Kinderdijk Windmills

Nineteen 18th-century windmills lining the polder canals, a UNESCO site

The cluster of nineteen mills at Kinderdijk is the largest concentration of historic windmills in the Netherlands, listed by UNESCO since 1997. They sit along two parallel canals at right angles to the Lek river, where the Alblasserwaard polder meets the dike. Eight Nederwaard mills along one canal, eight Overwaard mills along the other, with a few stragglers nearby. The view down the row, especially in low morning or evening light, is the postcard image of Holland.

Walking the full circuit takes about an hour and a half. You can rent bikes at the entrance, or take a small boat that loops along the canal from April to October. Two mills — the Nederwaard Museum Mill and the Blokweerse mill — are open inside, fitted out with the cramped living quarters of the miller's family. Buy the combined ticket at the visitor centre, which also covers the pumping station and a small exhibition on Dutch water management.

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The mills were built in 1738 and 1740 to keep the Alblasserwaard polder dry, and they still work — every Saturday afternoon during the summer the volunteers raise the sails and you can watch the wooden cogs grind. Two of the mills are open as museums, furnished as they were when entire families lived inside, sleeping in box-beds tucked into the brickwork while the sails turned a few metres above their heads.