Giethoorn, Afsluitdijk and Zaanse Schans Day Tour with Hotel Pickup
The premium version of the day out. Collected from your Amsterdam hotel at eight, capped at eight travellers, two hours at the Zaanse Schans with the guided visits in the fare, a photo stop on the Afsluitdijk and four hours in Giethoorn including an hour cruising its canals by boat.
Ten hours, two provinces and eight seats
Eight travellers, and hotel pickup
A minibus rather than a coach, collected from your door at eight in the morning.
Two hours at the Zaanse Schans
With guided visits to the cheese factory, the clog workshop and a diamond demonstration, all in the fare.
A stop on the Afsluitdijk
The dike that closed off the Zuiderzee, with the North Sea on one side and the IJsselmeer on the other.
Four hours in Giethoorn
A village of canals and footbridges in Overijssel, with an hour of it spent in an open boat.
Ahead of the coaches
An eight o’clock pickup puts you on the Zaanse Schans dike before the big buses reach it.
What ten hours buys that a half-day cannot
Two provinces, and a landscape most visitors to the Netherlands never see. The day runs north out of North Holland, across the Afsluitdijk — the barrier dam that turned the Zuiderzee into a freshwater lake — and on into Overijssel to Giethoorn, a village whose lanes are canals and whose bridges are wooden.
It also buys two full hours at the Zaanse Schans rather than a photo stop, with the cheese, clog and diamond visits guided rather than left to you. That is enough for the dike end to end and a mill, and the map page sets out what fits.
Giethoorn, and the boat
Four of the day’s ten hours belong to Giethoorn, and one of those four is in a boat. The included hour is a guided cruise along the canals with your driver at the tiller, and it is the part of the day most people remember.
You can hire a boat and steer it yourself instead, at extra cost. Take the guided hour. The canals are narrow, the boats are heavier than they look and everyone else is trying the same thing.
The ten hours, in order
- Hotel pickup in Amsterdam at eight.
- Two hours at the Zaanse Schans.
- Guided cheese tasting at the Catharina Hoeve.
- Clog carving at the Kooijman workshop.
- Photo stop on the Afsluitdijk.
- Four hours in Giethoorn.
- One-hour cruise along the Giethoorn canals.
Who this suits, and who should book something else
This one is for you if: Anyone with a whole day who would rather spend it in a minibus of eight than a coach of fifty. It is the pick for photographers — the Afsluitdijk and Giethoorn are both landscape stops, and the early start puts you on the Zaanse Schans dike before the crowd. It also suits anyone who would rather be collected from a hotel door than find a meeting point at half past seven.
Book something else if: Anyone travelling with small children, and anyone whose real interest is the windmills. Ten hours in a vehicle is a long day for a four-year-old, and only two of those hours are at the Zaanse Schans. If the mills are the point, the small-group half-day gives you longer there and has you back in Amsterdam by lunch.
What the fare covers, and what it does not
In the fare
- Hotel pickup in Amsterdam.
- Air-conditioned minibus.
- Bottled water.
- Guided cheese factory tour.
- Guided wooden shoe factory tour.
- Guided diamond demonstration.
- One-hour boat cruise in Giethoorn.
- All fees and taxes.
Not in the fare
- Lunch.
- Renting your own boat to drive yourself, at extra cost.
Where you are collected from
Amsterdam (hotel pickup, departing 8:00). Every day out of Amsterdam names its own corner. Guided Zaanse Schans tours gather at four different points behind Centraal Station, and several collect from a hotel door instead. Getting there sets out where each of them puts you.
Know before you go
- Pickup is from eight. The minibus collects from Amsterdam hotels from eight in the morning. The operator confirms your details the day before.
- Lunch is not included. Giethoorn is where you will want it, and there is time for it in the four hours there.
- The self-drive boat costs extra. Renting a boat to steer yourself is an add-on rather than an alternative, and the guided hour is included either way.
- Weather can move it. This one is weather-dependent: if it is cancelled for weather you are offered another date or a full refund.
- Bring a card for the toilets. The public toilets at the Zaanse Schans cost €1 and take cards only.
- It is a long day. Ten hours door to door, with roughly three and a half of them driving. Worth knowing before you book it for a first day in the country.
The Zaanse Schans, the dike and Giethoorn
What travellers said about this minibus day
Erik made the day come alive. It was good to have early entry to the Zaanse Schans and enjoy it before the coachloads arrived. I did not see any other tour that included the Afsluitdijk, which was worth seeing and worth hearing about.
Connie_P · July 2026
My first solo tour ever, and I was nervous. Eric was funny and knowledgeable and made the whole thing better, found us umbrellas and carried our bags. The time at each stop was enough to actually see it.
Charlye_C · August 2026
Reinier kept us ahead of the big coaches all day so that every stop was as good as it could be. He knew the stops and a great deal else besides. A small tour against a big bus makes a real difference here.
Richard_M · August 2026
The smaller group was definitely the right choice. Erik gave us commentary the whole way and captained our boat himself. I would advise against driving your own boat — plenty of people chose to and could not steer them.
Elizabeth_T · June 2026
Frequently asked questions
Is the boat ride included?
How long is the stop at the Zaanse Schans?
What is the Afsluitdijk?
Is hotel pickup really included?
How big is the group?
Can I cancel?
Other ways to reach the windmills
- Zaanse Schans Windmills, Clogs and Dutch Cheese Small-Group Tour from Amsterdam
- Day Trip to Zaanse Schans, Edam, Volendam and Marken from Amsterdam
If ten hours is more day than you want, the small-group half-day gives you two and a half hours at the windmills and has you back in Amsterdam by lunch, without Giethoorn.
Zaanse Schans Tours has all of them in one grid, with prices, group caps and how long each one gives you on the dike.