Pedal Paradise: Kinderdijk Windmill UNESCO Bike Expedition

If I could give the Kinderdijk Bike Tour with Marco six stars, I would! It is well worth it. Marco is an amazing guide and a true Kinderdijk local who got to know me and my friend on the waterbus ride from Rotterdam to Kinderdijk. He then added to the tour and tailored the experience to us. After picking up our e-bikes in Kinderdijk, Marco took us to a village bakery for a delicious pastry and coffee. We then set off for a visit to a working windmill (milling flour) in a nearby village. We spent an hour with one of the volunteer caretakers who had us climbing inside the windmill, showing us the gears and answering all our questions about the engineering. We then went outside for a demonstration - with our assistance - how to set the sails and turn the cap. Following that remarkable experience, we biked around the nearby farmland and villages - roughly 10 miles. Throughout our journey, Marco took photos and shared them with us. He is by far one of the best tour guides I have used over the years. I highly recommend this experience with Marco.

Marco was great, and we are really happy we booked with him! I had also heard good things about him through a Rick Steves travel forum. I was initially on the fence about whether we needed a guide, but I’m glad we booked. He facilitated the logistics so we didn’t have to worry about details, and he arranged for an in-depth private tour of a windmill’s inner workings that we would not have had if we just showed up at the visitor center and rented bikes. He was able to accommodate a late schedule change for us, and he was focused on making sure that we got what we wanted out of the tour. A wonderful day, a wonderful tour!

Really enjoyed our bike tour with Marco. The opportunity to visit and tour a working windmill and learn how to operate it was such a unique experience. We arrived by cruise ship to Rotterdam and Marco met us at the cruise terminal and accompanied us by water taxi. Unfortunately for us our cruise ship arrived late so we did not get to spend more time on this tour! Marco was very flexible though in waiting for us and making sure we made it back to our ship in time while still experiencing as much as we could.

Had a wonderful time on the bike tour. The views were amazing and the amount of time you get to spend learning about the windmills and talking to locals cannot be duplicated elsewhere. If I could have planned differently, I would have made time to stay in kinderdijk by myself a little after the tour, but the tour itself was very well done.

We met up with Marco at Rotterdam Centraal and then headed over to Kinderdijk by boat. Marco had a wealth of information and delivered in a friendly and approachable manner! We toured the countryside stopping at cafes, checking out the wildlife, learning first hand about windmills from locals, met cheese makers and sampled and bought wonderful cheese varieties, had ice cream, and took tons of pictures along our journey … many by Marco and his awesome iPhone photography skills. I highly recommend this tour if you want to do something personal, connect with the local people and culture, enjoy being out in the country, and love to have a guide who is friendly, knowledgeable, and super personable! We had the best time. Thank you Marco!!!

Renting a bike and doing your own tour is very simple and inexpensive. To rent a bike, head to the Tourist Info Center-walk just past the center; go down a driveway and you will see many bike to the right. Friendly courteous folks and pay with credit card, if you wish. Bike rental 8 euros a day. Also have ebikes at 20 euros. We just followed the bike route that runs along the canal. We didn't buy tour tickets since we had done that several times. I am sure you can get tickets for tours at the Tourist Info Center.

My husband, daughter and I went on the bike tour through Kinderdijk with Marco. He was so kind and patient. He picked us up from our hotel and we took the ferry to Kinderdijk, rented the e-bikes and proceeded to ride through the countryside. We went to this adorable little bakery and were treated with a delicious latte and coffee cake. We then took a tour of a grain windmill, which was extremely interesting, The two volunteers who ran the mill were so informative and entertaining. We then took the rest of the bike tour, which I enjoyed the most. Riding through the country, along the canals and farms and, of course, the beautiful windmills, was an experience of a lifetime! We had an amazing time and owe it all to Marco. Such an amazing experience!!

We had an amazing time riding bikes through the trails seeing the local sites to include a historical and informative tour of. 3 rd generation working windmill with stones to grind flour. The scenery of the local farms with cattle and summer homes with gorgeous gardens and flowers was a true highlight. All in all a splendid bike tour with a friendly and informative guide who stopped at all the scenic locations to ensure we had wonderful photographic memories of our day. The best part was that our tour was willing to make modifications to our agenda to meet our needs. We would highly recommend this tour. Fantastic!

Marco was excellent. He catered to our needs and provided a great experience interacting with local people. Cafe visit tasting local cake and beer. Private tour to experience inside a working windmill which was fantastic. Lunch at another local Cafe and tour and tasting at local cheese factory. A really enjoyable and fantastic experience. All while biking through the countryside. Marco chose ebikes for us as it was very windy, thankfully. His experience and knowledge made this a great day for us. Thankyou Marco.

What a great private tour. Our guide Marco called us the day before to arrange to meet for the tour. He offered to start the tour earlier because of the warm weather. He greeted us at the water taxi dock in Rotterdam, got us on the boat and paid for the two-way fare. Marco offered to tailor the trip based upon our preference: the pace of the ride, the focus of our visit (photography, mills, scenery), etc. Upon landing we picked up our rental bikes, stopped at a local cafe for some coffee and snack (included in the tour price) and then started our bike ride. We started in the area outside of the UNESCO site, riding along the river to the two nearby towns. We rode along an uncrowded path along farm fields with cows and visited a family windmill. We were lucky enough to find the mill keeper onsite who gave a tour inside the mill and gave us some family history. Marco brought a bottle of wine, glasses, nuts, cheese and cucumber for a mid-day snack. We rode back through the towns past lovely personal gardens and stopped at a local cheese factory/shop for tasting. Finally we made our way through the UNESCO Kinderdijk site for some great views and pictures. Marco made sure to get us back to the docks in time for our trip back to Rotterdam. Marco, who lives in Kinderdijk, was a funny and friendly guy and very easy to talk to. It was a perfect day.