Kinderdijk is the one of the picturesque part of The Netherlands. The Netherlands – also known as Holland – is probably best known throughout the rest of the world for its windmills. Kinderdijk is UNESCO-listed world heritage. It has 19 windmills built around 1740 and you can visit one of them.

However, these structures are much more than quaint, architectural eye-catchers. Processing wind into energy, windmills have been used for centuries for everything from milling grain to pumping water.

With most of the Netherlands lying below sea level, it is no wonder the country employs so many windmills. Working alongside such other innovative structures as dikes, sluices and canals, windmills help to ensure that land reclaimed from the sea doesn’t return to its watery grave.

Though most of the older windmills have been torn down, many have been preserved and made into homes, shops, and tourist attractions.

One such attraction is Kinderdijk. Also referred to as a “Mill Landscape,” the village of Kinderdijk is located just outside of Rotterdam and is home to 19 windmills built between 1738 and 1761.
Coming from Dutch folklore, Kinderdijk literally means Children’s Dike. According to the tale, a cradle was swept away in a flood. The child inside was saved by a cat who guided the cradle to the slope of a nearby dike.

Kinderdijk was salvaged from the water around the 10th century through a system of small rivers built to drain water into larger rivers. Eventually dikes and sluices were added to aid the drainage efforts. Around 1400, windmills began to appear.

Now open to visitors, Kinderdijk was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997, and is among one of the more popular tourist destinations in the Netherlands.

Admission is free and, for an extra €5 per device, you can opt for the audio tour. A working windmill is open to the public at €3 per person or €2.25 with a Museumkaart. Boat tours are available for €3 per person. The site has bicycles for hire as well as bicycle lanes and footpaths allowing you to explore the landscape.

Kinderdijk is not accessible via public transportation. Parking costs €5 and includes a site map. There is a café and shop with public toilets on location.