Delft and The Hague are ideal for visitors looking for great museums, canals

The view from the top of the 376-step staircase in the tower of Delft’s 15th-century Nieuwe Kerk is worth the climb. On a clear day, the view seems to encompass all of South Holland: the Rotterdam skyline, The Hague and its port, and, just beyond the horizon, Keukenhof and its tulips. Absent from the view is Amsterdam, one of the most visited cities in Northern Europe.

With its museums, canal ring and energetic nightlife, it remains the big Dutch attraction, but for many, the crowds – and their sometimes loutish behaviour – are destroying the very thing they came to see. In 2017, Amsterdam was visited by 19 million people, two million more than live in the entire country.

The city has a particular problem with tourists on a tight budget – many arriving via low-cost airlines and staying at Airbnbs (which the city is trying to curb), in hostels or in their cars, and spending much of their time partying in the red-light district. There the crowds get so dense that on weekend summer nights rescue workers often can’t get to people who fall sick or faint. Last year, the city reminded its visitors how to behave (and threatened steep fines to those who ignored the warnings).

In March it started banning tours of the redlight district, and since October, the tourism board has stopped promoting Amsterdam and is encouraging visitors to visit other Dutch destinations. Among those destinations are two that can be easily combined: Delft and The Hague, the seat of Dutch government (as well as the royal court). Both are ideal for visitors looking for great museums, canals, wild North Sea beaches — and no crowds.

town hall and market square at spring, Delft, Holland

A medieval trade city, Delft’s main canal circles the old town. Smaller canals thread through the preserved old town. The water network can be explored on guided boat tours or on paddle boats. Delft caters mostly to locals and Dutch visitors. Although the openair antique market draws people on Saturdays in the summer, the pace remains leisurely.

Delft has drawn international visitors since the movie Girl With a Pearl Earring brought attention to one of the town’s most famous sons: Johannes Vermeer. More about the life and works of the 17th-century painter can be found at the Vermeer Centrum Delft. Another museum, Prinsenhof Delft Museum, has an impressive permanent collection of paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Delft is also known for its blue-and-white porcelain. The Royal Delft is the sole remaining traditional earthenware factory in town. Its artisans still craft and hand-paint Royal Delftware, and visitors can tour the factory and watch demonstrations. But for serious museum goers, The Hague cannot be beat.

Mauritshuis, the city’s best-known museum (it houses the original Girl With a Pearl Earring, Fabritius’ Goldfinch and an impressive collection of Rembrandt paintings), is right next to the Binnenhof, the medieval royal court that is now the site of the country’s government and partially open to visitors on guided tours.

The Gemeentemuseum is known for its works by Piet Mondrian, as well as works by Degas, Monet, Picasso and Van Gogh, among others. The museum Escher in Het Paleis, right next to the former US Embassy building, offers a tour of the graphic artist’s life and works. Looking for night life? Between Easter and October, 75 beach bars are set up on a stretch of wild north beach in the neighbourhood of Scheveningen. (For those who want to see the wild Dutch seaside, nearby Oostduinpark is a perfect place for a hike).

And if you want to taste the flavours of the immigrants who have come to the Netherlands since the middle of the last century, the city has a sprawling market where you can sample olives from Greece, fruit from Turkey, bakabana from Suriname and, of course, fresh fish from the Dutch fishing fleet.

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