Randstad Explorer

A low-and-slow hop down the Dutch heartland

A short tourco run south from Amsterdam through the Randstad — Anne Frank's canal house, the tulip fields of Keukenhof, Leiden's botanical garden, the canals of Delft, and Rotterdam's cube houses. Five landings, none more than a coffee's flight apart.

Itinerary

1. Anne Frank House — Begin in Amsterdam, on a canal where a hidden annex kept a young diarist's voice alive.
2. Keukenhof — Bank southwest over the bulb fields — in spring the earth itself is painted in stripes.
3. Hortus Botanicus Leiden — Touch down at Leiden, where Europe's oldest botanical garden first coaxed the tulip from a seed.
4. Delft — Follow the canals to Delft — blue-and-white porcelain, Vermeer's light, a town in miniature.
5. Cube Houses — Close the loop over Rotterdam, where houses tilt on their corners and the skyline restarts the century.