Private guide in Windmills, guided tours in Windmills, Netherlands

Windmills
Netherlands

Information about Windmills

The Netherlands is very famous for its historical windmills, with nearly 1200 windmills still in existence throughout the country. Windmills were originally designed to harness rotational power to operate a mill for grinding grain. However in The Netherlands their main purpose was to use wind power to operate water pumps for land drainage, keeping the low-lying polder areas from flooding. 

The most common type of windmill in the Netherlands is a smock mill, which is low and squat with large sails that nearly reach the ground. One excellent example of a smock mill is found at De 1100 Roe in Amsterdam. 

Visitors to The Netherlands enjoy touring the area to see its many picturesque windmills and the lovely scenery of the surrounding countryside. One of the most well- known  Dutch tourist areas is Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where one finds the largest group of old windmills in the Netherlands.