Utrecht (city)
From Imakoopedia
Utrecht (http://www.utrecht.nl) is a central Dutch city with a long history. With 250,000 inhabitants it's the fourth city in the Netherlands.
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Get in
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By Train
Utrecht Centraal Station is the major train hub in the Netherlands.
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By Car
Seeing Utrecht by car is not recommended. The city planners have made it as difficult as possible to navigate the city center, to try and discourage cars there. If you are coming in by car, park your car in one of the many parking garages around the city (follow the signs) and walk from there.
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By Bus
The train station is also the central bus station. There are buses that travel from other cities to Utrecht, but taking a train is usually easier and faster.
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Get around
Walking or renting a bike can get you a long way if the weather is on your side. A good alternative is taking the bus, which goes nearly everywhere. Utrecht Centraal Station serves as the main bus hub for Utrecht as well as the main train hub for the Netherlands. Buy tickets at vending machines or ticket booths at Utrecht Centraal, as this is much cheaper than buying them on the bus.
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See
- De Dom (http://www.domkerk.nl/) is a large gothic cathedral that was built between 1254 and 1520. It features the tallest church tower (112 meters or 367 feet) in the Netherlands, which can be seen from all over Utrecht.
- Oude Gracht - A canal going through the heart of the city, with shops and restaurants on both sides.
- The Vismarkt (Fishmarket, a lovely street in the plain centre).
- Centraal Museum (http://www.centraalmuseum.nl/). The oldest municipal museum in the Netherlands. It has a large art collection including the world's largest collection of Rietveld designs and a permanent exhibition on Dick Bruna.
- Museum Catharijneconvent (http://www.catharijneconvent.nl/) has a large collection of historic christian items.
- Nationaal Museum van Speelklok tot Pierement (http://www.museumspeelklok.nl/) is a museum on all kinds of mechanical music, including carillon clocks, musical boxes, pianolas, belly organs and much more.
- Nederlands Spoorwegmuseum (http://www.spoorwegmuseum.nl/) is the Dutch Railway Museum. It's currently being renovated and will reopen in 2005.
- Aboriginal Art Museum (http://www.aamu.nl/).
- Moluks Historisch Museum (http://www.museum-maluku.nl/). A museum on the history of the Moluccas.
- Utrecht Universiteit Museum (http://www.museum.uu.nl/) is the museum of Utrecht University.
- De Uithof, which is the campus of Utrecht University on the outskirts of Utrecht, near the stadium of FC Utrecht. There are several buildings here that are designed by famous modern architects as well as a beautiful botanical garden.
- Stadsschouwburg (http://www.utrecht.nl/stadsschouwburg/). The city theatre.
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Do
- See FC Utrecht (http://www.fc-utrecht.nl/) play soccer at their home stadium.
- Watch a movie at one of many cinemas. With the exception of some animated movies (and even those are usually available in the original language as well), all movies are subtitled and not dubbed, so you should be able to enjoy all the standard Holywood fare in the original English.
- Climb the Dom tower, a full 112 meters high. You can climb to near the top.
- Take tour with the tour boat or:
- Rent a canal bike and pedal your own way around the canals.
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Buy
- Hoog Catharijne (http://www.hoogcatharijne.nl/hc/) is a is large indoor shopping area connected to the central hall of Utrecht Centraal Station, the main railway station of Utrecht.
- Geek gear. There are half a dozen stores at the part of the Oudegracht (Old Canal) near De Dom that sell board games, card games, wargames, roleplaying games, fantasy and science-fiction books and/or comics. Keep your eyes peeled; some of these stores are easy to miss.
- Other books. Broese (http://www.broese.net/) is a large bookstore at Stadhuisbrug 5. They have a fair selection of English books. Nearby De Slegte (http://www.deslegte.nl/), at Oudegracht 121, has a wide selection of second hand books.
- Music. Plato (http://www.platomania.nl/) at Steenweg 13 has a fair selection at reasonable prices. Nearby White Noise sells more alternative music and there are several stores operated by the large chain Free Record Shop (http://www.freerecordshop.nl/) all over the shopping area.
- On Saturdays there is a large open air market on a square called Vredenburg.
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Eat
- Stadskasteel Oudaen (http://www.oudaen.nl/), at Oudegracht 99, is a 13th century city castle turned restaurant. They have their own theatre and more importantly their own brewery, where they brew the local beers Ouwe Daen, Jonge Daen en Linteloo Gold. Highly recommended.
- There are several Flemish snackbars outside of Hoog Catharijne that sell wonderful thick fries with mayonnaise. Try it; it's not as bad as John Travolta's character seems to think in Pulp Fiction.
- Pancakes at 'De Oude Muntkelder'
- Excellent spare ribs at restaurant Broadway.
- A dinner salad at Le Connoiseur.
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Drink
- Cafe Belgie, on Oudegracht 196. Good music and a selection of 198 different beers. Try the Celis White if you like white beer.
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Sleep
- Hostel Strowis (http://www.strowis.nl/), a lovely hostel run by a group of clever ex-squatters who bought their building to start this initiative.
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Get out
- The main venue for concerts and for dancing is Tivoli (http://www.tivoli.nl/)
- A smaller, more intimate venue, is political-cultural centre ACU (http://www.acu.nl/). They host a large variety of things, such as a small cinema (smoking allowed), art exhibitions, cafe literaire, concerts, disco, gay-events, and they serve vegetarian and vegan food.
- Stairway to Heaven (http://www.stairway.nl/) is a large rockcafe at Mariaplaats 11-12.
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External links
- Concert agenda (http://www.utrecht-live.nl/), for the whole town.
