Delft

For many travelers, few spots in Holland are as intimate and attractive as this town. With time-burnished canals and cobblestone streets, Delft possesses a peaceful calm that recalls the quieter pace of the 17th-century Golden Age, back when Johannes Vermeer was counted among its citizens. Imagine a tiny Amsterdam, with smaller canals and narrower bridges, and you have the essence of Old Delft. But even though the city has one foot rooted in the past, another is planted firmly in the present: Delft teems with hip cafés, and being a college town, revelers pile in and out of bars almost every day of the week.

Direct trains leave Amsterdam Central Station for Delft every half hour throughout the day -- -- -the journey time is a little under one hour. If driving, take the A10 then the A4 south from Amsterdam. The drive will take between 45 minutes and one hour, depending on traffic.