Things to do in Dordrecht
Dordrecht is the oldest city in Holland: an island town of old harbours and merchants' houses, a church tower that leans more than two metres, and a national park of tidal creeks on its doorstep.
- About an hour from Amsterdam
The oldest city in Holland
Dordrecht got its city rights in 1220, before any other town in the county of Holland, and it grew rich on a staple right granted in 1299 — the right to make passing merchants offer their goods for sale here first. The money is still visible along the harbour fronts. (Nijmegen and Maastricht, both Roman, are older in the Netherlands as a whole, which is why the phrase needs its qualifier.)
It is also a place where Dutch history was made rather than just recorded. In 1572 delegates from the cities of Holland met here for the first free assembly of the States, a step on the road to the Dutch Republic. In 1618–19 the Synod of Dort sat here to settle a quarrel between Calvinists and Arminians, and set in motion the Dutch Bible translation that stayed the standard text well into the twentieth century. Johan de Witt, who dominated Dutch politics for nearly twenty years as Grand Pensionary of Holland, was born here too.
An island, thanks to a flood
On 18–19 November 1421 the St Elizabeth’s flood broke through the dykes, drowned some 300 square kilometres of polder — the Groote Waard — and left Dordrecht an island between rivers. What went under is now the Biesbosch. The same flood is behind the legend of the cat in the cradle that gave Kinderdijk its name, which is a good reason to do the two together.
Planning the day
The Grote Kerk, the harbours, the Groothoofd and Huis Van Gijn are all within a short walk of one another, so the old centre needs no transport. The things that do are Kinderdijk, about twenty-five minutes up the road, and the Biesbosch, which you do by boat. With only a morning, take the church and the harbours and finish at the Groothoofd; with a full day, add the museum and the boat. If the weather turns, the museum, Huis Van Gijn and the church are under cover and the Biesbosch is not.
Rotterdam lies a similar distance the other way and is Dordrecht’s opposite — flattened in 1940 and rebuilt new, where this is old — which is why the two pair so well.
What to see
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The Grote Kerk and its leaning tower
The Church of Our Lady took nearly two centuries to build, from the 1280s to 1470, and its tower was meant to be far taller. The soft ground leaned it instead: it was left at 65 metres, still leaning by more than two metres, and it now carries a 67-bell carillon that includes the heaviest bell in the Netherlands.
Driver’s tip: The tower climb is 275 steps and runs in season, roughly April to October, so check before you build the day around it. The church was whitewashed and stripped when the town turned Protestant in 1572, so the carved choir stalls of 1538–42 are the thing to look for inside.
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The old harbours
The Nieuwe Haven dates from the early 15th century and is lined with merchants' houses whose 16th- and 17th-century fronts stand on medieval cellars, all of it paid for by wine, timber and wool. Close by, the Wolwevershaven, laid out around 1620, holds historic ships, among them the 1893 steam tug Pieter Boele, still kept in steam by volunteers.
Driver’s tip: Walk it rather than drive it, and cross the Damiate bridge at the mouth of the Wolwevershaven: it opened in April 1855, collapsed in May, and was rebuilt in wrought iron. On the Visbrug, look for the statue of the De Witt brothers, both born in the town.
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The Groothoofd
The tip of the island, where the Merwede, the Oude Maas and the Noord meet, guarded by the Groothoofdspoort, once the city's main entrance from the water. The gate's front dates from 1618 and its tower from 1692; above the door the Maid of Dordrecht sits in the Garden of Holland, ringed by the shields of the cities that rose against Spain.
Driver’s tip: Sit down here rather than walking through: the terraces beside the gate look straight onto the junction, and the barges and tugs going past are the entertainment.
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The Dordrechts Museum
One of the oldest art museums in the country, founded in 1842 and in its present building since 1904. Its core is Dutch painting, above all the Dordrecht painters up to about 1850: Aelbert Cuyp, Ferdinand Bol and Nicolaes Maes (the last two pupils of Rembrandt) and the Romantic Ary Scheffer, all born in the town.
Driver’s tip: Cuyp is the reason to go. Most of his work was sold abroad, so Dutch museums hold little of it, and Dordrecht has managed to gather a good range of it in the town where he was born.
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The Biesbosch
A national park of tidal creeks, reed beds and willow woods covering about 90 square kilometres, born of a disaster: the St Elizabeth's flood of 1421 drowned the polders of the Groote Waard and the water never went back. Its visitor centre calls it the largest freshwater tidal area in Europe; beavers, ospreys and sea eagles live in it.
Driver’s tip: Go by water: the Waterbus from the Merwekade connects to the Hollandse Biesbosch, though timetables change, so check before you plan around it. And be honest about the beavers — they come out at dusk, so a midday boat gets you the landscape, not the animals.
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Huis Van Gijn
A merchant's house on the Nieuwe Haven, built in 1729 and lived in from 1864 until 1922 by the collector Simon van Gijn, who left it to the Old Dordrecht Society as a museum. It keeps the interiors of a well-off Dordrecht household, from the 17th century to the 19th, and in the attic a collection of 19th-century toys.
Driver’s tip: Do not skip the attic, where the toys are. The house is on the Nieuwe Haven, so it adds no detour to the harbour walk you are already doing.
Where is it?
Getting there from the nearest airport
The Netherlands Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM) Get a priceFrequently asked questions
Is Dordrecht really the oldest city in Holland?
It was granted city rights in 1220, which makes it the oldest city in the old county of Holland — today's North and South Holland. In the Netherlands as a whole Nijmegen and Maastricht, both founded by the Romans, have older claims, so the phrase needs its qualifier.
How long do I need in Dordrecht?
Half a day covers the Grote Kerk, the old harbours and the Groothoofd, all within a short walk of each other. A full day adds the Dordrechts Museum and Huis Van Gijn, or a boat trip into the Biesbosch, which takes two hours or more on its own.
Can you combine Dordrecht with Kinderdijk?
Easily. Kinderdijk is about twenty-five minutes up the road, and the two make a full day without rushing: the windmills in the morning, the old city after lunch. Rotterdam is a similar distance in the other direction.
Can you drive us to Dordrecht?
Yes — we are based in Amsterdam and run private day trips and fixed-price transfers. Dordrecht is about an hour away and not one of our set day trips, so message us on WhatsApp with the date and how many of you there are, and we will tell you the price before you commit to anything.