Travelling around SW Netherlands

Hi and welcome to Thorn Tree,

Any idea how easy it is and what is the best way to travel around?
Very easy - there are several trains per hour linking Den Haag (the Hague) and Delft to Amsterdam, and Gouda to Den Haag; see [www.ns.nl] for timetables and fares.
Noordwijk doesn't have a train station, but can be easily reached by bus from Leiden Centraal (Leiden itself is worth a visit too). [www.9292ov.nl] (including a beta version in English) is a handy website for door-to-door travel advice.
I live in this area and although I do own a car, I don't really enjoy driving here. It wouldn't even occur to me to travel by car from e.g. central Den Haag to central Delft unless I really have to.

there is a hotel in Voorsburg that seems OK and in our price range
Hmmm. I have to admit that I don't know Voorburg well - if I've ever been there it hasn't left a lasting impression - but if I were you I'd rather stay in the center of Den Haag (because that's the most convenient location when traveling by train) or, if you prefer to stay on the coast, Noordwijk or Scheveningen (the latter being a seaside suburb of Den Haag).

I hear that there are still plenty of pretty flowers to be seen in the countryside?
The most famous flower fields are actually north of the area you plan to visit, roughly between Leiden, Haarlem and Schiphol Airport. I drive through this area every day on my way to work; the flowers are long gone, I'm afraid.

Don't rent a car, this part of the country is full of traffic jams. And parking in those cities is paid parking.
The train is easiest. For smaller places like Noordwijk use buses. The links mentioned in #1 will help you.

Distances are small so you can easily base yourself in one place and do daytrips from there. Personally I don't like Den Haag much, but it has some nice corners. I think Delft would be a nicer, more picturesque place to stay in.

If you are prepared to spend an hour and a half on a train, and you want to see the far south west of Holland, check out Goes and Middelburg. Through train hourly from Den Haag HS station. Big skies, quaint old towns and probably some friesians in the fields

If you want to see something that is really dutch you should visit Neeltje Jans on the Oosterschelde-stormvloedkering. It shows how the barrier in the Oosterschelde was constructed and how this safeguards the south-western part of the country from the sea. #3, Friesians live in Friesland, which is in the North of the country. BTW it is written "Frisians".

Edited by: Liberat

Thanks everybody for the suggestions--we will plan on NOT renting a car then!
Sounds like some very interesting places to check out that we hadn't considered before.

I second #4's idea for the special and more off-the-beaten part of your trip since you've seven days to spend.
The storm surge barrier is really impressive and unique in the world.
By train to Middelburg. Overnight in http://www.weekendjeweg.nl/hotels/nl/hotel-middelburg/hotel-de-nieuwe-doelen.html, fantastic location to taste the medium size town atmosphere.

By bus back to the west of the country (Rotterdam etc.) and underway some breaks, maybe for the fantastic beach at many places or a quaint little town. And for sure you will see some Frisians, only one problem: you don't recognize them...

You might run into some people wearing the Zeeuwse klederdracht

Liberat - you were thinking of people, I was thinking of cows!

Hello Grace6341,

If you are based in Voorburg and going more south-west I think it’s best to rent a car. The traffic jams around the larger cities like The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam will give delay, but become irrelevant once driving through the province of Zeeland.
I suggest the following route: Head to Spijkenisse/Hellevoetsluis via Rotterdam (Benelux tunnel). Drive over the Haringvlietdam (part of the “Deltawerken”) and have a first stop in Goedereede. Tiny, cute, ideal for a coffeebreak and it’s easy to park your car there free.
Continue your itinerary via the Brouwersdam and then you actually enter the province of Zeeland. Going further south you will drive over the first two sections of the Storm surge barrier. Very impressive, especially when you know that the main part is under water. To understand what make The Netherlands so Dutch, you need to visit the Delta Expo on Neeltje Jans (clearly signposted).
Going further to Middelburg you drive over the third and last section of the barrier. Not to be missed is Veere, a tiny harbour with it’s still dominating church and gothic style town hall. Free car park alongside the canal, east of the city centre.
Middelburg is nice with it’s laidback atmosphere and with it’s also gothic style (former) town hall. It now houses the Roosevelt Academy, named after F.D. Roosevelt, because the families origin is based in this province. Further the abbey and the old harbour (what else) is beautiful. Climbe the “Lange Jan”, the abbies bell tower that still during centuries dominates the skyline of the city, from there a fantastic view over the peninsula of Walcheren if the weather co-operates.

You can drive back to Voorburg via Goes, via the 5km long Zeelandbrug and Zierikzee. Even Goes has an nice market-square, rococo style town hall and old harbour, but I think it’s better to go directly to Zierikzee. Just to avoid a possible overload of your schedule. Arrived there, according to me the best place to park the car is just south of the Zuidhavenpoort and then to walk over the old bridge into the old city centre. Zierikzee is also a good place for having diner, before going back to your base in Voorburg and good for avoiding the traffic jams. Car parking is free after 18.00h.
As it is still the shoulder season, the wheather can be very pleasant and Zeeland surprisingly quiet compaired to the densily populated and bustling other parts of The Netherlands. As it is also a wind-swept area, no surprise there are a lot of old-fashioned windmills, still in good shape in many villages.

Other places within easy reach from Voorburg are the windmills of Kinderdijk, about 20km east of Rotterdam. And also the castle of Haarzuilens near Utrecht. Have no idea if these places are accessible by public transport, check that first.

As you can see there is a lot to do, so enjoy your planning, enjoy your stay.

Wilco3

Liberat and mike9, you cowboys....

Grace, from your original post I understand that you mean by southwest Netherlands places like Delft and Noordwijk.
Be aware that - and some posters do - that this is not quite accurate. So klet us know, before all kind of well documented advice about Zeeland (really southwest) is filling the bottle...