By Vicky · Published Jul. 13th, 2022 · Updated Oct. 27th, 2023
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Walk through the famous windmills at Kinderdijk near Rotterdam in Holland. Park for free and enter for free without a ticket on this walk.
Page Contents:
Kinderdijk Windmills Walk Map
Get the route by downloading the .gpx or .kml file below. For navigation with Maps.me on your mobile phone, simply download the .kml file and open to add it to the Maps.me bookmarks.
Location
This walk starts from a car park near Kinderdijk. It might take 30-60 minutes to drive from central Rotterdam, depending on traffic. You can also take public transport there – there’s a bus stop right at Kinderdijk (on bus route 489) where this walk starts. Catch bus 489 from Kralingse Zoom metro station in Rotterdam. From Amsterdam, it’s 2 hours on public transport and slightly shorter to drive.
Alternatively, you can take a waterbus to Kinderdijk from either Rotterdam or Dordrecht.
Tips for Kinderdijk Windmills Walk
- You can only park in the free car park where this hike starts at the weekends. On weekdays you must park at Alblasserdam (€7.50) and take a shuttle bus or cycle (bus or bike hire included in the parking ticket) to the entrance of Kinderdijk.
- You only have to buy a ticket (€16 per person) to enter certain sections of Kinderdijk and the museums.
- It can get crowded in the middle of the day – try and visit early mornings or late evenings (the light is also nicer then).
- Opening hours for the paid section are Mar-Oct 9.30am – 5.30pm, Nov-Feb 10:30am-4pm. However, you can do this free walking tour of the Kinderdijk Windmills at any time.
- If you want to explore more of Holland, check out the historic towns of Delft or Leiden.
- Check out other walks and hikes on our Netherlands Hiking Page.
Walking to Kinderdijk
From the car park, head up the banks to the main road. You must now walk roughly 700 metres along the road to reach the beginning of the windmills. The entrance is signed, and just past a grey souvenirs shop.
Kinderdijk Windmills Tickets
If you do buy a ticket, you get to see and understand a lot more about the windmills. You can buy tickets onsite (€16 per person). The Kinderdijk Windmills ticket includes:
- Entry to two of the mills, each displaying their history
- A tour on the boats cruising up and down Kinderdijk
- Entry to the pump house
- A floating exhibition on an old barge
- The Bird Theatre – discover the waterbirds that live here
- An audio tour
- A film about the history of Kinderdijk
Opening times for the paid sections of Kinderdijk are Mar-Oct 9.30am – 5.30pm, Nov-Feb 10:30am-4pm.
After a few hundred meters you’ll reach a small car park with the visitors’ centre and ticket office on your left. Just afterwards there’s a narrow bridge crossing left – you can only use this if you pay to enter because it leads to some museums. On this walking tour, head straight onward towards the old windmills.
Kinderdijk Windmills
The route is very simple on this walk. Head along the dijk, or canal, while admiring the windmills. Make sure to head onto the bridge, even if you don’t cross them, to admire the views up and down the water.
On one side of the narrow stretch of land between the canals is the walking path, with a cycling track on the other side. The cycling path, however, is slightly raised so you get better views from here. If it’s not too busy with cyclists, it’s fine to walk on this track. You can walk up one side, and then down the other on the way back.
Explore more of the Netherlands on our other walking tours
- Delft Walking Tour – near Rotterdam
- Leiden Walking Tour – not far from Amsterdam
- Kinderdijk Windmills Walk – near Rotterdam
- Amsterdam Walking Tour – Amsterdam
- Wassenaar Dunes Hike – not far from The Hague
We walked just over 2 km down the path between the windmills to make the entire walk about 5 km, but you can continue much further. If you cross at the next bridge, it adds about 2 km to the walk, with the next bridge after that adding roughly 4km.
On the way back, just before the large bridge to the Blokweer windmill on your left, make sure to head right across the little bridge. This leads onto a slightly separate stretch of land. If you immediately look left and head a few metres to the very end of the island you have a very nice view down Kinderdijk of several windmills in a row, reflected in the water.
Continue back towards where you started. There is a cafe near the entrance if you want some refreshments. Then continue out to the road and left 700 metres back to your car.
Guidebooks to explore more of the Netherlands
FAQS for Kinderdijk Windmills Walk
You do not have to pay to visit Kinderdijk and see the windmills. You only have to buy a ticket to go inside the windmills, see the museums, listen to the audio guide and go on a boat cruise through the windmills.
The windmills at Kinderdijk were constructed around 1740, almost 300 years ago, to prevent flooding of the nearby farmland.
To get to the windmills at Kinderdjik you can drive (30-60 minutes from Rotterdam, almost 2 hours from Amsterdam). Alternatively, you can take a bus (number 489) from Kralingse Zoom metro station in central Rotterdam (after catching a train from Amsterdam to Rotterdam). There’s a convenient bus stop right at Kinderdijk.
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