By air
Rotterdam The Hague (RTM), ~30 km
Europe · Netherlands
Kinderdijk, Netherlands
Nineteen windmills in a row
Getting there
Best time to visit
April to October — the mills turn
Don't miss
The Kinderdijk windmills
The pumping station
The dykes
Things to do
Visiting working windmills
Cycling the dykes
The water bus from Rotterdam
Where to eat
What to pack
Layers
A quieter corner
The mills at sunset
Questions travellers ask
Can I get to Kinderdijk by boat?
Yes — take the water bus from Rotterdam. Rotterdam The Hague (RTM) airport is about 30 km away.
When do the Kinderdijk windmills turn?
From April to October. Stay for the mills at sunset.
What is there to do at Kinderdijk?
Visit the working windmills — nineteen stand in a row — see the pumping station, and cycle the dykes.
What should I pack for Kinderdijk?
Layers — and save room for Dutch cheese.
About Kinderdijk
- Riverside
Where it is
Kinderdijk is a village in the municipality of Molenlanden in the province of South Holland, Netherlands, about 15 km east of Rotterdam, in the Alblasserwaard polder where the Lek and Noord rivers meet.
History
The low-lying Alblasserwaard was drained over the centuries, and around 1740 a system of 19 windmills was built here to pump water out of the polder into reservoirs, from which it was let out into the river. Pumping stations later took over most of the work, and the mill network became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
People
Locals speak Dutch, and living with water is part of daily life in this polder country, where dykes, sluices and pumping stations keep the land dry. Millers still live in and run several of the mills, keeping alive the traditional craft of the miller.
Known for
- The 19 windmills of the Kinderdijk mill network
- Visiting working mills
- Cycling and walking along the dykes
- The water bus from Rotterdam
- The polder landscape of the Alblasserwaard
Did you know?
The name Kinderdijk, children's dyke, comes from a legend of the St Elizabeth's flood of 1421, when a cradle with a sleeping baby was washed up here, kept balanced by a cat.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.