The Kinderdijk Windmills

Kinderdijk is the iconic image of the old, water-fighting Netherlands, a UNESCO site where nineteen historic windmills stand in a stately line along the dykes and canals of a green polder below sea level. Built in the eighteenth century to pump water from the low land, they are the largest concentration of old windmills in the country and a monument to the Dutch centuries-long battle with the sea.

What you actually see

• The line of windmills - the nineteen historic mills along the dykes.
• The working mills - the visitor mills you can enter to see how they worked.
• The polder landscape - the green, water-laced land below sea level.
• The walking and cycling paths - the routes along the canals between the mills.

When to go

Spring to autumn for the best weather and open mills, and to walk or cycle the paths; some mills turn on set days. It is lovely and quieter early or late in the day, and can be reached scenically by waterbus from Rotterdam.

Honest expectations

It is a very popular day trip, so the paths and car park get busy midday; go early or late. It is a landscape to walk or cycle rather than a single sight, so allow time and good weather. Only a couple of mills are open to enter.

Nearby

Rotterdam's modern skyline is close; the historic town of Dordrecht is nearby.