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Amsterdam one of the most beautiful cities I have visited and if you ask me which is the most scenic route you have ever been to? I will definitely say Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans on a cycle ride.
Zaanse Schans is a neighborhood of Zaandam, near Zaandijk, Netherlands. You can see well preserved windmills and houses here. There are small museums build around this area like the Jisper House, Weavers house, Albert heijn Museum shop Shop etc. Zaanse schans is very popular tourist destination hosting millions of tourists every year.
Zaandjik Zaanse Schans Railway station is 18 mins away from Amsterdam Railway station. You can choose this option but in this blog we will talk about the cycle trail and trust me if you love cycling there is no other place like Amsterdam. So Iet's talk about cycle ride from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans!!
Amsterdam has many shops in the city where you can rent cycles. Many hotels or hostels where you stay also offer cycles on rent so you can choose as per your convenience.
Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans is around 20km cycle ride one way depends on where are you staying and starting in Amsterdam it will differ a bit. First you have to come to Amsterdam Centraal Train station and there you will find centraal station - buiksloterweg ferry, take that ferry and come to other side
Once you cross the ferry come bit straight. Try to follow the map however you can ask the locals till you get track in the below video as this part where you get down from ferry till you reach the below track is bit confusing and map does not work properly sometimes. Few locals when asked about the route to zaanse schans were surprised and told us that is very far why are you traveling by road but trust me it will be all worth once you complete this trip, you can thank me later :)
Source : Google Maps
While cycling on this route you will pass through many canals, small beautiful houses, even some windmills. The cool breeze on your face and tiny flowers all over will keep you fresh throughout the route. Routes like these show you countryside of Europe and you cant imagine how beautiful it is to witness this rather than only visiting touristy places.
Whenever you are visiting Amsterdam I feel this ride should be in your itinerary, having said that there are multiple other ways to reach Zaanse schans like going by train so if you are not keen on cycling for 20 odd kms you can always opt for those for your visit to Zaanse Schans.
While choosing cycle on rent make sure it is in good state so that to avoid any problems while you are on this cycle trail. Also while coming back to Amsterdam in case you are not keen to drive back by cycle you can come by train and there is facility in a train to carry your cycle so you are totally cool.
Finally here are some beautiful images!!
Recommendations:
You can book amazing cycle trips or rent cycles through Baja Bikes one of the best biking tour company in Europe. You can read their reviews on google, lonely planet, tripadvisor and then can take a decision. They have guided tours and rental services in more than 200 cities.
At Baja Bikes you can either rent a bike or take a guided tour with an English-speaking guide. Click on below image to go through their site. Change your preferred language at right top corner on the site. You can go through all the details mentioned on their site and decide if you want to book any tour or rent a bike.