Utrecht

A lively university city 27 minutes from Amsterdam by train and the hub of the Dutch railways: the Dom Tower, the tallest church tower in the Netherlands (465 steps, guided climbs only), the two-level Oudegracht canal with cafés in the old wharf cellars, the Centraal Museum and the Miffy museum, Rietveld's Schröder House (UNESCO) and the Railway Museum. Less crowded and cheaper than Amsterdam, and a good base for the Hoge Veluwe and for trains to Maastricht. Indian restaurants and a big student population make vegetarian food easy.

Highlights

• The Dom Tower climb (465 steps)
• Oudegracht wharf cafés
• Rietveld Schröder House
• Miffy Museum
• Railway Museum
• De Haar Castle

Things to do

• Dom Tower guided climbMorning · 1h 15m
• Oudegracht canal walk and the wharf cafésAfternoon · 2h
• Centraal Museum and the Rietveld Schröder HouseAfternoon · 2h 30m
• Railway MuseumMorning · 2h 30m
• Canal boat tour on the OudegrachtEvening · 1h

Tours & tickets

When to go

Best time: April – September

• King's Day (Koningsdag) — The national holiday for the King's birthday: the whole country dresses in orange, every street becomes a flea market (the vrijmarkt, from the evening before), and Amsterdam's canals fill with party boats and its centre with up to a million people. Trains into Amsterdam are packed and hotels cost their most; book months ahead, or watch it in a calmer city such as Utrecht, Haarlem or Delft. Museums open, many shops close.
• Remembrance Day and Liberation Day — On 4 May at 8 pm the whole country stops for two minutes' silence for the war dead, with the national ceremony on Dam Square in Amsterdam; trams and trains halt. On 5 May free liberation festivals with music fill parks in Haarlem, Utrecht, The Hague, Rotterdam and other cities.
• Christmas markets and the Amsterdam Light Festival — From late November Maastricht holds its Christmas market (Magisch Maastricht) on the Vrijthof, and Valkenburg, 15 minutes away, holds markets inside its caves; Delft and Utrecht have smaller ones. In Amsterdam the Light Festival puts light art along the canals from late November into January, best seen from a canal boat in the evening. Markets close by Christmas or the New Year.
• Sinterklaas — St Nicholas "arrives by steamboat from Spain" in mid-November (Amsterdam's parade by boat and horse through the centre is the big one) and families exchange presents and poems on 5 December. Expect crowds on the arrival day; the bakeries fill with pepernoten and chocolate letters.