With a central-western location, it connects and comprises the Netherlands' four biggest cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht), their suburbs, and many towns in between, that all grew and merged into each other.

With a population of approximately 8.4 million people[1] it is one of the largest metropolitan regions in Europe,[b] comparable in population size to the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region or the San Francisco Bay Area, and covers an area of approximately 11,372 km2 (4,391 sq mi).

The Randstad's main cities are Almere, Amsterdam, Delft, Dordrecht, Haarlem, The Hague, Leiden, Rotterdam, and Utrecht.

Other towns include Alkmaar, Alphen aan den Rijn, Amersfoort, Amstelveen, Capelle aan den IJssel, Gouda, Heerhugowaard, Hilversum, Hoofddorp, Hoorn, Lelystad, Nieuwegein, Purmerend, Rijswijk, Schiedam, Spijkenisse, Vlaardingen, Zaandam, Zeist, and Zoetermeer.

While being categorised as part of the Randstad, the Utrecht agglomeration lies relatively further apart, owing to its long history of rivalry with Holland and Amsterdam in particular.

While Utrecht functions as the gateway to the Randstad for both car and rail transport, it is disconnected from the virtually continuous urbanised zone in western Holland by the protected polder landscape of the Groene Hart.

[10] The Zuidvleugel ("South Wing"), with a population of around 3.5 million people, stretches some 60 kilometers from Dordrecht in the southeast to Leiden in the north.

[15] There is also a trend shown that the Noordvleugel is expanding parallel to the A2 (Amsterdam towards Eindhoven) and A12 (Utrecht towards the WERV region, encompassing the cities of Wageningen, Ede, Rhenen and Veenendaal) motorways.

[17] While the cities and landscapes in the Randstad share some commonalities, there are also large differences originating in centuries of divergent development.

Politically, the Randstad is broadly right-leaning and conservative, with student cities, including Amsterdam, Utrecht, Haarlem, Leiden and Delft, being more left-leaning and progressive.

[19] The Randstad possesses a large infrastructure system, with many railways, motorways, trams and subways in various cities.

Because of the many obstructions in minor roads, such as one-way or circular routes (often created to make living neighbourhoods safer), a lot of local traffic also uses the motorways.

[20][21] Larger cities in the Randstad have many railway stations, as well as light rail, subway and/or tram networks.

Bicycle "superhighways"[23] have been built on which cyclists have priority for long distance, high speed cycle commuting.