The capital: Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the main gateway, with Schiphol Airport a short train ride from Centraal station. Give it two to four days for the canal ring, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House and neighbourhoods like the Jordaan and De Pijp. Book the big museums ahead, because they sell out.
The Randstad cities
Amsterdam is one corner of the Randstad, a ring of cities linked by fast, frequent trains. Rotterdam is the bold, modern one, rebuilt after 1940 with daring architecture, Europe's biggest port and a lively food scene. The Hague is the seat of government and the royal city, with the Mauritshuis, international courts and a beach at Scheveningen, while pretty Delft is ten minutes away. Utrecht sits in the middle of everything, a medieval student city with unique two-level canal wharves and the Dom Tower.
The south: Maastricht
Maastricht feels like another country: hills, old stone, French and Belgian influences, long lunches and the country's most famous Carnival. It is about two and a half hours from Amsterdam by direct train and pairs well with day trips into Belgium and Germany.
How to combine them
A first trip of five to seven days usually means three nights in Amsterdam or Utrecht and two or three in Rotterdam or The Hague, with day trips to Delft, Haarlem, the windmills of Kinderdijk or Zaanse Schans and, in spring, the tulip fields. With ten days, add Maastricht or the Wadden island of Texel. Trains run every few minutes between the big cities, so you rarely need to move hotels more than once or twice. The free trip planner can help you shape the route, and our places to visit list has picks in every base.