toseaornottosea Posted January 29, 2018 #1 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Does one need to take a ship's excursion or can one walk off the ship and easily walk to see the windmills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrkstl Posted January 29, 2018 #2 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Does one need to take a ship's excursion or can one walk off the ship and easily walk to see the windmills? While I would guess that most ships dock where we did, which is very much a short walk to the windmills, I’m not sure why you would choose to tour them on your own. If I’m not mistaken, there is an entrance fee which is covered by your walking tour. It’s a beautiful place, and the guide that we had really added to the experience. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E316 Posted January 29, 2018 #3 Share Posted January 29, 2018 We went with Viking. They stopped at Kinderdijk. We just got off the boat and walked across the road and the Windmills were all there. At the last windmill you could go into it to see the inside. There it was not really a guided tour but something you did on your own. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toseaornottosea Posted January 29, 2018 Author #4 Share Posted January 29, 2018 We will be on Viking A-B. Better to go with ships 2 hour included excursion or DIY? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrkstl Posted January 29, 2018 #5 Share Posted January 29, 2018 We will be on Viking A-B. Better to go with ships 2 hour included excursion or DIY? FYI, it was a guided tour for us in April of 2017 on Viking. Cannot imagine that this has changed? I’d recommend that you go on the included tour. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OneSixtyToOne Posted January 29, 2018 #6 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Does one need to take a ship's excursion or can one walk off the ship and easily walk to see the windmills? You really need to take the ship's excursion. You dock on a dike in the middle of nowhere and cross a road to the windmill area. There you meet the docent from the organization that maintains the windmills. It's an interesting tour where you see the giant modern Archimedes Screws that do the pumping today. You then visit the old windmills where they will demonstrate how the sails are raised and you get to walk around inside one. Finally there is a short presentation at the visitor's center about the history of the windmills and the area. You have time to visit the gift shop and then you re-board the ship. I doubt you'll see any of the demonstrations if you did this on your own. It's the sort of thing they schedule for tourist groups and educational tours.The ship leaves immediately after all the groups are back on board so I doubt they will even give you an option of wandering around on your own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoralReef Posted January 29, 2018 #7 Share Posted January 29, 2018 The tour was excellent, and included. And on the A->B, there was nothing to do the rest of the day after the morning Kinderdijk tour. Don’t know why you wouldn’t take it! But yes, it’s a short walk if you decide to leave early. Our tour was conducted on foot from the ship, no buses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toseaornottosea Posted January 30, 2018 Author #8 Share Posted January 30, 2018 onesixtytoone - Viking offers not only the included 2 hour Kinderdijk Windmills tour but also a Kinderdijk Windmills & Dutch Cheese Making tour that is 4.5 hours long. So if we were to decide to walk into town and tour the windmills on our own it seems we would have more than ample time to get back to the ship well before the ship departs. Coralreef - how many were on the tour you were on? We've never been a fan of large (more than 10 - 12) group tours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare gnome12 Posted January 30, 2018 #9 Share Posted January 30, 2018 There is no town at Kinderdijk. There are canals and windmills. Sent from my SM-N910C using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OneSixtyToOne Posted January 30, 2018 #10 Share Posted January 30, 2018 onesixtytoone - Viking offers not only the included 2 hour Kinderdijk Windmills tour but also a Kinderdijk Windmills & Dutch Cheese Making tour that is 4.5 hours long. So if we were to decide to walk into town and tour the windmills on our own it seems we would have more than ample time to get back to the ship well before the ship departs Never assume that an extended tour will return to where it departed. It is not uncommon for the ship to continue sailing and you will meet it at a different location on your return from your excursion. BTW there is no town there. It’s the dike, canals, and windmills. It’s pretty isolated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toseaornottosea Posted January 30, 2018 Author #11 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Thank you all for your kind advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrkstl Posted January 30, 2018 #12 Share Posted January 30, 2018 (edited) Thank you all for your kind advice. FYI, the ship docks early in the morning at Rotterdam, which is where the Dutch cheese tour departs from. From there the boat travels to Kinderdijk. We didn’t do the cheese tour, so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while we traveled to Kinderdijk. Those who took the cheese tour joined us after their tour at Kinderdijk. Also, there are several groups, and you’ll not feel crowded. Jeff Edited January 30, 2018 by jrkstl to add additional information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhody Lynn Posted January 30, 2018 #13 Share Posted January 30, 2018 On our Viking cruise in September, the ship was not able to dock in Kinderdijk because, I assume, of over crowding. We took a short, but very scenic, bus ride from the ship to the windmills. Actually very nice since we saw a bit of the countryside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoralReef Posted January 30, 2018 #14 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Coralreef - how many were on the tour you were on? We've never been a fan of large (more than 10 - 12) group tours. About 20, which was typical for the Viking included excursions. I’m not a fan of large tours either, but they are pretty much inevitable on the Rhine Getaway, since it’s often hard to know where your ship will wind up. I must say, as generally DIY/private tour people, we were really impressed with how Viking organized the tours. They were very well planned, and we never encountered anything like the 50-person restroom lines that ocean cruiseline excursions notoriously entail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw1776 Posted January 31, 2018 #15 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Viking included tour was not to be missed. If you don't like the tour, use the fact that you're now ticketed inside the park & tell the guide you're going off on your own. We were docked so close that when my wife wanted to buy something at the gift shop, I ran back to the ship for my credit card. Easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2Otstr Posted January 31, 2018 #16 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Viking included tour was not to be missed. If you don't like the tour, use the fact that you're now ticketed inside the park & tell the guide you're going off on your own.We were docked so close that when my wife wanted to buy something at the gift shop, I ran back to the ship for my credit card. Easy. That is a cute gift shop. I bought a couple of items there, too, as did several others on our tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarEagle76 Posted February 1, 2018 #17 Share Posted February 1, 2018 When we were there in August 2016 on the Rhine Getaway itinerary, we arrived at 10A, the tour was from 10:30A-12:30P, we were to be back on board at 12:45P and sailed at 1P. When we docked, we had to cross a road with an adjoining bike path and the site was on the other side of the road. We stayed with the tour for about an hour, then wandered on on own to take photos. We also left some money at the gift shop. [emoji51] Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarEagle76 Posted February 1, 2018 #18 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Sorry for the blurry pictures. Using forums app for the first time. Let’s try this again. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toseaornottosea Posted February 1, 2018 Author #19 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Thank you to all of you who have chimed in on this thread. Your info and suggestions have been most helpful. Happy and safe river cruising to all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now