Amsterdam Day Trips: 5 Day Itinerary
Five days is enough to stop choosing between Keukenhof and Kinderdijk, the compromise the 4-day version forces, and do both. The spine holds: Zaandam and Zaanse Schans, Haarlem, Marken and Volendam, then two separate windmill-and-tulip days rather than one. Out of Keukenhof’s 19 March to 10 May 2026 window, Day 5 becomes a slower second look at Zaanse Schans instead. The 6-day and 7-day versions add a cycling day and a repeat visit on top of this.
Book these before you go
- Keukenhof entry , the priority booking on this trip if any of your five days fall inside 19 March to 10 May 2026.
- A Zaanse Schans windmill tour for Day 1, or Day 5 if you are doing the deeper repeat visit.
- A combined Volendam and Marken tour for Day 3.
- Where to stay in Amsterdam , your base for all five nights.
| Day | Focus | Travel time from Amsterdam |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Zaandam and Zaanse Schans | ~11 min train, then one more stop (~6 min) |
| Day 2 | Haarlem | ~15-16 min train |
| Day 3 | Marken and Volendam | ~34 min bus, +30 min ferry (seasonal) |
| Day 4 | Keukenhof (in season) or Kinderdijk | ~45 min shuttle, or ~40 min train + ~30 min shuttle via Rotterdam |
| Day 5 | Kinderdijk, or a second Zaanse Schans if out of season | ~40 min train + ~30 min shuttle, or ~17-18 min train |
Day 1: Zaandam and Zaanse Schans
The NS train from Centraal reaches Zaandam in about 11 minutes, roughly EUR 3.50. Stop first for the Inntel Hotel’s stacked green-house facade and the Czaar Peterhuisje, the cottage where Peter the Great lodged in 1697 to study shipbuilding under an assumed name. One more stop, 6 minutes on, is Zaandijk Zaanse Schans. Entry to the open-air village is free; individual mills, the cheese demonstration, and the clog workshop each charge a few euros. Go before 10:30am, ahead of the tour buses. dezaanseschans.nl lists which mills are actually turning; it depends on wind, not a schedule.
Day 2: Haarlem
Haarlem is 15 to 16 minutes away, about EUR 5-6 one-way, on one of the country’s busiest rail lines (roughly 148 trains a day), the cheapest and fastest trip on this list. Half a day covers the Grote Kerk, home to the Müller organ a ten-year-old Mozart once played, and the Frans Hals Museum , with lunch on the Grote Markt.
Day 3: Marken and Volendam
Skip Volendam alone; paired with Marken, a former-island fishing village of green wooden houses on artificial mounds, it earns the day. Bus 316 leaves from behind Centraal (platform level, IJ side) roughly every 15 minutes, reaches Volendam in about 34 minutes, EUR 5.80. From late March through October, the Volendam-Marken ferry crosses about every 45 minutes, a 30-minute ride, EUR 10 one-way or EUR 16.50 return; outside that season, bus 315 via Monnickendam covers the connection instead, about 30 minutes each way. Check iamsterdam.com for the current season before you plan the crossing.
Day 4: Keukenhof or Kinderdijk
If your trip falls inside 19 March to 10 May 2026, book Keukenhof ahead (the ticket link is above): about EUR 20.50 online, or EUR 35-38.50 for a shuttle-and-entry combo, roughly 45 minutes each way. Confirm exact hours and the closing date on keukenhof.nl ; weekend slots in peak bloom, mid-April, sell out two to three weeks ahead. Outside that window, use this day for Kinderdijk instead, and cover the two windmill networks back to back across Days 4 and 5.
Day 5: Kinderdijk, or a second Zaanse Schans
If Day 4 was Keukenhof, spend Day 5 at Kinderdijk, a UNESCO-listed network of 19 windmills built to drain the polder. Take an Intercity train to Rotterdam (about 40 minutes, a connection point only, not a stop of its own) and then the WaterShuttle (Friday to Sunday, about 30 minutes from Willemskade) or the daily Waterbus. Entry runs roughly EUR 18 on weekdays, EUR 19.50 on weekends, with combo tickets covering transport at EUR 30-35.
If your trip lands outside Keukenhof’s window and Day 4 was already Kinderdijk, do not force a second remote windmill trip back to back. Go back to Zaanse Schans instead, at the same 17 to 18 minutes and EUR 4.20 one-way, and spend the whole day on the workshops and individual mill interiors that a fast first visit skips: the working sawmill, the oil mill, and the Zaans Museum next to the village, none of which fit into Day 1’s rushed morning.
Should I do Keukenhof and Kinderdijk on the same day?
No. They are on opposite sides of the country from each other relative to Amsterdam, Keukenhof reached by shuttle bus and Kinderdijk via Rotterdam, and combining them into one day means arriving late and leaving early at both. Give each its own full day, as this itinerary does across Days 4 and 5.
What if my trip does not fall inside Keukenhof’s season?
Then Day 4 becomes Kinderdijk and Day 5 becomes a second, slower Zaanse Schans visit rather than a second remote windmill trip. Do not try to substitute Kinderdijk for both days; the UNESCO site itself does not have two days worth of new material once you have seen the pumping station and the row of windmills once.
Confirm the Keukenhof closing date on keukenhof.nl before locking in flights home; 10 May 2026 is fixed, and travelers who arrive even a few days later find the gardens already closed for the season.