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When you think of the Netherlands, you think of windmills. Or is it "when you think of windmills, you think of the Netherlands"?
Either way, one thing is certain: if you spend any amount of time in the Netherlands, you're bound to see at least one windmill. And that includes visits to Amsterdam.
In fact, there are eight seventeenth century windmills in and around the city.
You've got De Otter on Amsterdam West's Kostverlorenvaart, the last of a group sawmills to the west of the Buitensingelgracht built between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries.
Then there's De 1200 Roe (Riekermolen) and De 1100 Roe (De Ookmeermolen), polder mills on the west bank of the river Amstel that work to drain the Jewish quarter.
The last remaining chalk windmill in the Netherlands, d'Admiraal in Amsterdam Noord sits along the Noordhollandshcanal. A hop, skip, and a jump away is the former flour mill De Bloem/De Blom, located on the Haarlemmerweg.
De Gooyer is a retired flour mill in Amsterdam Oost right next to Brouwerij 't IJ which serves a variety of traditional Dutch beers, all brewed on site.
Last, but not least, let's not forget the Molen van Sloten (the Sloten Windmill), a draining mill on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
Every year, the Netherlands celebrates these beautiful, historic landmarks with Windmill Days, and there's no better time to check out these eight beauties. This year, Windmill Days (Molen Dagen) will be taking place on the 11th and 12th of May.
While Molen van Sloten is always open to visitors, De Otter, De Bloem/De Blom, and De Gooyer will be participating on Windmill Days.
And then, of course, you can swing by the other four mills for photo ops.
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