The house is located in a street with mostly shops, but since Gouda is not a big city and shops close at six it is actually really quiet. Everyone in the street is friendly and is always up for a chat or lending a hand. A little further down the street there are mostly families living there so you can find several little playgrounds and parks around for the kids.

Living in the center means that everything you need is at hand. Different stores, bakery on the corner, restaurants (some closed on Sunday). And a supermarket is a few minutes walk away. Even the central train and bus station is close by and is a 7 minute walk. Which makes it easy to make trips around the country or even outside the Netherlands.

Gouda is a great historical city with a lot to explore. Such as the town hall and St. Jan church (15th century). There are several city tours available to explore Gouda and get interesting background information. There is a local indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a city beach, museums, indoor playgrounds, cinema, lots of restaurants and shops. For more information: https://welcometogouda.com/. Gouda is great at organizing events. In summer there is live music and food festivals for example. Every Thursday cheese market and Saturday regular market. In winter there are several events as well. Such as an ice skating-rink. Last year one was made in a church!

The area in and around Gouda is great for biking, but also for great walks. Reeuwijk for example is a nearby village (bus or bike) which has water to surf or just go there for a walk or bike ride. If you want the go to the sea side there are several options nearby as well. For instance in the Hague (train ride and tram ride).

In and around Gouda everything is done by bike easily, but there are a lot of buses also that will take you everywhere you need. If you want to explore outside of Gouda you can use public transport also. There is a great railway and subway network around the bigger cities and Gouda is perfectly located in the center of them.

This means that you can get to bigger cities by train easily. For example Rotterdam 20 minutes (three pictures included), The Hague 25 minutes, Utrecht 25 minutes, Amsterdam 55 minutes, Leiden 45 minutes, Delft 45 minutes. Of course the Netherlands isn't that big so you can go to any city you like and make a day trip.

You can even travel outside the Netherlands and explore other parts of Europe. For example Belgium (Antwerp 1,5 hours or Brussels 2,5 hours) by train if you like. Or what about Paris? From Rotterdam the Thalys will take you there in just 2,5 hours. But also Germany is accessible (Cologne or Dusseldorf 3 hours) and London (3,5 hours).

So lots to do and easy to get to even without a car. I will make sure I will leave you with all the details you need and pick out some of the highlights that might be of interest to you. For example amusements parks or zoo (travel of ca. 30 minutes).