Visit Windmill Island Gardens, one of Holland’s must-see attractions and our very own “treasure island”! Spend an afternoon wandering through 36 acres of beautifully manicured lawns and gardens filled with over 122,000 tulips during our annual Tulip Time Festival; the tulips are replaced with breathtaking annuals and perennials for the summer months.
In a nod to our Dutch heritage, enjoy performances by authentically-clad Dutch dancers, complete with wooden shoes; take a spin on the imported hand-painted Dutch carousel, and listen to an antique Amsterdam street organ, also straight from the Netherlands!
Take a guided tour of the 260-year-old working windmill, DeZwaan, (The Swan), that arrived in Holland from the Netherlands in the mid- ‘60s, and remains the only authentic working Dutch windmill in the United States. And don’t miss the opportunity to step out onto the fourth-floor deck where you can catch a birds’ eye view of the lush gardens, dikes, and canals surrounding the mill. For a more in-depth understanding of DeZwaan, keep an eye out for our Dutch-certified miller (the only one in North America) and watch as she grinds locally-sourced winter wheat into flour and corn into meal (available for purchase in the gift shop).
The tastes of DeZwaan are embedded in our community from the grains used in local craft beers and spirits, to the breads and doughs used by local bakers and chefs. Proud of the “mill to table” tagline, the vision of DeZwaan feeding its community, (which goes back over two centuries), has far exceeded expectations! Be sure to make Windmill Island Gardens a “must see” destination for your west Michigan touring! And don’t leave without grabbing a bag of mill-ground flour while you’re there!
