10 Days in the Netherlands Itinerary

The Netherlands is small enough that you can sleep in two places and still see most of the country. More than 18 million people live here, and about 26% of the land lies below sea level, which explains a lot of what you'll see: canals, windmills, dykes and some of the most serious flood defences on earth.

Most visitors never leave Amsterdam. Ten days lets you see the capital properly and then work your way south through Leiden, Delft, Rotterdam and The Hague, with a last day either among the Delta Works in Zeeland or at the cheese market in Gouda. Distances are short and the trains are frequent, so you'll spend very little of the trip in transit.

Before you go

You'll almost certainly fly into Schiphol, one of Europe's busiest airports and KLM's home base. From North America, KLM, Delta, United, American and Air Canada all fly in, and JetBlue flies from Boston. Our page on flights to Schiphol has more.

• Time zone: Central European Time, UTC+1, and UTC+2 in summer.
• Entry: The Netherlands is in the Schengen Area, so visitors from the US, Canada, Australia and the UK can stay up to 90 days in any 180 without a visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System, which records your fingerprints and photo at the border, began rolling out on 12 October 2025. ETIAS, a paid online travel authorisation for visa-free visitors, hadn't started by September 2026, and a 2027 launch looks more likely. Check our Amsterdam visa page before you book.
• Getting around: Trains between all the cities below are frequent. You can tap in and out with a contactless bank card on trains, trams, buses and metros across the country, so there's no need to buy separate tickets. The one exception on this route is Zeeland, which is much easier by car.

The train from the airport station, directly under the terminal, gets you to Amsterdam Centraal quickly. Here's our guide to getting from Schiphol into central Amsterdam.

Coming from further away and want to add other countries? AirTreks, BootsnAll's sister company, has built multi-stop and round-the-world tickets since 1987. This sample route is a good starting point:

Days 1 to 3: Amsterdam

You'll arrive at Centraal Station, a Neo-Renaissance building that opened in 1889. Stay somewhere central for these three nights. Our guide to choosing where to stay and hotel list can help.

Day 1: canals and the old centre

Walk from the station to the canal ring and take a canal cruise. It's the best first-day orientation there is. You'll pass the Prinsengracht, where the Anne Frank House stands. Tickets for the house are sold online only and often sell out, so book before you fly.

Grab a snack from a FEBO wall, then spend the afternoon around Dam Square with the Royal Palace and the National Monument. End the day with a walk through the Red Light District. Keep your camera away from the windows, and don't light a joint: smoking cannabis on the district's streets has been banned since May 2023, with a €100 fine.

Day 2: museums

Pick the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh Museum, or both if you have the stamina. The Rijksmuseum is €25 for adults, free for under-18s, and everyone has to book a start time. If you're seeing several museums, work out whether the I amsterdam City Card pays off.

Refuel with bitterballen, the fried Dutch meatballs that come with almost every beer, or head to the Heineken Experience. In the evening, try the Zeedijk for Chinese and Southeast Asian food, then bar-hop around Leidseplein.

Day 3: bikes, markets and a show

Rent a bike (here's how) and ride through Vondelpark, then on to the Albert Cuyp market in De Pijp or the floating flower market on the Singel. In the evening, catch a concert at the Concertgebouw or an English-language improv show at Boom Chicago on the Rozengracht.

Day 4: Leiden (and Keukenhof in spring)

Leiden has the oldest university in the Netherlands and was Rembrandt's birthplace. It's a compact canal town that feels like Amsterdam without the crowds. Walk the Breestraat and Haarlemmerstraat shopping streets and along the canals.

In spring, the Keukenhof gardens near Lisse are the reason to be here. The park is open only about eight weeks a year: in 2027, from 18 March to 9 May, with tickets on sale online in the autumn. Check the Keukenhof site for the seasonal bus connections.

At the end of the day, take the train south and check into a hotel in Delft or Rotterdam, your base for the next five nights.

Day 5: Delft

Delft is the prettiest small city on this route, and it's where Delft Blue pottery comes from. Royal Delft, founded in 1653 and the only one of the 17th-century potteries still working, runs a factory museum where you can watch painters at work. In the centre, the Oude Kerk and Nieuwe Kerk are both open to visitors. The Nieuwe Kerk holds the tomb of William of Orange and the Dutch royal burial vault, and Vermeer is buried in the Oude Kerk.

For dinner, Spijshuis De Dis on the Beestenmarkt serves traditional Dutch cooking with seasonal specials like asparagus, mussels and game. It opens Tuesday to Saturday evenings, so book ahead. See our Amsterdam to Delft guide if you're doing this as a day trip instead.

Days 6 to 8: Rotterdam

The second-largest city in the country, home to Europe's biggest port, and nothing like Amsterdam. The centre was flattened by bombing in May 1940 and rebuilt as a showcase of modern architecture, and it keeps adding to it.

Day 6: skyline and harbour

Start at the Euromast for the view over the port. From there, head to Blaak for the Cube Houses and the Markthal, a covered food market under a giant arched roof, then cross to the Erasmus Bridge. Spido runs harbour cruises from beside the bridge. Finish at the Oude Haven, the old harbour, for a beer by the water.

Day 7: Delfshaven and the Kop van Zuid

Delfshaven is the old quarter that escaped the 1940 bombing, and the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from here in 1620. Have lunch at Stadsbrouwerij De Pelgrim, a brewery in the old town hall on the harbour. It's closed Monday and Tuesday.

In the afternoon, cross the river to the Wilhelminapier and the old Holland America Line headquarters, now Hotel New York, good for a drink even if you aren't staying. Nearby in Katendrecht, the SS Rotterdam, a 1950s ocean liner, is now a hotel and restaurant you can also tour, and the Nederlands Fotomuseum has reopened in the Santos warehouse. For art, go to Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the mirrored storehouse in Museumpark where you can see the collection behind the scenes.

Day 8: Kinderdijk

The 19 windmills at Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site east of Rotterdam, are the best place in the country to understand how the Dutch keep their feet dry. You can take a boat past the mills and go inside a couple of them. You don't need a car: the Waterbus runs from Rotterdam to Alblasserdam, a short bike or bus ride from the windmills, and it accepts contactless bank cards.

Day 9: The Hague

The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government and home to King Willem-Alexander, who has reigned since 2013. The old parliament complex, the Binnenhof, is still closed for a long renovation as of September 2026, so you can only see it from the outside. The view across the Hofvijver pond is still worth the walk.

Right next door, the Mauritshuis holds Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and a small, excellent collection of Dutch Golden Age painting. The Peace Palace, home of the UN's International Court of Justice, has a free visitors' centre with an audio tour, open Wednesday to Sunday afternoons. The palace and gardens themselves can only be seen on a guided tour.

On a warm evening, take tram 1 to the beach at Scheveningen for the sunset and a paper cone of fish or fries. More in our guide to getting from Amsterdam to The Hague.

Day 10: the Delta Works and Zeeland, or Gouda and Utrecht

By car: water and beaches

The Dutch relationship with water is the story of this country, and the best place to see it is the Delta Works. Rent a car and drive to the Maeslantkering near Hook of Holland, a storm barrier whose two enormous floating gates swing shut across the Nieuwe Waterweg when a big North Sea surge threatens Rotterdam. The Keringhuis visitor centre next to it runs guided tours, including an English tour.

Continue south to Deltapark Neeltje Jans, a water theme park on the Oosterscheldekering, the largest of the barriers. Finish on the Zeeland coast at Westkapelle, a beach village popular with Dutch and German holidaymakers.

By train: cheese and canals

If you're here on a Thursday between April and August, go to Gouda. The cheese market runs every Thursday from 10:00 to 12:30 in front of the town hall, with farmers and traders bargaining over wheels of cheese the old way. In 2026 it ran from 2 April to 27 August. Have a fresh stroopwafel while you're there, in the town that claims to have invented them.

Then carry on to Utrecht, a lively university city with a Roman past. Climb the Dom Tower, the tallest church tower in the Netherlands, on a guided staircase tour (€13.50 for adults as of 2026, bags not allowed, free lockers provided). Walk along the Oudegracht, where the old wharf cellars at water level are now cafés and terraces. From Utrecht it's a short train ride back to Amsterdam or Schiphol for your flight.

Changing the plan

• Short on time? Drop Zeeland and do Delft and The Hague on the same day.
• Want more Amsterdam? Swap a Rotterdam day for one of our day trips from Amsterdam, such as Haarlem.
• Weather: Spring and summer are best for Keukenhof and the Gouda market. Check Amsterdam weather for what to pack.

FAQ

Is 10 days too long for the Netherlands?

No. Amsterdam alone can fill a week, and the other cities are different enough that you won't feel you're repeating yourself.

Do I need a car?

Only for the Zeeland day. Everything else is easier by train, tram and bike, and parking in the big cities is expensive.

Where should I stay?

Two bases work well: Amsterdam for the first three nights, then Rotterdam or Delft for the rest. Both are close enough to reach every stop on this route as a day trip.

photos by UggBoy UggGirl, khawkins33, GoTeresa!, GoTeresa!, GoTeresa!, manuel|MC, GoTeresa!, Bert Kaufmann, speckledyen, rs-foto