Delft Netherlands
Delft is one of the best preserved historic towns in the Netherlands and unusually small for a city that hosts a major technical university. The centre is a compact grid of canals and brick houses around the Markt, and you can cross the whole of it on foot in about twenty minutes.
Delft University of Technology sits just south east of the centre and dominates the city’s character: roughly a quarter of the population is a student, and the campus is large, modern and quite separate in feel from the seventeenth century streets a short cycle away. For conference visitors that combination is the appeal, since you get a serious research campus and a genuinely pretty old town without needing to choose.
- Oude Kerk - The old church, whose tower leans almost two metres out of true and has done since the fourteenth century.
- Nieuwe Kerk - Holds the royal tombs including William of Orange, and its tower is the second tallest in the Netherlands.
- Royal Delft - The last remaining seventeenth century Delftware factory, still hand painting the blue and white pottery.
- Vermeer Centrum - Vermeer lived and worked in Delft, and the centre reconstructs his studio and technique.
- The Markt - The main square between the Nieuwe Kerk and the town hall, and the centre of everything in the evenings.
Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM) is the closest at about 12 km, but it is small and serves mostly European routes. Almost everyone flies into Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS), which is about 60 km north and connected by direct train to Delft station in around 50 minutes, with several departures an hour.
Delft is small enough to walk end to end. The train station sits on the western edge of the centre, about ten minutes from the Markt, and tram 1 runs from the station through the centre and on to The Hague. TU Delft’s campus is a 15 to 20 minute walk or a five minute cycle from the centre, and bike hire is the local default rather than a tourist activity.
May to September is the comfortable window, with long evenings and temperatures around 18 to 23C. Spring brings the bulb fields within easy reach. Winters are grey and wet rather than severely cold, and the canals are at their least appealing then.
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1 upcoming conference in Delft
Delft has a small hotel stock, so book early for a conference week. The centre is the obvious base and everything in it is walkable to both the old town and the station. Hotels immediately around the station are the most convenient for TU Delft and for day trips to The Hague and Rotterdam, while the properties deeper in the old town trade a few minutes of walking for much better surroundings.
Our picks in Delft
A curated selection of hotels chosen for location, value, and fit for conference travellers.
Hotel Arsenaal Delft
1D Korte Geer, 2611 CA Delft, Netherlands
Four-star in a converted arsenal building on a canal in the old town, about 570 m from the centre. The pick for...
Hampshire Hotel Delft Centre
3 Koepoortplaats, 2612 RR Delft, Netherlands
Four-star on the northern edge of the old town about 790 m from the centre, with meeting space on site. A solid...
ibis Styles Delft City Centre
2 Van Leeuwenhoekpark, 2611 DW Delft, Netherlands
Reliable three-star next to the station with breakfast included, about 600 m from the centre. The sensible mid-budget choice for students and...
Casa Julia
33 Maerten Trompstraat, 2628 RC Delft, Netherlands
Eco-certified three-star in a 1920s corner building with a garden and library, closer to the TU Delft campus than to the old...
The Social Hub Delft
1 Van Leeuwenhoekpark, 2611 DW Delft, Netherlands
Hybrid hotel and student residence beside the station with large co-working areas and a gym, about 600 m from the centre. Well...
WestCord Hotel Delft
2 Olof Palmestraat, 2616 LM Delft, Netherlands
Four-star on the eastern edge of town with free parking, a sauna and a fitness centre, about 1.6 km from the centre....
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