Sorry for such a delayed response, I have been extremely busy the past few days! Thanks for all the really helpful advice.

With just a week we have refined our route to something we hope is worthwhile and enjoyable (we would much rather wander through and soak up a city than march through it with tunnel vision).

So far our itinerary sits like so;

Day 1:
London > Rotterdam (flight)
Explore Rotterdam

Day 2:
Rotterdam > Delft
Explore Delft

Day 3:
Delft > Den Haag
Explore Den Haag

Day 4:
Den Haag > Utrecht
Explore Utrecht

Day 5:
Utrecht > Eindhoven
Explore Eindhoven

Day 6:
Eindhoven > Maastricht
Explore Maastricht

Day 7:
Maastricht > Amsterdam
Explore Amsterdam

Day 8:
Explore Amsterdam
Amsterdam > London (flight)

We still think we may be trying to include too much over the short period, so it could be that a couple of places are omitted or some days extended (cost dependant).

The individual prices of these journeys (all IC Trains) total around 80 euros, so I guess that's the way we will go instead of buying any form of rail pass.

Question is, do we still need to purchase an OV Chipcard for these? As the initial purchase (7.50EUR) and minimum deposit(50EUR) is a bit off-putting. Or can we just rock up at any station on the day of each journey and buy a paper ticket at the desk?

We did not get a chance to the Netherlands Architecture Institute but it might be of interest to you.


http://en.nai.nl/

http://www.cobra-museum.nl/en/home.html

If interested in modern town planning you can take a tram from Amsterdam to suburban Amstelveen - a whole new planned city it seems to me and home of the prestigious Cobra Institute of modern and contemporary art - so if urban planning of new towns intrigues you the COBRA being there is a plus.

With only a half-day or so in Amsterdam I'd say take a day or two off something else and spend more time in this town that is the finest architectural feast in Europe outside of Venice IMO.