Rotterdam-The Hague Metropolitan Region

[[file:Rotterdam banner skyline - Rotterdam as seen from the Euromast}} Metropoolregio Rotterdam-Den Haag - The area with all municipalities in the province South Holland

Rotterdam-The Hague Metropolitan Region (Metropoolregio Rotterdam Den Haag or MRDH in Dutch) is the large metropolitan area around the cities Rotterdam and The Hague (Den Haag in Dutch). It is also a big part of the Southern Western Netherlands|Randstad (with other big cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht)

MRDH was first recognised officially on January 1, 2015, with the merging of the areas Haaglanden (Greater Hague) and Stadsregio Rotterdam (Rotterdam Urban Area, more common name Rijnmond, literally "Rhine Estuary")

This is where all the big waterways flow into the North Sea, which is also the location of one of the biggest sea ports of the world. The Hague is the seat of the Dutch parliament and government, and the future residence of King Willem-Alexander (the Royal Family lives also in the MRDH, but in Wassenaar). Besides Rotterdam and The Hague, Delft is a very popular city for tourists. Tourist can discover lots of other interesting places as it comes to culture, nature and recreation. Take the beaches and the dunes which are worthwhile a visit all the year round or discover the beauty of the typical Holland town Schiedam.

Municipalities

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Ridderzaal Den Haag juni 2003 - |The Ridderzaal (English: Hall of Knights) forms part of The Binnenhof where the national parliament houses.

• Rotterdam — a large economic center with modern architecture. The sea port with impressive large areas like Europoort and the Maasvlakte also belong to Rotterdam.
• The Hague — Binnenhof, palaces, embassies and several international institutions. Also Scheveningen and the largest beach resort of the nation, forms part of The Hague
• Albrandswaard GPS 51.864,4.412
• Delft — Delftware pottery and a historic town center
• Hook of Holland – Seaport and beach resort by the North Sea (part of Rotterdam)
• Leidschendam-Voorburg - typical municipality for the region with two little historic centers
• Maassluis
• Midden-Delfland - an open and wide rural area with picturesque villages in between The Hague, Delft, Rotterdam and Europoort
• Rijswijk — a rapidly urbanized town near The Hague
• Schiedam — the historic town famous for its jenever and the tallest historic windmills in the world
• Vlaardingen
• Wassenaar — dunes along the sea, home of the rich and the famous including the official residence of the Dutch royal family
• Westland (Netherlands)|Westland — mostly a rural area filled with greenhouses
• Zoetermeer — Snow World, Dutch Water Dreams, Mormon Temple; a planned city with lots of modern architecture

Travel to Rotterdam-The Hague Metropolitan Region

By plane

Rotterdam The Hague Airport|Rotterdam The Hague Airport (IATA Code: RTM) is the only airport in the region. As Amsterdam Airport Schiphol|Amsterdam Airport Schiphol which is about kilometers 45 north of The Hague receive many more flights, it is the vastly preferable option for many conceivable itineraries even if you final destination is inside this region.

From Amsterdam and Schiphol there are frequent train services to The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam as well as to a few destinations in between like Schiedam. Most of these services are Intercity trains. Train station Den Haag Centraal (the Hague) is also connected by so called Sprinters, more little trains who call at every station (and so are slower). Fastest to Rotterdam (Central Station) is Intercity Direct or ys.com/nl/en/ Thalys. Intercity Direct is more attractive as in general this train is cheaper and travelers do not have to make a reservation. A supplement is required for the line from Schiphol to Rotterdam.

Rotterdam The Hague Airport is connected by a bus service to Rotterdam city which also forms a link to the Rotterdam-Den Haag metro line E. Station Hollands Spoor - |Monumental station Den Haag Hollands Spoor

Travel by train to Rotterdam-The Hague Metropolitan Region

MRDH has a fast connection with Paris|'Paris', Lille, Brussels and Antwerp by high-speed train Thalys which calls at Rotterdam Centraal.

A slower but often much cheaper option from Antwerp and Brussels is the so called Intercity Brussels, see NMBS, which also stops at Mechelen. This train calls at Rotterdam and The Hague train station Hollands Spoor.

Coming from Germany travelers always have to make an exchange in the Netherlands.

Traveling on the German high-speed train /en/view/trains/long-distance/ice-ice-sprinter.shtml?dbkanal_007=L04_S02_D002_KIN0059_FLYOUT-ZUGFLOTTE-ICE_LZ01 ICE from Cologne, Düsseldorf and Oberhausen and the exchange will be in Utrecht Centraal station, and comming from direction Berlin, Hanover, Osnabrück (with the /en/view/trains/long-distance/intercity-eurocity.shtml?dbkanal_007=L04_S02_D002_KIN0059_FLYOUT-ZUGFLOTTE-IC_LZ01 DB-intercity]) it is advisible to exhange in station Amersfoort. From Utrecht and Amersfoort Intercity-trains depart to The Hague (Centraal) and to Rotterdam.

Coming from any other city in The Netherlands there are frequent intercity-services to The Hague and Rotterdam (many times direct or with one fast exchange), see for more information the general planner for all kinds of public transport in the Netherlands 9292.nl/en 9292]

By ferry boat

Coming from the UK the area is also reachable by several ferry-lines.

Direct connections right to the MRDH are:

• P&O Ferries - line Kingston upon Hull - Rotterdam Europoort
• /en-GB-nl/crossings/hook-of-holland-harwich Stena Line - Harwich (England)|Harwich - Hook of Holland

Get around

Fietsknooppuntennetwerk Haaglanden (2) - |Signpost giving directions to junction 73 in Bicyle junction network Haaglanden

By bicycle

Tourists who stay a few days or more time in the area, might like to discover all of the cities, towns and landscapes by (renting a) bicycle. As a part of the Netherlands, MRDH offers a whole infrastructure especially for cyclists.

Especially in downtowns, it is strongly advisable to lock your bike, or go to a guarded bicycle parking stations.

Guarded bicycle parking stations

• Many intercity train stations have thier own bicycle parking station. Many time the service is not free.
• In and around The Hague (with Scheveningen), Delft and Zoetermeer Biesieklette offers 55 guarded Bicycle parking station. Parking your bicycle for just a few hours up to one full day is free.
• Rotterdam municipality has also /zoeken/?__url=%2Fzoeken%2F&query=fietsenstalling some locations].

Rent a bike

Bikes can be rented by several different private compagnies. Holland-Cycling.com provides a list of adresses in Rotterdam and The Hague. Another list of bicycle-renting in Rotterdam you will find at /vrije-tijd/fiets-huren/ Rotterdam.nl. Rotterdam also joins / oBike a new kind of bicycle-sharing system (see also /locations/obike/ city tourist information]).

If you have an OV-chipkaart (see also under "By public transport") bicycles can be rented at many train and metro stations and other central locations by the OV-fiets system.

Route networks

For finding your way you can choose of two systems of singposted touristic/recreational cycle-routes (of course it is also feasible to choose to combine both networks!):

• Follow a route from numbered junction to numbered junction in a bicycle junction network (Dutch: fietsknooppuntennetwerk or fietsroutenetwerk). In this system you just take notice of a few numbers, and signposts with only these numbers on it will lead you your way. See Bicycle Route Planner: sellect more options and Junction Network or Fietsnet
• Cyclers who prefer to follow just longer routes in one direction, might be interested in the so called LF-network of long distance bicycle routes. Parts of these routes cross the area or start here. Enjoy for example a ride along the coast line by following LF1 Noordzeeroute, or learn more of the flow of the waterways connected with Maas, Rhine and Schelde by following LF12 Maas- en Vestingroute starting from Hook of Holland. See Bicycle Route Planner: sellect more options and LF-Routes.

By public transport

Tourist who like to make use of public transport in the Netherlands for several times may consider purchasing an so called OV-chipkaart]. These contactless smart card can be used in all modes of public transport. Please beware that for traveling with trains and metros checking in and out is done at the stations, while in (water)buses and trams travelers check in and out in the vehicle.

For planning of all public transport in the Netherlands, see 9292.nl/en 9292] Metro Lijnenkaart RET - Metro network

Rotterdam metro

Rotterdam metro provide an important part of the public transport in some parts in the area, however it is not as extensive as Mass Rapit Transit-systems of many other metropolitans. For example Delft and Zoetermeer are not connected to the metro. On the other hand there is a line all the way to The Hague (but arriving there it has its terminus at the edge of the downtown in train station Den Haag Centraal).

Train (Nederlandse Spoorwegen)

For many destinations within MRDH the train of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen serves as a primary mode of public transport. Traveling from The Hague to Delft or from Rotterdam to Delft is for example fastest by train and even for the short journey Rotterdam-Schiedam and the train might be the best option. The train network within MRDH acts more like a rapid transit network with intervals of 10 minutes or even better on some connections. Travelers can choose between Intercity-services between the larger stations and Sprinters which stop at all stations along the line.

For tourists and the most important train stations are:

• Den Haag Centraal: northern edge of The Hague downtown, interchange with trams, lightrail to Zoetermeer (trams 3 and 4), metro E to Rotterdam and busses
• Den Haag Hollands Spoor: eastern edge of The Hague downtown. Until 18 december 2017 due to heavy road construction works and there is no interchange with trams. For buses please go the side of the Haagse Hogeschool / Waldorpstraat.
• Delft: interchange with tram 1 and buses
• Schiedam Centrum: interchange with metro A, B and C, trams and buses
• Rotterdam Centraal: northern edge of the downtown, interchange with metro D and E, trams and buses
• Rotterdam Blaak: middle of the downtown, interchange with metro A, B and C, trams and busses

Randstadrail lijn 4 in tramtunnel - Tram 4 on its way from Zoetermeer to southern The Hague in the downtown tram tunnel

Tram

Rotterdam and The Hague have their own extensive network of trams. These trams provide good local transport, or it might be an interesting alternative to metro or train to discover more of the area. So travelers can choose to travel by tram from The Hague downtown to Delft. For Scheveningen the tram will be the fastest mode of transport from a trainstation in The Hague.

From The Hague to Zoetermeer most public transport is realised by fast lightrail-trams (line 3 to Zoetermeer Centrum West and line 4 to Zoetermeer Javalaan) . Krimpen aan den IJssel, fast ferry to Dordecht - panoramio - Bicycle on the Waterbus Fast Ferry Rotterdam-Dordrecht near stop Krimpen aan den IJssel Stormpolder

Fast ferry

In the waterways in (the port of) Rotterdam tourist can also discover public transport on water. See:

• about connections in Rotterdam city: /locations/waterbus-and-aqualiner/]
• about the Fast Ferry from Hook of Holland to Maasvlakte: /home/reizen/dienstregeling/informatie-fast-ferry/fast-ferry-page RET (Rotterdam public transport)] or Tourist information Hook of Holland

Volgerland met vuurtoren Westhoofd op de achtergrond - Goeree-Overflakkee

Travel Next

• Leiden|Leiden is a historic university city about 15 kilometers north of The Hague and 10 kilometers north of Zoetermeer.
• Gouda|Gouda lies east of The Hague and Zoetermeer, this not so big historic city is famous for its Cheese and candles.
• Dordrecht|Dordrecht is the next city south of Rotterdam, it played an important part in Dutch history and is still today rich in historic places. The downtown looks out over big waterways connected with Maas and Rhine. East of Dordrecht is Biesbosch National Park.
• Goeree-Overflakkee is the biggest South Holland island and (other than the little island Tiengemeten) the only island of the province which is surrounded by bigger bodies of water. This is the place to be for all kinds of water recreation and another area with popular beaches and dunes. From direction Europoort/Brielle the road entrance to the island is the Haringvlietdam, one of the Delta Works.

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