Attractions

Try to come here on a Thursday morning between 10am and 12:30pm from about the third week in June to the first week in September, when the lively Goudse kaasmarkt (Gouda cheese market) brings farmers driving farm wagons painted with bright designs and piled high with round cheeses in orange skins. Walk to the back of the Stadhuis (Town Hall) to sample the Gouda cheese. This gray stone building, with stepped gables and red shutters, is reputed to be Holland's oldest Town Hall, and parts of its Gothic facade date from 1449.

Gouda is noted for its candles. Every year from the middle of December, the Markt and the Town Hall are festively lit by candles.

Smoke It & See -- Gouda has been the center of a thriving clay-pipe industry since the 17th century. One local style of pipe has a pattern on the bowl that's invisible when the pipe is new and only appears as the pipe is smoked and darkens. It's called a "mystery pipe," because the designs vary and buyers never quite know what they're getting.