Delft is a small canal town between The Hague and Rotterdam, the home of Vermeer, of the blue and white pottery that carries its name and of the House of Orange's tombs. Its old centre is compact enough to see in a day.
Everything turns on the Markt, with the Nieuwe Kerk at one end and the town hall at the other. A few minutes away, the Oude Kerk leans over the Oude Delft canal, the Vermeer Centrum sits on the Voldersgracht and the canal boats leave from the Koornmarkt. Royal Delft is on the edge of town.
Museum Prinsenhof, where William of Orange was shot in 1584, is closed for renovation until 2027.
Watch the painters at work in the Royal Delft factory
Rotterdamseweg
1.5 hoursGo alone or with a tour
The last of Delft's 32 seventeenth-century potteries still paints its blue and white by hand, and you can watch it happen.
What it is
Royal Delft, the Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles, was founded in 1653 and is the only one left of the 32 earthenware factories set up in Delft in the seventeenth century. The visit runs through the museum's Delftware and into the working factory, where master painters apply the blue and white patterns by hand. You can also book a tile-painting workshop, and children get a treasure hunt or their own audio tour.
How to do it
The factory is at Rotterdamseweg 196, on the edge of the old town. It opens daily from 9:30 to 17:00, closes on 1 January and 25 and 26 December, and shuts at 16:00 on 24 and 31 December. Adults paid €17.50 at the time of writing; the ticket includes an audio guide.
Good to know
Book the painting workshop ahead if you want a tile of your own to take home. Brasserie1653 on site does lunch and high tea.
William of Orange's tomb below, and from a 108-metre tower, the whole town and its canals laid out like a map.
What it is
The Nieuwe Kerk was built between 1396 and 1496 on the Markt, facing the town hall. In 1584 William the Silent, the father of the Dutch Republic, was buried here in a mausoleum by Hendrick and Pieter de Keyser, and the royal family of Orange-Nassau has been laid in the crypt below ever since; the crypt itself is closed to the public. Hugo Grotius is buried here too.
How to do it
The churches open Monday to Saturday; from February to October the hours are 10:00 to 17:00, and from November to January weekdays are 11:00 to 16:00. The tower closes an hour earlier and can shut in bad weather. Both churches cost €10, the tower €7.50, and churches plus tower €15. Buy online or at the church.
Good to know
Leave backpacks and umbrellas behind: neither is allowed in the tower, and under-fives cannot climb. The same ticket covers the Oude Kerk.
Delft's oldest parish church leans two metres off true and holds the graves of Vermeer and the admirals Piet Hein and Maarten Tromp.
What it is
The Oude Kerk was founded in 1246 as the church of Saint Bartholomew. Its 75-metre brick tower began to lean while it was being built, because the foundations were too weak, and today it stands about two metres out of plumb; only the four turrets at the top are truly vertical. Inside lie the painter Johannes Vermeer and the naval heroes Piet Hein and Maarten Tromp.
How to do it
It stands on the Oude Delft canal, a few minutes' walk from the Markt, and keeps the same hours and ticket as the Nieuwe Kerk: Monday to Saturday, from 10:00 to 17:00 from February to October and from 11:00 to 16:00 on weekdays from November to January. Both churches together cost €10.
Good to know
See it after the Nieuwe Kerk on the same ticket. For the best view of the lean, look at the tower from across the Oude Delft canal.
Learn how Vermeer saw Delft at the Vermeer Centrum
Voldersgracht
1 to 1.5 hoursNo booking needed
Delft has no Vermeer of its own, so this centre shows his paintings full size and explains how he painted light.
What it is
Johannes Vermeer spent his whole life in Delft, but none of his paintings hangs in the town today. The Vermeer Centrum, on the Voldersgracht where the painters' Guild of Saint Luke he once led had its house, fills that gap with full-size reproductions of his work, a short film on Vermeer and seventeenth-century Delft, and rooms on his technique, including a camera obscura.
How to do it
The address is Voldersgracht 21, just behind the Markt. It opens every day from 10:00 to 17:00 and closes only on 25 December. An audio guide is included, and a combined ticket with the Oude and Nieuwe Kerk costs €18.50.
Good to know
Go before the churches: it makes the town's streets and skyline easier to read. Then see the originals at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, a short train ride away.
Fifty minutes along canals lined with gabled houses, bridges and church towers, with the town's stories told on board.
What it is
Delft's old town is ringed and crossed by canals, and from the water you see its gabled merchants' houses, low bridges and the towers of both big churches from an angle the streets do not give you. The Rondvaart Delft boats run a loop of about 50 minutes with commentary on the town's history.
How to do it
Boats leave from Koornmarkt 113, a few minutes south of the Markt, every hour from 11:00 to 17:00, seven days a week. Adults paid €14 and children aged 4 to 16 €6.50 at the time of writing. Buy at the kiosk on the quay or book ahead online.
Good to know
Take it early in the visit to get your bearings, then walk back to the places you liked best.
Walk out to the Oostpoort, Delft's medieval east gate
Oostpoort
30 minutesFree
A brick Gothic gate from about 1400, with twin spires and a drawbridge, mirrored in the canal on the edge of the old town.
What it is
The Oostpoort, Delft's East Gate, is a brick Gothic gatehouse built around 1400 on the town's old defences. Around 1510 its two towers were given an extra octagonal storey and tall spires, and it was restored in 1964. A drawbridge crosses the water beside it.
How to do it
It stands on the eastern edge of the old town, an easy walk from the Markt. Today it is a private home and art gallery, so you see it from the outside; there is nothing to pay.
Good to know
The best view is from the far bank, with the towers reflected in the canal. Combine it with a loop along the old town's eastern canals.
Find the street Vermeer painted in The Little Street
Vlamingstraat
30 minutesFree
Archive measurements placed Vermeer's famous street scene on the Vlamingstraat, a quiet canal lane a few minutes from the Markt.
What it is
The Little Street, painted by Johannes Vermeer around 1657 to 1658 and now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, shows two Delft houses and the passageway between them. For centuries nobody knew where it was. In 2015, research in the city's quay dues register, which recorded the measurements of every house and passage along Delft's canals, concluded that the scene is on the Vlamingstraat, at today's numbers 40 and 42.
How to do it
The Vlamingstraat runs along a narrow canal on the east side of the old town, an easy walk from the Markt and the Vermeer Centrum. It is a residential street, so there is nothing to pay and nothing to enter.
Good to know
Look up the painting on your phone before you go and compare the gap between the houses. Keep your voice down: people live here.
A goods market has filled Delft's great square on Thursdays since the twelfth century, with a flower market a few hundred metres away.
What it is
The Markt in Delft, between the Nieuwe Kerk and the town hall, is one of the largest historic market squares in Europe, and a goods market has been held on it on Thursdays since the twelfth century. Stalls sell food, clothes, gadgets and art. On the same day a flower market sets up on the Brabantse Turfmarkt, a few hundred metres away.
How to do it
The Thursday market runs from 9:00 to 17:00. On Saturdays a smaller market fills the Burgwal and the Brabantse Turfmarkt, and from April to September more than a hundred antiques stalls take over the Hippolytusbuurt, the Voldersgracht and the Wijnhaven every Saturday.
Good to know
Climb the Nieuwe Kerk tower afterwards for the view down over the stalls. The terraces around the Markt are the place for lunch.
Hidden gems suggested by travellers. We check each one before it goes up; the words are theirs, not ours.
No traveller picks for Delft yet. Know a place most visitors miss?
Plan your trip
Getting there
Delft station has frequent trains from The Hague, Rotterdam, Leiden and Amsterdam. From The Hague a tram also runs to the old town.
Getting around
On foot: the old town is small and flat, and the Markt is a short walk from the station. Royal Delft, on the edge of town, is a longer walk or a short ride.
How many days
In must30's view, one full day, or half a day joined to The Hague or Rotterdam. Stay the night if you want the canals quiet in the evening.
When to go
Any time of year. The churches close on Sundays, and from November to January they keep shorter weekday hours, so plan the tower climb for Monday to Saturday.
Where to base yourself
In the old town near the Markt, or in The Hague or Rotterdam with a short train ride in.
Questions travellers ask
Is Delft worth a day trip?
Yes. In one day you can climb the Nieuwe Kerk tower, see Vermeer's grave in the Oude Kerk, visit the Vermeer Centrum, take a canal boat and watch the painters at Royal Delft.
Can you see a real Vermeer in Delft?
No. None of his paintings is in Delft; the Vermeer Centrum shows full-size reproductions. The nearest originals are at the Mauritshuis in The Hague.
Are the Delft churches open on Sunday?
No. The Oude and Nieuwe Kerk open Monday to Saturday, and one ticket covers both.
Is Museum Prinsenhof open?
No. It closed in January 2025 for a renovation planned to run until 2027.
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