Schiedam combines Genever history and windmills with polder landscape. This gives you a range of themes to explore during your stay: local history through museums and architecture, insights into the production of Genever and gin, and water management and landscape. Whether you choose collections and architecture or hands-on activities and outdoor spaces depends on how you want to spend your time.
Genever and local history
The Nationaal Jenevermuseum Schiedam is housed in a former malt-wine distillery. It explores the art of distillation, Schiedam’s role as a Genever city and the influence of advertising on Genever’s image. For a closer look at the production process, Distillers Tours offer visits to historic distilleries and insights into distillation and the production of Genever and gin. Tastings of both drinks and workshops are also available.
The Museummolen De Walvisch adds Schiedam’s windmill history to the picture. It has been a museum windmill since February 2018 and offers insights into the city’s large malt and distillery windmills. These mills ground grain exclusively for the Genever industry and are described as the tallest windmills in the world.
Buildings also help bring the city’s history into focus. The Korenbeurs is a monumental building constructed in 1787 under the direction of Italian architect Carlo Giovanni Francesco Giudici, known in the Netherlands as Jan Giudici (1746–1819). The Liduina Basilica is a neo-Gothic church designed by architect E. J. Margry. It was built between 1878 and 1881 and elevated to the status of basilica in 1990.
At the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, local history and modern art come together in an extensive collection: it comprises more than 15,000 objects, including 8,000 historical objects relating to the history of Schiedam and 7,000 works of modern art dating from 1947 to the present day.
Experience water and windmills
The Babbersmolen is the oldest surviving stone polder windmill in the Netherlands. Its grounds include a working mill yard, a historic miller’s house with a bed alcove, a wetland with pollarded willows and a duck decoy. Visitors can learn how a miller’s family lived off the wind, land and water around 100 years ago.
An interactive miniature polder makes water management the focus. Visitors can flood and then drain the model using a large wooden scoop wheel and sluices. The grounds thus bring together a historical interpretation of everyday life for millers and a hands-on activity about water regulation.
Polder landscape, parks and activities
The historic centre of Kethel in the north of Schiedam has retained its village and agricultural character, with historic buildings and polder landscape. On the outskirts of Schiedam, in the extensive Midden-Delfland area, lies Speelpolder Het Wijland. It can be reached by a hand-pulled ferry. Check before your visit whether the ferry is operating. On site, there are sand and water play areas, as well as opportunities to cross ditches using tree trunks and rope structures.
The parks offer a variety of activities, too. Park de Plantage is described as the oldest city park in the Netherlands. It features a 150-year-old oriental plane tree descended from the Anne Frank tree, as well as an art collection. Prinses Beatrixpark has a 200-metre sprint track and two running trails. Anyone who wants to explore Schiedam by bike can follow Schiedams Reuzenavontuur, a route featuring Schiedam’s tallest windmills, pancake stops, playgrounds and a flock of sheep.
Explore the city centre and plan your routes
Stadsganzenbord Schiedam is a fun scavenger hunt through the city centre: teams use a historic city map to find marked locations and complete tasks. The municipality launched the activity on 28 May 2025; check before your trip whether it is available on the date of your visit. For a different way to find your bearings, Schiedam op de kaart offers information and photos of important monuments, as well as numerous themed walking routes and historic maps.
The Stedelijk Museum Schiedam is a 20-minute walk from the station. Bus routes 51 and 54 and tram routes 1 and 11 stop at Koemarkt, a three-minute walk from the museum. Check current connections before travelling, as public transport routes may change.
For the main travel overview: Schiedam.
