The Rotterdam Marathon finishes on a Sunday. Both of these destinations are within half an hour by train and offer two entirely different experiences of the Netherlands: one built around a specific product traded on the same square for seven centuries, and one that simply exists as the oldest city in Holland, its medieval street plan largely intact and its visitors largely absent.
April in South Holland: Temperatures between 8°C and 14°C; the possibility of rain at any point; light that can shift from grey to genuinely lovely within the same hour. It is the driest month of the year in the Netherlands by average rainfall, which does not mean it is dry.
Night One: Gouda
Train from Rotterdam Centraal towards Utrecht, alight at Gouda: approximately 25 minutes, €6--7 single. The station is a nine-minute walk from the Markt. Everything in central Gouda is within 15 minutes of that square on flat ground.
The Cheese Market
The Gouda Cheese Market runs every Thursday morning from 10:00 to 12:30 between 2 April and 28 August 2026 (not on 14 May, Ascension Day). The Rotterdam Marathon in 2026 falls on Sunday 12 April, which means the first Thursday after the race - 16 April - falls within the window.
The market operates in front of the Gothic Stadhuis on the Markt, where traders in historical costumes negotiate using the handjeklap method: a rapid sequence of handshakes that seals the price. Cheese rounds are weighed on scales in the seventeenth-century Waag (weigh house) beside the square, which also houses a small cheese museum. Entry to the market is free.
If your visit falls on a day other than Thursday, Gouda makes sense regardless: the Markt and its architecture are unchanged, several excellent cheese shops operate daily, and the city's compact centre fills a comfortable afternoon.
Sint-Janskerk
The Sint-Janskerk on Achter de Waag behind the market square contains the finest collection of stained glass in the Netherlands: 72 windows installed between 1555 and 1571 depicting biblical and secular scenes. The quality of colour reads quite differently under northern light than reproductions suggest. Entry approximately €5; the building is on level ground and the windows begin at head height. Allow 90 minutes.
Stroopwafels
Goudse Stroopwafels on Kleiweg sells them fresh from the iron. This is materially different from the packaged version your colleague brought back from Amsterdam.
Where to stay: The Weeshuis Gouda on Westhaven is a Relais & Châteaux property in the city's former orphanage - a seventeenth-century canal house with views across the water. For something more straightforward, Hotel de Utrechtsche Dom on Goejanverwelledijk is modest, well-positioned, and comfortable.
Where to eat: Mallemolen on the Markt has a reliable menu and an outdoor terrace facing the Stadhuis. Restaurant de Zes Sterren on Nieuwe Markt is quieter, focusing on regional produce.
Night Two: Dordrecht
Train from Gouda to Dordrecht: approximately 25 minutes with a change at Rotterdam Centraal, or a direct service in around 40 minutes. Alternatively, from Rotterdam, the Waterbus from Erasmusbrug (Line 20) takes approximately 30 minutes along the Nieuwe Maas - the same stretch of water the marathon course crossed, seen from the water rather than a bridge.
Dordrecht is the oldest city in the provinces of North and South Holland. A dense medieval street plan, a harbour district with gabled warehouses largely intact, and a population of around 120,000 that gives the city a scale making Rotterdam, half an hour away, feel slightly implausible.
The Old Town
The Grote Kerk (Church of Our Lady) on Grotekerksplein dates from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and has a tower that tilts visibly - subsidence into the polder soil began early. The tower can be climbed (approximately €4.50, stairs only) for views across the river confluence where the Noord, Oude Maas, and Beneden Merwede meet.
The Groothoofdspoort - the seventeenth-century city gate at the southern end of the Voorstraat - stands at the point where the three rivers meet, providing the same river view from ground level.
The Dordrechts Museum on Museumstraat is one of the oldest art museums in the Netherlands, founded in 1842, with a collection covering Dutch painting from the seventeenth century to the present. Entry approximately €12.
De Biesbosch National Park
De Biesbosch lies just south of Dordrecht. The visitor centre is accessible by bus (line 4 from Dordrecht station, 20 minutes) or taxi (approximately €12). The park is a freshwater tidal delta - one of the few remaining in western Europe - covering an area of waterways, reed beds, and willow flood forests. Canoe and rowing boat hire is available from the visitor centre from 1 April; guided whisper-boat tours operate on a schedule at np-debiesbosch.nl. A two-hour circuit is flat, unhurried, and entirely appropriate for post-marathon legs.
Where to stay: Hotel Dordrecht on Achterhakkers is directly on the canal with views across the old harbour. Staybridge Suites Dordrecht on Johan de Wittstraat is more functional but well-equipped.
Where to eat: Restaurant Simon on Wijnstraat runs a weekly-changing menu of Dutch seasonal cooking in a restored warehouse. Herberg de Doelen on Steegoversloot is older and more traditional, with Dutch cuisine at moderate prices.
Getting Back to Rotterdam
Train from Dordrecht to Rotterdam Centraal: approximately 20 minutes, every 15 minutes throughout the day. Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM) is a further 20 minutes from Centraal by Metro (Line D).