Things to do in Delft: 15 sights ranked, with prices and Monday closures

The best things to do in Delft are the Nieuwe Kerk with its tower climb and the Oude Kerk (€15 for both churches and the tower), the Markt, the Oude Delft canal, the Vermeer Centrum (€15) and Royal Delft (€17.50). Most of the rest of the old centre costs nothing to see. The churches, the Vermeer Centrum and Royal Delft are all open on Mondays; the smaller museums, the windmill and the botanical garden are not. Museum Prinsenhof, where William of Orange was shot, has been closed for renovation since January 2025.

Our guides walk this centre most days of the week, and the list below is the order in which we would send a first-time visitor. Every price and opening day was checked on the venue’s own website in October 2026. This is a list, not a schedule: if you want these sights put into a timed day, read Delft in one day.

What are the best things to do in Delft at a glance?

Sight	Time to allow	Adult price	Closed on
1. Nieuwe Kerk and tower	1 hour	€10 both churches, €15 with tower	Sunday
2. Oude Kerk	45 minutes	Same ticket as the Nieuwe Kerk	Sunday
3. Markt and Stadhuis	20 minutes	Free	Never
4. Oude Delft and the canals	30 to 60 minutes	Free	Never
5. Vermeer Centrum	1 hour	€15	Open daily
6. Royal Delft	1.5 hours	€17.50	25 and 26 December, 1 January
7. Canal boat	50 minutes	€14	December to March
8. Thursday and Saturday markets	30 to 60 minutes	Free	Other days
9. Hippolytusbuurt and the Vleeshal	20 minutes	Free	Never
10. Oostpoort	30 minutes with the walk	Free	Never
11. Beestenmarkt	An evening	Free	Never
12. Huis Van Meerten	1 hour	€11	Monday to Wednesday
13. Windmill De Roos	30 minutes	Free	Sunday to Tuesday
14. TU Delft Hortus Botanicus	1 hour	€7.50	Monday, and November to February
15. Museum Prinsenhof	10 minutes outside	Museum closed	Closed for renovation

Times to allow are what our guides see visitors spend; prices are for one adult in 2026.

The 15 things to do in Delft, ranked

1. Nieuwe Kerk and the tower climb

The Nieuwe Kerk closes the east side of the Markt. Inside is the mausoleum of William of Orange, and below it the crypt where members of the royal family have been buried since him (the crypt is not open to visitors). The tower is the reason to come early: 376 steps up a narrow staircase to a platform at 85 metres, with Rotterdam and The Hague in view on a clear day. At 108.75 metres it is the second-highest church tower in the Netherlands.

• Price: €10 for both churches, €7.50 for the tower alone, €15 for both churches and the tower. Children 6 to 11 pay €4.75 for the churches. Museumkaart holders get a discount, not free entry. A combined ticket for both churches and the Vermeer Centrum costs €18.50.
• Open: Monday to Saturday. February to October 10:00 to 17:00; November to January 11:00 to 16:00 on weekdays and 10:00 to 17:00 on Saturdays. The tower closes an hour before the church and shuts in bad weather.
• Good to know: No children under 6 on the tower, no lift, and backpacks go in a locker in the shop.

Verdict: the one paid sight to do if you do only one.

2. Oude Kerk

Five minutes west, on the same ticket. The brick tower leans two metres out of true, which is why Delft calls it Scheve Jan. Inside lie Johannes Vermeer, the microscope pioneer Antoni van Leeuwenhoek and the admirals Piet Hein and Maarten Tromp; Piet Hein’s tomb is being restored, so part of it may be screened off. Same hours as the Nieuwe Kerk, and like it, not open to visitors on Sundays.

Verdict: quieter than the Nieuwe Kerk and, for Vermeer’s grave alone, worth the walk.

Sources: Oude en Nieuwe Kerk Delft, prices and times and climb the tower; In Delft.

3. The Markt and the Stadhuis

The Markt runs from the Nieuwe Kerk to the Stadhuis, the town hall Hendrick de Keyser rebuilt after a fire in 1618 around the medieval tower called Het Steen. That tower was the city prison, and Balthasar Gerards, William of Orange’s murderer, was held there. It is still a working town hall, not a museum, so you see it from the square. The statue in the middle is Hugo Grotius.

Verdict: free, central and the place every walk in Delft starts. Our two-hour Highlights of Delft walking tour starts here at the Grotius statue, €199 for your whole group.

4. Oude Delft and the canals

The Oude Delft is the oldest canal in the Netherlands and the one the city is named after (the story is in our history of Delft). Walk it from the Oude Kerk north, then cross over to the Koornmarkt and the Voldersgracht. The centre is small, flat and cobbled, with a bridge every hundred metres or so.

Verdict: the best free hour in Delft. If you want the stories without a guide, the self-guided audio tour of Delft covers 2.3 km in 2 hours for €13.49 (narrated in English).

5. Vermeer Centrum Delft

Voldersgracht 21, on the site of the St Luke’s Guild where Vermeer was registered as a painter. There are no original Vermeers anywhere in Delft; the centre shows reproductions of all his known paintings and explains how he worked with light. The audio tour is free and comes in eight languages.

• Price: €15 adult, €11 with Museumkaart or student card, €7.50 for ages 13 to 18, €2 for ages 7 to 12.
• Open: every day, 10:00 to 17:00, Mondays included.

Verdict: the best rainy-day hour in town, and the background you need before the Mauritshuis in The Hague. If Vermeer is why you are coming, Vermeer’s Delft is our 2.5 to 3 hour private tour from his birthplace to his grave, with a guided visit of both churches and the Vermeer Centrum entry included, from €275 (€250 plus €25 per person). Where to stand for his paintings is in Vermeer’s Delft, the guide.

Source: Vermeer Centrum Delft, tickets.

6. Royal Delft

Rotterdamseweg 196, a 15 to 20 minute walk south of the station. De Porceleyne Fles was founded in 1653 and is the only one left of the more than 30 Delftware factories the area had in the mid-17th century. You see painters at work in the studio and the historic collection, with an audio tour included in the ticket.

• Price: €17.50 adult, €11.50 student, €7.50 for ages 7 to 12, free with Museumkaart.
• Open: every day 09:30 to 17:00 (from 09:00 between 1 April and 15 May), closed 25 and 26 December and 1 January. Buy your ticket by 16:30 at the latest.

Verdict: worth it if Delft Blue is part of why you came; read is the Royal Delft factory tour worth it before you decide, and where to buy real Delft Blue before you shop. Our Delft and Royal Delft tour adds the factory to the two-hour walk, with a tuktuk there and back (a bus outside the tuktuk season), from €224 (€199 plus €25 per person).

Source: Royal Delft Museum, visitor information.

7. A canal boat from the Koornmarkt

Rondvaart Delft sails from Koornmarkt 113 every hour on the hour from 11:00 to 17:00, every day from 1 April to 31 October. In November it sails at weekends, and on weekdays on request; from December to March there are no scheduled departures. The trip takes about 50 minutes and costs €14 for adults and €6.50 for children 5 to 16.

Verdict: the easiest way to rest your legs and see the town from the water, but only from April to October, and at weekends in November.

8. The Thursday market and the Saturday markets

Delft has held a market on the Markt since the 12th century, and the general market still fills the square every Thursday from 09:00 to 17:00. On Thursdays there is also a flower market on the Brabantse Turfmarkt. On Saturdays a smaller general market runs on the Burgwal and the Brabantse Turfmarkt, and from April to September the antiques and book market (10:00 to 16:00) runs along the Hippolytusbuurt, the Voldersgracht and the Wijnhaven.

Verdict: Thursday is the liveliest day of the week in Delft; plan around it, not against it.

Source: In Delft, markets in Delft.

9. The Hippolytusbuurt, the Vismarkt and the Vleeshal

Behind the Stadhuis, the canal called Hippolytusbuurt runs past the old fish market, the Vismarkt, and the meat hall of 1650, the Vleeshal, whose Voldersgracht side still carries carved ox heads. Antoni van Leeuwenhoek lived on this canal, opposite the fish market.

Verdict: two minutes from the Markt and missed by most visitors; walk it on the way to the Vermeer Centrum.

10. The Oostpoort

The Oostpoort is the only one of Delft’s city gates still standing; around 1400 the walls had eight. It has a land gate and a water gate, joined by what is left of the city wall, and you see it from the outside. It is a 10 to 15 minute walk east of the Markt along the canals.

Verdict: the best photograph in Delft that is not a church.

11. An evening on the Beestenmarkt

The tree-lined square two minutes east of the Markt is where Delft sits outside in the evening. In summer the terraces fill from about 17:00.

Verdict: where to end the day. If you would rather eat your way through town with a local, the private food and drink tour stops at six places in 3 hours, from €250 (€200 plus €50 per person); the self-guided food audio tour does 1.5 hours for €8.99.

12. Huis Van Meerten

Oude Delft 199, a 19th-century house built to look 17th-century, full of carved wood, box beds, tile pictures and fireplaces, with a collection of Delftware and furniture. It is run by the Hendrick de Keyser heritage foundation.

• Price: €11 adult, €6 student, free under 18.
• Open: Thursday to Sunday, 11:00 to 17:00, by time slot booked online. Not accessible for wheelchairs.

Verdict: the best interior in Delft while the Prinsenhof is closed, and one of the few museums open on a Sunday.

Source: Hendrick de Keyser, Huis Van Meerten.

13. Windmill De Roos

Phoenixstraat 112, near the station. Delft once had 18 windmills and De Roos is the only one left; it was built on a bastion of the city wall in 1679 and has looked as it does now since about 1760. It still grinds organic grain into flour by wind every week, and the shop sells it.

• Price: free.
• Open: the mill’s own site gives Wednesday and Friday 13:00 to 16:30 and Saturday 10:00 to 16:30, the shop Wednesday to Saturday 09:00 to 17:00. Its pages do not all agree, so check molenderoos.nl before you go. The stairs are steep.

Verdict: a short, free stop on the way in from the station, if your day falls on Wednesday to Saturday.

14. TU Delft Hortus Botanicus

Poortlandplein 6, at the edge of the TU Delft campus, just outside the old centre. The university’s botanical garden, with a café in the garden.

• Price: €7.50 adult, €4 for children 5 to 14, free with Museumkaart.
• Open: 1 March to 31 October only, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00. Closed on Mondays unless it is a public holiday.

Verdict: a calm hour for garden lovers in spring and summer; skip it from November to February, when it is closed.

Source: TU Delft Hortus Botanicus, plan your visit.

15. Museum Prinsenhof, from the outside

The former Saint Agatha convent where William of Orange lived and where Balthasar Gerards shot him on 10 July 1584. The museum closed on 5 January 2025 for renovation and has not announced a reopening date; its own site already pictures a visit “in the spring of 2028”. You can still walk into the Sint Agathaplein courtyard, where the museum keeps an information point.

Verdict: for now, a stop on a walk, not a museum visit. Check the Prinsenhof renovation page before you plan around it.

Which Delft sights are open on Monday?

Monday is a good day for Delft’s big sights and a bad one for the small ones.

• Open on Monday: Nieuwe Kerk and Oude Kerk (weekday hours), the tower, the Vermeer Centrum, Royal Delft, the canal boat from April to November, and everything outdoors.
• Closed on Monday: Huis Van Meerten, windmill De Roos, the Hortus Botanicus, and Museum Prinsenhof, which is closed every day.

Sunday is the reverse for the churches: they are not open to visitors, and there is no market. The Vermeer Centrum, Royal Delft and Huis Van Meerten are open on Sundays, and so is the Hortus from March to October.

What can you do in Delft for free?

The Markt, the Stadhuis from the outside, the Oude Delft and the other canals, the Hippolytusbuurt and the Vleeshal, the Oostpoort, the Thursday and Saturday markets, the Beestenmarkt and the windmill De Roos all cost nothing. Put together, that is a half day. The paid sights worth adding first are the churches with the tower (€15) and the Vermeer Centrum (€15), or €18.50 for both churches and the Vermeer Centrum without the tower.

What changes in Delft from November to March?

In November the canal boats sail only at weekends, and from December they stop until April. The Hortus Botanicus closes from November until March. The churches open at 11:00 on weekdays and close at 16:00 from November to January. The Thursday market, the Vermeer Centrum, Royal Delft and Huis Van Meerten carry on as usual. A winter visit works well if you start at the Vermeer Centrum and go to the churches after 11:00.

Frequently asked questions

Is Delft worth visiting?

Yes. It has a 17th-century centre that is small enough to walk, the burial church of the Dutch royal family, Vermeer’s home town and the last 17th-century Delft Blue factory, and far fewer visitors than Amsterdam. Half a day covers the centre; a full day adds Royal Delft and an evening on the terraces.

Can I see a real Vermeer painting in Delft?

No. Delft has none of his paintings. The nearest are in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, a short train ride away. The View of Delft is on loan to the Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid from 9 October 2026 to 10 January 2027, so check the Mauritshuis collection on tour page before you go for a specific painting.

Is the Museumkaart worth it in Delft?

It gets you into Royal Delft and the Hortus Botanicus free, the Vermeer Centrum for €11 instead of €15, and a discount at the churches. It pays off when you also visit museums elsewhere in the Netherlands; for Delft alone it rarely does.

What is there to do in Delft with children?

The tower climb (from age 6, accompanied by an adult up to 16), the canal boat (€6.50 for ages 5 to 16), Royal Delft (€7.50 for ages 7 to 12) and the windmill are the four that work best. The Vermeer Centrum charges €2 for ages 7 to 12 and is free under 7.

Do I need to book anything in advance?

Only Huis Van Meerten, which works with time slots. The churches, the Vermeer Centrum, Royal Delft and the windmill take walk-in visitors on a normal day; buying online saves a queue in spring and on summer weekends.

How many days do you need in Delft?

One day is enough for the sights on this list that matter most; two are only worth it if you also use Delft as a base for The Hague and Rotterdam. Our Delft in one day itinerary puts the top ten of this list into a timed day.

See Delft with a Discover Delft guide

If you would like a sightseeing tour of Delft with the stories attached, these are the three private tours we would choose from this list. The Highlights of Delft walking tour covers the Markt, both churches, the Prinsenhof and the quieter canals in 2 hours for €199 per group. Vermeer’s Delft adds both churches inside and the Vermeer Centrum in 2.5 to 3 hours, from €275. The Delft and Royal Delft tour combines the walk with the factory, from €224. Every tour is private to your party, starts on the Markt and can be done in English, Dutch, German, French, Italian or Spanish.

Photos: Steven Lek, CC BY-SA 4.0; Andrew Michael Bergman, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, via Wikimedia Commons.