windmills that you can tour on well maintained trails /​roads. There is a gift shop /​café at the entrance where you can get coffee /​hot chocolate to warm up after the walk. You could probably spend a good half day touring the facility. The area around Kinderdijk is surprisingly not touristy and residential, so there are not many places to grab grub in the immediate vicinity of the windmill park.

I visited Kinderdijk on the beginning of a river cruise a few months ago. The area is part of the Dutch countryside and is home to 19 historic windmills that were built in the mid-​18^th century. Kinderdijk is also a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Obviously you are going here for the windmills.
There are a couple areas to explore though in Kinderdijk besides the windmills. One area focuses on the water management systems in the region while another examines the carving of the wooden clogs and the various wooden parts for windmills.
The main site to visit is of course the working windmill. The windmill you do have to pay an entrance fee to enter, but it is really fascinating to get up close to a windmill. One windmill is open to the public and 3 floors are open for touring. The family who used to live here many years ago still feel like a part of this place today because the windmill was where they worked and lived. Additionally there photos on the wall showing you who the family was that lived here.
Overall I recommend going to Kinderdijk if you have a chance, since it is a fascinating and truly Dutch experience.

All I can say is wow. Really a must to truly experience The Netherlands. Windmills, boat ride, and trails. As a grandson of a Dutch immigrant I was always fascinated with windmills. To see one up close and learn how they operate and about the people that operate them was awesome!

I enjoyed every second! Gorgeous scenery. I rented a bike. It was the best decision of the day

Nice site, very peaceful, lots of windmills! Plenty of photo opportunities. The Nederwaard windmill has three levels and you can explore it all. The Blokweer windmlll is interesting from the outside but inside you can only see part of one room on the main level. Recommend bringing a bike or renting one there because the site is fairly spread out, plus you may want to just ride farther along the pleasant canals.
Easy access from Rotterdam via the waterbus. A waterbus day pass is € 12.50 and includes a coupon which you can hand in at Kinderdijk for a ticket (normally € 6.50). The waterbus goes from Rotterdam to Riddekerk, then you transfer to a smaller waterbus which crosses to Kinderijk. You can also take the waterbus direct from Rotterdam to Alblasserdam which is a nice town and a short bike ride away.

Beautiful place to visit! Rented bikes at the gift shop and enjoyed biking around to the different windmills. Allow time to really look at the windmills and take different types of pictures. There were only a few people here in Sept so it nice to be able to enjoy without a crowd. Also, the ferries to here are nice. We took a ferry from Rotterdam (next to the more expensive but not as fun, EuroMast). There are a total of two ferries to take and then it’s a short walk out to the windmills but extremely worth it! The Rotterdam ferry passes by some neat places along the Rotterdam pier, incl. the neat cubist houses (google «cubist houses rotterdam» and follow the map while on the ferry. It also passes under the Erasmus suspension bridge). One more note-​the OV chip card that is good for all the buses and trains in the NL is good for the ferry at the Rotterdam port but then you need about € 2 – 3 cash for the little connector ferry. I picked up a little schedule card on that last ferry and it made a cute souvenir. :-). If you want more info, leave a comment and i can give more specific info about some places in the NL.

This was another of the tours from the ship. We boarded buses dockside in Rotterdam, a major port city which had been bombed into oblivion by the Nazis. It was rebuilt but the architecture reflects its post war origins and ranges from boring to cringe inducing. The plan is to begin renovating the city w/​an eye to restoring it to a semblance of its pre-​war architectural beauty. There are two modern, interesting bridges by the port.
Kinderdijk is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nineteen windmills dating to 1740 have been preserved here. We could walk past some of them on the path. There were several tour groups in addition to ours, so there were a lot of people. I hadn’t been aware of the number until I turned around and saw a crowd of people behind me. There were flocks of geese and the path was covered w/​their predictable byproduct. A man w/​a little shovel device was doing his best to keep it picked up. A couple was getting married in front of one of the windmills. As I sat waiting for our group to board its boat they were driven away in an elegant old Jaguar, looking radiant and blond.
The boat motored slowly past the windmills on both sides of the water and then back again. The windmills are stately and classic, painted white w/​black windmill blades, the date of their construction painted above each door. Some have been converted to residences and people live there. In the past the windmills have served to pump water out of the boggy soil so it could be reclaimed and used, generally for farming. Modern windmills have supplanted them, ones that look like the three bladed windmills on the Altamont Pass. The modern ones were developed and patented by the Danes, much to the chagrin of the Dutch. They function well, I expect, but lack the iconic beauty of the old ones.