Amsterdam City Breaks: 4 Day Itinerary
Four days adds Giethoorn, the one trip on this list that eats an entire day in transit alone. Days 1 through 3 repeat the 3-day version unchanged: Rotterdam, Utrecht, then The Hague and Delft together. Day 4 is Giethoorn, and it goes last on purpose, since it needs the most patience and the earliest start of the four. The 6-day and 7-day versions add Maastricht as a proper overnight after this.
Book these before you go
- A Rotterdam architecture tour for Day 1.
- Dom Tower entry and guided tour for Day 2, guided-access only.
- Mauritshuis entrance ticket for Day 3.
- Giethoorn day trip by bus and electric boat for Day 4, which solves the awkward Zwolle or Steenwijk connection in one booking.
| Day | Focus | Travel time from Amsterdam |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Rotterdam | ~40 min Intercity Direct |
| Day 2 | Utrecht | ~25-27 min Intercity |
| Day 3 | The Hague and Delft | ~50 min direct, +8-10 min to Delft |
| Day 4 | Giethoorn | ~2-2.5 hrs each way |
Day 1: Rotterdam
The Intercity Direct takes about 40 minutes, roughly EUR 20-24 with the supplement. Cover the Markthal, the Cube Houses and Kijk-Kubus show-house, and the Erasmusbrug in a full day, with the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen art storage building as a bonus stop if you have an extra hour.
Day 2: Utrecht
About 25 to 27 minutes by Intercity, cheaper off-peak. Climb the guided-only Dom Tower , then walk the Oudegracht at both levels and have lunch at a werfkelder restaurant sitting at water height, a feature unique to Utrecht.
Day 3: The Hague and Delft
Around 50 minutes direct to The Hague for the Mauritshuis and Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, then 8 to 10 minutes further to Delft for the canals and the Royal Delft factory . Budget roughly EUR 70-90 per person for the full day.
Day 4: Giethoorn
Start early. There’s no train station in Giethoorn itself: the route runs NS to Zwolle or Steenwijk, then bus 70 (once or twice an hour) or, April through October, the more frequent seasonal bus 270. Total travel is 2 to 2.5 hours each way, and a return trip runs about EUR 58 per person. Rent a small electric boat, no license required, once you arrive; it’s the only way to see the canals properly, and the village is genuinely car-free. Confirm your return bus time before you set out, since missing it means a long and expensive taxi back to a train station.
Is Giethoorn worth a full day of a short trip?
Only if a car-free canal village is genuinely on your list, not as a default fourth day. The 2 to 2.5 hour trip each way, plus the infrequent connecting bus, means this single stop uses roughly as much time as Rotterdam, Utrecht, and The Hague and Delft combined. If four days feels tight, drop Giethoorn before dropping any of the other three.
Can I visit Giethoorn without the connecting bus?
Not by public transport. There’s no train station in the village, so a train-only itinerary can’t reach it; bus 70 (or the seasonal, more frequent bus 270 from April through October) from Zwolle or Steenwijk is the only public connection. A booked day tour, like the one linked above, handles this for you if the bus schedule doesn’t fit your day.
Should Giethoorn go first or last in a 4-day trip?
Last. It requires the earliest start and the most schedule discipline of the four days, since missing the return bus costs real money and time; doing Rotterdam, Utrecht, and The Hague and Delft first, on more forgiving train schedules, leaves Giethoorn as the one day you plan around rather than fit in.
Check the Giethoorn return bus schedule the night before, not the morning of; bus 70 runs only once or twice an hour outside the seasonal window, and a missed connection can add hours to the day.