Gouda is 25 kilometres south of Utrecht and 20 kilometres east of Rotterdam — a small city that has somehow become one of the most recognisable place names in the world, thanks to a cheese. But Gouda is more than its export product. The old city centre is one of the most handsome in South Holland: a large cobbled Markt dominated by a Gothic town hall, a river running through the middle, and the Sint Janskerk containing the finest collection of stained-glass windows in the Netherlands.
The cheese market on the Markt runs on Thursday mornings (April to August), and it is a genuine working market, not just a show. Cheese-carriers in white coats and straw hats run between the stalls, clapping hands to seal deals in the traditional kaasdragers style. Arrive before 10am to watch the weighing ceremonies at the Waag. The cheese itself is sold in the surrounding shops year-round — young, aged, and old Gouda all have their advocates.
Away from the cheese, the Sint Janskerk rewards an hour of careful looking. The 70 stained-glass windows run from the 16th century to the 20th and include secular as well as religious subjects — there are windows showing the relief of Leiden and the arrival of the Spanish fleet. The Gouda Museum (formerly the Catharina Gasthuis) has a good collection of Dutch tiles, Gouda pottery, and silver. The town is also known for its syrup waffles (stroopwafels), its ceramic pipes, and its candles — the Gouda by Candlelight festival in December fills the Markt with 15,000 candles and is one of the most atmospheric Christmas events in the Netherlands.