Kinderdijk
©
Kinderdijk

Kinderdijk

Dutch polder village with nineteen 18th-century windmills lined along the low Alblasserwaard waterways.

Kinderdijk is a UNESCO World Heritage site southwest of Rotterdam with the most concentrated collection of historic windmills in the Netherlands — 19 of them, built around 1740, lined up along the polders in a landscape that has become one of the country's most photographed scenes.

The mills were built to pump water out of the low-lying Alblasserwaard polder. Modern electric pumps do the job now, but the mills are maintained and can still be activated in emergencies. From April to October you can enter the Nederwaard Museum Mill to see the machinery and living quarters inside, and visit the Wisboom Pumping Station for the story of how the polder was reclaimed. The best way to take in the full row is by walking or cycling the path along the canal — in the early morning or late afternoon, when the light catches the sails, it is genuinely striking.

Kinderdijk is an easy day trip from Rotterdam or The Hague. A Waterbus ferry runs from Rotterdam Erasmusbrug directly to Kinderdijk in about 35 minutes.

Guide

Getting there

Kinderdijk is most easily reached from Rotterdam. The Waterbus 202 runs from the Erasmusbrug stop at Rotterdam's centre and reaches Kinderdijk in around 35 minutes — a pleasant ride down the Nieuwe Maas and Noord rivers, ending at the visitor centre. Buy tickets on board or via the Waterbus app.

By bus, line 489 from Rotterdam Zuidplein takes about an hour. By car it is a 25-minute drive, with paid parking on site. Most visitors come on a half-day trip, but in summer it is worth arriving early — the site gets busy with coach groups from late morning.

Guide

Things to do

Kinderdijk is essentially one extended thing to do: the 19 windmills strung along the polder canals. The whole site is best taken in slowly, on foot or by bike. The visitor centre at the entrance is the natural starting point, and from there it is a few kilometres of flat path along the water.