Gouda, in the water-rich province of South Holland, is a charming Dutch university city that is world famous because of its delicious cheese. Explore its medieval heart to walk in the footsteps of the master cheese, candle and pipe makers that helped shape this city.
Having overcome raging fires, a plague epidemic and several wars, Gouda has been reshaped many times but its Old Town still shows how the Dutch made a life here along the Gouwe River in medieval times.
Start your tour of Gouda at the Markt, a wedge-shaped central square. Admire its Oude Stadhuys, a freestanding 15th-century Town Hall with red-and-white window shutters and Gothic turrets.
Real Gouda cheeses were first weighed and stamped in De Goudse Waag, a 17th-century monument in the square. Look up to see how the building’s façade depicts the early cheese trade. Inside, see the huge scales and other exhibits in the Gouda Kaas- en Ambachten Museum (Cheese & Crafts Museum).
Follow your nose to the Gouda Cheese Market, held here each Thursday morning from April through to August. Sample slices of creamy Gouda cheese and watch the skilled trading of the enormous wheels of Gouda cheeses by locals in period costumes. Also try other famous local delicacies, such as the cookies named “stroopwafels,” thin waffles filled with maple syrup.
Just behind the square is the cross-shaped Sint Janskerk (Church of St. John), the country’s longest church. Step inside to admire its collection of awe-inspiring stained-glass windows.
Behind the church, the Catharina Gasthuis is a former hospital and nursing home. See its 15th-century chapel, which was restored to its former glory in 1980 and is now an exhibit hall for Museum Gouda. Admire the plateel, decorated porcelain-like plates and vases that are Gouda’s answer to Delft’s Blauw pottery, browse the 19th-century paintings from the Artzenius collection and see the sculpture garden. Don’t miss the basement, which has a historic holding cell for “crazy” people and a torture exhibit.
Thanks to its central location, visiting charming Gouda is the perfect daytrip if you are looking for a break from the busy streets of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht or The Hague.
