Rotterdam, Delft and the Randstad

Rotterdam, Delft and the Randstad Travel Guide

The towns and cities Zuid-Holland (South Holland) cluster around Amsterdam like filings round the end of a magnet. Each has prospered and grown independently, and today their borders virtually overlap one another to such an extent that the region is now dubbed the Randstad (Border City), because locals consider it one mammoth megalopolis. A quarter of Holland's 16 million residents live within 80 km (50 mi) of the capital.

Among the cities of the Randstad, Rotterdam is the industrial center of Holland and the world's largest port. Contrasting with the quaintness of many other Dutch towns, it is brash, forward-looking, and home to some of Europe's most dazzling modern architecture. Elsewhere, the past is more in evidence. You can pursue the ghost of Frans Hals through the Golden Age streets of Haarlem; explore the time-stained center of Utrecht; and wander through the ancient cobbled streets of Delft, which once colored the world blue.