At the end of April, we spent 72 hours in Utrecht around Koningdag.
A really lovely compact city, we enjoyed its canals, bars and restaurants, all thronged with partying people on what can be compared to Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
We stayed in an excellent small hotel (B&B) called Muze, located on Tolsteegsingel. With a lovely canal right outside and a mere 15 minute walk into the city centre, this is a highly recommended accommodation, with its tastefully decorated bedrooms and great breakfast.
Utrecht doesn’t really boast any absolute “must see” buildings or museums, but the atmosphere is wonderful and the endless canals provide constant accompaniment to your strolls around the pretty city. In fact, you can circle the centre on a loop walk along tree-lined Stadsbuitengracht (“city outer canal”), a historic ring canal originally built in the 12th C as a defensive fortification.
Access to Utrecht is an easy and very regular 30-minute train ride from Schiphol, without the need to change in Amsterdam. Bike rental is readily available at the train station (and elsewhere) and costs a mere €3-8 per day, but do note that rental bikes have back-peddle brakes only, which can take a bit of getting used to.
We enjoyed bars along Donkeregaard, Odegracht and Tolsteegbarrière and the fabulous underground bar that is ‘t Oude Pothuys on Smeebrug, a sometimes jazz venue.
Restaurants we ate at included Vegitalian on Schoutenstraat, Sevilla on Korte Jansstraat and Dapur Cinta Indonesian on Voorstraat.
But the best of our time was spent out and about on the bike.
On one day, we cycled out from the city towards the north to see two lovely windmills, side by side. An easy 50 minute cycle brought us to the Molen van de Polder Westbroek, by the river Vecht, near Maarssen, one of which you can visit. Note also the two massive concrete German WW II bunkers right alongside.
On another day, we took the train to Ede-Wageningen, hired bikes and cycled an hour and a half, through the beautiful Hoge Veluwe National Park, to the magnificent Kröller-Müller Museum. Home to the world’s second largest collection of works by Van Gogh, this is a great museum in a stunning park of 5,400 hectares, consisting of 3,200 ha. of forest, 2,100 ha. of heathland and 60 ha. of drifting sand.
A brilliant day, not to be missed!
All in all, we really enjoyed Utrecht and what can be done from it as your base. And, let’s face it, we all like the Dutch.
72 Hours in Utrecht – notes
As you already know, ‘everybody’ in the Netherlands speaks excellent English.
The city is expensive, even by Irish standards, with 500ml of beer costing anywhere from €9-12.
The current Koning is Willem-Alexander, son of Beatrix, Koningin until her abdication in 2013.
Be sure to wear as much orange as possible if you visit during Koningsdag weekend!
You can find the city’s official tourism information website at https://www.discover-utrecht.com/
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