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Rotterdam vs Delft vs The Hague

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sandeepganni

Hi All,

I am about to join a PhD program in TU Delft and am planning to buy an apartment. What would you guys suggest of the three cities to live in? I'm also getting a car so a 15km radius is doable. Heard Rotterdam is really the happening place, but also heard it's ugly?

Really appreciate any feedback

Primadonna

Hi Sandeepganni,

Welcome on board to this site and welcome soon in the Netherlands.

The cities you mentioned are great on their own but also different.
It depends what you want and what you are looking for.

If I have to choose between these city it would be Delft.
I love the old architecture and the canals. It's also not so big as Rotterdam or Den Haag.

sandeepganni

Hi Primadonna,

Thank you for your response. I'm going to live in The Netherlands for about 4 years, so I thought buying a house would be more logical given the house prices are pretty down. But houses are really expensive in Delft compared to Den Haag and even more so than Rotterdam.

I prefer to live somewhere calm and the same time accessible to all the fun things :-)

Thanks

Hollandia

I am have been living over here( half the time) for the last few years. We are pretty close to Rotterdam and I would not consider most of it ugly at all. I have been to Den Haag and Delft as well. The Hague is the capital and is a bit of a mixture of old and new, the nearby beach area is crazy in the summertime. Delft is charming but I felt it more a college town like Utrecht. Rotterdam is a nice city. I don't think it is that large, but I am from East Coast of USA in Delmarva area. I love the set up of Center City of Rotterdam. I like that it has several distinct areas all within walking distance and even more just a short tram trip. I love the Park, the Euromast, Oude Haven, and many other places in Rotterdam. If funds were unlimited and I had to pick one of the three, I would go with Rotterdam. There are a ton of awesome restaurants of all kinds, cafes, bars, movie cinemas, stores. Ice Skating in the Winter under a tent, and free music in the park in the summer. There seems to always be somewhere interesting to go and do. All this and the best spring rolls from one special vendor in Rotterdam Central that can't be beat anywhere.

Sander van Houdt

Hi Sandeep,

I know the area by heart so here's my advice.

Rotterdam is a nice city, however the accessibility to other areas can be difficult.

Delft is a nice, small city. But expensive indeed.

The Hague also is a good choice, some areas have a good accessibility to Delft.

Tip: You can also look at Rijswijk.
Most places in Rijswijk have very good access to Delft.
Rijswijk is what you say, calm and at the same time accessible to all the fun things!

You could also consider renting. The general renting website is:
You can switch the website to English and take a look around.

Cheers,

Sander

Hollandia

I tried to use them when I first came here. I had no luck with that website at all.

Sander van Houdt

OK, I have to agree with you Hollandia, at least to some extent. The website is very suitable for some orientation though.

:top:

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