Standing in a row along the dykes of the Alblasserwaard polder, south of Rotterdam, 19 windmills line the water in both directions as far as the eye can reach. They were built between 1738 and 1740 to solve an ancient problem: the polder, lying below sea level, was perpetually threatened by flooding. The mills pumped water from the lower reservoirs into the higher rivers, keeping the land dry enough to farm.
The system worked well enough that most of the mills were still in regular use until the 1950s, when electric pumping stations took over. In 1997, UNESCO inscribed the entire ensemble — mills, dykes, boezems (water reservoirs), sluices, and pumping stations — as a World Heritage Site, recognizing Kinderdijk as the most complete surviving example of Dutch water management technology from the 18th century.
Why 19 windmills in one place?
The Alblasserwaard polder is a large area of reclaimed land lying between the rivers Noord, Lek, and Noord Merwe. Draining it required removing water from the lowest polders into intermediate reservoirs and then into the rivers — a multi-stage pumping system. Each stage required its own mills. The 19 at Kinderdijk were the core of this system, operating in pairs of round-stone mills and octagonal-timber mills to handle the two pumping stages.
What to see and do
Walking and cycling
The windmills are spread along roughly 2 kilometers of dyke paths. A round walking circuit covers all 19 and takes about 90 minutes at a relaxed pace. Bikes can be hired at the visitor center. The flat, open landscape makes cycling here unusually pleasant — long sightlines over water, with the mills as landmarks at intervals.
Inside the mills
Two of the windmills are open for interior visits. One is preserved as a museum mill, showing original equipment, the miller's living quarters, and working machinery. A miller's family lived in each windmill — with children, a cow, and all domestic life crowded into the wooden cap and base. The interiors are small, steep, and genuinely illuminating about pre-industrial Dutch rural life.
The boat tour
A canal boat circulates the Kinderdijk waterways, giving a low-angle view of the mills from the water. The combination of walking and a boat circuit covers the site most completely.
Getting there from Amsterdam
By public transport: train from Amsterdam to Rotterdam Centraal (about 40 minutes), then Waterbus service directly to Kinderdijk. The total journey takes around 1.5 hours. By car: roughly one hour. Guided day trips from Amsterdam combine Kinderdijk with Rotterdam or Delft. See Amsterdam day tour operators for current options.