Full day
The Grand Holland tour
The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam sit within twenty minutes of each other and could not be less alike. Taking all three in a day works precisely because of that contrast.
Ask about Grand Holland
Why the three go together
One city is a seat of government that is not the capital. One is a preserved seventeenth century town where the royal family is buried. One was flattened in 1940 and rebuilt as an experiment that is still running. Seen on the same day, each one explains the others, and the country stops looking like a single flat thing.
The route
- The Hague: the Binnenhof and the Hofvijver, the Peace Palace, the embassy district, and Scheveningen or Madurodam if the day allows.
- Delft: Royal Delft, founded in 1653 and the last of the town’s thirty two potteries, then the market square, the Nieuwe Kerk and the crypt of the House of Orange.
- Rotterdam: the Cube Houses, the Markthal, the Erasmus Bridge and Zadkine’s Destroyed City near the harbour.
How the day is paced
A full day fits all three when the walking is concentrated and the driving is not padded: one guided walk in each city with time to sit down in one of them, rather than three half walks and a lot of coach. Groups who want more time in Delft usually trade the Madurodam stop for it. Cruise groups arriving in Rotterdam run the route in reverse.
Common questions
Is a full day enough for three cities?
Yes, because they are twenty minutes apart and each guided walk is concentrated on one part of each centre. What a day does not allow is a long museum stop in all three.
Can the route start from Rotterdam instead of Amsterdam?
Yes. Cruise groups arriving at Rotterdam usually run it in reverse, which also avoids the busiest part of the day in The Hague.
Can we swap one of the cities?
The three are chosen because the contrast between them is the point, but the stops inside each city are flexible. Keukenhof replaces one of them in spring for some groups.
