Things to do in Gouda
Gouda gave its name to the cheese but was where it was weighed and sold, not made. What is left of that trade is a market square with a Gothic town hall, the longest church in the Netherlands and a cheese market on summer Thursdays.
- About fifty minutes from Amsterdam
The cheese that is not from Gouda
Gouda is a small canal town between Rotterdam and Utrecht, and for centuries one of the things it did best was weigh cheese. Farmers in the surrounding countryside made it and brought it to the Markt, where the town’s scales and traders did the rest. That is why the name stuck to the cheese. The Dutch say it something like HOW-da, with a throat-clearing g, which is worth practising before you reach a cheese shop.
When you get there, the labels matter more than the name. Gouda is sold by age: jong (young) is soft and mild, belegen (matured) is the all-rounder, and oud (old) is hard and crumbly, with the caramel sweetness and the small crunchy crystals that people mean when they say they like aged Gouda. If you are buying to take home, taste before you choose.
Getting your bearings
The whole of it is on one square. The Markt has the Gothic Stadhuis in the middle and the Waag opposite it, where demonstrations of clay-pipe making recall the town’s other famous product. The Sint-Janskerk is a minute or two south of the square, and the station is a nine-minute walk away. Nothing needs a car once you are there.
The church is worth the stop for more than its length. Its windows were given by Catholic and Protestant donors alike, a rare combination, and they survived the Iconoclastic Fury of 1566, when many other Dutch churches lost their glass.
Two practical notes. The cheese market runs only on Thursday mornings between April and the end of August, so choose your day accordingly. And the Stadhuis is closed for a long renovation, due to finish in 2027, so part of the square may be hidden behind scaffolding while you are there.
Pairing it with something else
Gouda is about fifty minutes from Amsterdam by road, and it is small enough that a morning covers it. It pairs easily with Rotterdam or Utrecht, both a short drive away, if you want a full day. In December, Gouda by Candlelight is a second reason to come, and a very different atmosphere from the market mornings.
We are based in Amsterdam and drive private day trips and fixed-price transfers. Message us on WhatsApp with your date and where you are starting, and we will tell you the price before you commit to anything.
What to see
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The cheese market on the Markt
Every Thursday morning from April to the end of August, traders and cheese carriers in traditional dress bring wheels of cheese onto the square, weigh them on the scales of the Waag and settle the price with the old hand-clapping ritual, the handjeklap. It is staged for visitors, with free samples, but it is well staged.
Driver’s tip: It runs on Thursday mornings only, roughly 10:00 to 12:30, from April to the end of August, with a few holiday dates skipped. Check the date before you build the day around it.
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The Stadhuis
The Gothic town hall in the middle of the Markt, in use by 1450 and among the oldest in the Netherlands. A carillon on its side acts out Count Floris V granting Gouda its city rights in 1272, twice an hour. The building is in a long renovation, due to finish in 2027.
Driver’s tip: Treat the inside as closed and the outside as the point. With the renovation going on, look at the front before you plan around the carillon: it may be partly under scaffolding.
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The Sint-Janskerk
At 123 metres, the longest church in the Netherlands, and home to the Goudse Glazen: 72 stained-glass windows, most from the sixteenth century, showing the life of John the Baptist, other biblical scenes and moments in Dutch history. They are said to be about half of the sixteenth-century glass left in the country.
Driver’s tip: Go on a bright day. The glass does all the work, and under a grey sky you are in a very long, rather plain church. On a Thursday, do the market first and the church after it, once the square has emptied.
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The Waag
The weigh house on the Markt, built in 1668 to a design by Pieter Post, where the cheese was weighed. It now holds a cheese and crafts museum, with demonstrations of clay-pipe and clog making, and the tourist office on the ground floor.
Driver’s tip: Gouda was where the cheese was weighed and sold, not where it was made: farms around the town did that. The museum upstairs explains the trade, and the shop downstairs has samples.
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Stroopwafels
The stroopwafel, two thin wafers glued together with caramel syrup, is said to have been invented in Gouda around the turn of the nineteenth century by a baker with offcuts to use up. Early on they were known as poor people's biscuits.
Driver’s tip: Buy one warm from a baker who makes them to order, and rest it on a hot cup of coffee for a minute so the syrup softens. A packet stroopwafel is a different thing.
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Gouda by Candlelight
On one evening in mid-December the electric lights on and around the Markt are switched off and candles take over. A Christmas tree sent each year by Gouda's Norwegian sister city, Kongsberg, is lit in front of the town hall.
Driver’s tip: The date moves from year to year, so check it before you book anything. The lighting is early in the evening, at about seven, and the centre fills up well before it, so eat early or reserve a table.
Where is it?
Day trips that go there
Shore excursions — Rotterdam
For cruise passengers docking in Rotterdam. We meet you at the terminal, spend the whole day wherever you choose — the windmills of Kinderdijk, Delft, The Hague, Gouda, the tulip fields — and have you back at the ship at least an hour before all-aboard.
Frequently asked questions
Is Gouda cheese made in Gouda?
Not really. It was made on farms in the countryside around the town and brought to Gouda's market square to be weighed and sold, and the name stuck to the cheese. Today Gouda Holland is a protected name for cheese made anywhere in the Netherlands.
When is the Gouda cheese market?
On Thursday mornings from April to the end of August, from about 10:00 to 12:30, with a few dates around holidays skipped. Outside those months there is no market, but the church, the Waag and the town itself are still worth the trip.
How long do I need in Gouda?
A morning covers the market, the church and the Waag; add lunch and a walk and it is an easy half day. The Markt, the Sint-Janskerk and the Waag are all within two minutes of each other, and the station is about nine minutes away.
Can you drive us to Gouda?
Yes. We are based in Amsterdam and drive private day trips and fixed-price transfers, and Gouda is about fifty minutes away. Message us on WhatsApp with your date and where you are starting, and we will tell you the price before you commit to anything.