7 days in Netherlands: itinerary

The route is a straight line on the rail map: Schiphol → Amsterdam → Delft, with everything else as a return trip. Amsterdam Centraal to Delft is a direct intercity of roughly an hour. Haarlem, Zaanse Schans, Alkmaar and the bulb fields sit north and west of Amsterdam; The Hague, Rotterdam, Kinderdijk and Leiden sit within about half an hour of Delft.

Two beds, one move. You unpack twice in a week, which keeps the trip light and leaves the evenings free. If you would rather see the north or the south, cut a day trip instead of adding a third hotel — see the variations below.

Day 1 — land and walk. Drop bags, then follow the canal ring: Herengracht, Brouwersgracht, the Jordaan. Keep it flat and easy after a flight. If you land in the morning, a 75-minute canal cruise is a low-effort way to see the city before an early night.

Day 2 — museums. Rijksmuseum at opening, then the Van Gogh Museum next door; both need timed tickets in high season. Afternoon in Vondelpark or the Stedelijk. The Rijksmuseum is quietest at opening and after 15:00.

Day 3 — Anne Frank House and the centre. Book the Anne Frank House slot first, then build the day around it: Nine Streets, the Begijnhof, a brown café. Evening: a canal-side dinner or a second walk when the bridges light up.

Day 4 — day trip. Haarlem for the Frans Hals Museum and a compact old town, 15 minutes by train. In spring, swap in Keukenhof and the bulb fields via Leiden or Haarlem. Zaanse Schans is the windmill option, about 40 minutes from Centraal.

Day 5 — move to Delft. Morning train, about an hour direct. Afternoon: Markt, Nieuwe Kerk, a pottery workshop. Delft is small enough to cover on foot in half a day, which leaves the evening free.

Day 6 — The Hague. Train to Den Haag Centraal, about 15 minutes. Mauritshuis in the morning, Kunstmuseum Den Haag for Mondrian, then tram to Scheveningen beach if the weather holds. Back to Delft for dinner.

Day 7 — Rotterdam or Kinderdijk, then out. Rotterdam for the Markthal, cube houses and harbour architecture, 15 minutes away. Kinderdijk for the UNESCO windmills, about an hour with a change. Both work as a half day before a Schiphol or Rotterdam The Hague flight.

The train is the whole plan. NS intercity services link Amsterdam, Schiphol, Leiden, The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam several times an hour, and the same line covers most of this itinerary. Buy a single ticket at the machine or tap a contactless card; a day return is usually cheaper than two singles for the same day.

Inside Amsterdam, trams and the metro cover the gaps; the centre itself is walkable and bikes are the local default. In Delft, The Hague and Rotterdam, trams and short walks do the work. For any door-to-door question, the 9292 app combines trains, trams and buses.

Amsterdam, nights 1–4: stay inside the canal ring or just outside it — Jordaan, the Nine Streets, Oud-West or De Pijp. You pay for location; De Pijp and Oud-West are cheaper and 15–25 minutes by tram from Centraal. Anything within walking distance of a tram line works.

Delft, nights 5–7: the old centre around Markt and the canals, or near Delft station for easy bags and trains. Delft is cheaper than Amsterdam and 15 minutes from both The Hague and Rotterdam, which is why it carries the second half of the week.

Book early for April, May, September and any weekend; Amsterdam hotel prices jump on event weekends. A single hotel change on day 5 keeps the trip under the three-moves-per-week rule.

A realistic 7-day total is about €700–1,500 per person excluding flights (2026 estimate), depending on hostel or hotel and how many museums you add. Trains and day trips are the fixed part; accommodation is the variable.

Museum cards can pay off if you plan four or more big museums; the I amsterdam City Card and the Museumkaart both exist and have different rules, so compare before buying. Food is easy to control: lunch at a market or broodjes bar, dinner in a neighbourhood café.

Swap Delft for Utrecht if you want a bigger city and the Hoge Veluwe within reach; Utrecht is the rail hub and has wharf-level canals. Swap Delft for Haarlem if you want a smaller town 15 minutes from Amsterdam and less moving around.

Add the north only by cutting Amsterdam to 3 nights and taking 2 nights in Groningen, which pushes the trip past two beds. Add Maastricht the same way, as a southern two-night stop. Both are better as 10-day trips — see 10 days in Netherlands.

In spring, replace one Amsterdam day with Keukenhof and the bulb fields. In winter, drop the beach and windmill days and add museum time in Amsterdam and The Hague.