Gouda is a small old town with an outsized name, built on cheese, candles and clay pipes. Its market square is one of the finest in the country, with a free-standing Gothic city hall in the middle and the 17th-century weigh house on the edge where cheese is still weighed. Behind it stands the longest church in the Netherlands, holding the largest surviving collection of 16th-century stained glass anywhere. It is twenty minutes from Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague alike.
Gouda's cheese trade goes back to a staple right granted in 1198 that obliged all regional cheese to be traded here. Farmers and traders still close deals by handjeklap - clapping hands - and the wheels are weighed at the 17th-century Waag.
Summer Thursday mornings only, roughly April to August. Be in place well before it starts - the square fills fast.
Official siteRebuilt after the fire of 1552 and, at 123 metres, the longest church in the Netherlands. It holds 72 stained-glass windows, the largest surviving group of 16th-century glass anywhere in the world, several of them donated by Philip II and William of Orange.
Closed Sundays. Free with a Museumkaart, and a combination ticket with Museum Gouda is sold.
Official siteHoused in the medieval Catharina Gasthuis, with altarpieces rescued from the Sint-Jan, civic-guard paintings, Gouda pottery and clay pipes, and a scale model of the city as it stood in 1562.
Closed Mondays. Under-18s go free and the Museumkaart is accepted.
Official siteAn interactive walk through how Gouda cheese is made, aged and traded, ending in tastings. It is under five minutes from the station.
Groups enter in timed slots of about ten people, so book ahead. Allow an hour to ninety minutes.
Official siteGouda invented the stroopwafel, and this working factory on the Markt shows the baking and syrup-filling before handing you a warm one.
Closed Sundays, and a timed slot must be reserved. Tours run in five languages.
Official siteOne of the oldest light festivals in the country. On one December evening all the electric lighting on the Markt is switched off and around fifteen hundred candles are lit in the windows of the old city hall, with a tree donated by Gouda's Norwegian twin city.
Free, and very crowded. Arrive well before the ceremony.
Official siteGouda together with another city, in one tour.
Walk it at your own pace, on your phone. Works offline.
For cruise guests, timed around the ship.
Official sources, so you can check today's hours and prices rather than trusting ours. All open in a new tab.
Groups are set down at Klein Amerika, right beside the centre, and coaches then park at the Groenheuvel car park on the Heuvellaan, about three kilometres out. During the cheese market and Gouda by Candlelight, Klein Amerika is drop-off only.
Official coach informationGouda station has no NS lockers. Instead the city provides forty free lockable luggage lockers at the Nieuwe Markt, big enough for a suitcase, open through the day and late on Friday and Saturday.
Locker sizes and pricesNo, while the cheese weighing house is a highlight, Gouda's old town also has the longest church in the Netherlands, a Gothic town hall, and centuries of trade history worth exploring.
Yes, the historic weighing house on the market square still sells and lets you taste cheese, and a tasting can be added to a private walking tour.
Gouda's canals and gabled buildings have a similar look to Amsterdam, but on a much smaller and quieter scale, which makes it an easy, relaxed half-day trip.
