Delft; Friday, 04 August, 2023

A bit of a lie-in and a leisurely breakfast, and then I checked out of the hotel and wandered back over to Hoofddorp station to pick up the train towards Leiden and then, after a cross platform interchange, onto Delft.

It was still way too early to check in to the hotel in Delft, but they were able to take my bag so I could head out and explore the city. From the hotel I crossed over the canal by the railway station and then headed into the narrow lanes and canals of the old city.

I spent quite a bit of time wandering around the streets before finding myself in the main market square of the city. I had a bit of a look around here, including the very nice cheese shop that offered lots of tastings, before stopping off at a café to spend a little bit of time just sitting in the sun in the square and watching the world go round.

After sitting in the square for a while I headed over to the start point of the canal tour boats and was able to book myself onto the next tour that was due to leave in about 20 minutes time. The tour itself didn’t cover much of the canal network but did go past many of the key sights of the city, as well as getting quite a bit of history of the city.

By now it was heading towards check in time for the hotel, so I headed back over to see if my room was ready, which it was so I was able to check in and drop my stuff off, and take in the great views of the city that my room afforded.

Having freshened up I headed out of the hotel for another wander, this time keeping to the southern end of the old city and ending up at the Oostpoort – the old eastern gate of the city and the only surviving city gate. I spent a little bit of time exploring the gate and the area around before following the canal back up into town and over to the Markt where I stopped for a late afternoon/early evening drink in the square before having a wander round to find somewhere for dinner – which I ended up having at a restaurant on the opposite side of the square in the end.

After dinner I had a bit more of a wander around the old town, passing by the Old Church and through some courtyards to end up near the Roos Windmill which I had a look around the outside of before walking back along the main canal towards the station, my hotel room and my bed for the night.