Utrecht Travel guide at Wikivoyage

However, they usually have low wages and require fluent Dutch. It is a major canal going through the heart of the city, with shops and restaurants on both sides. This canal is unique because of its many picturesque cellars on water level. The Spoorwegmuseum (Railway Museum) is another place that definitely deserves a visit. Board the special train at Utrecht’s station for a direct trip to the wonderful world of old railway stations, steam locomotives, and all things railway-related. Utrecht has been the religious centre of the Netherlands since the 8th century.

The OV-chipkaart is valid for bus, train and tram and works like a debit card that you must first charge with an amount. The area surrounding Utrecht Centraal railway station and the station itself were developed following modernist ideas of the 1960s, in a brutalist style. This development led to the construction of the shopping mall Hoog Catharijne [nl], the music centre Vredenburg (Hertzberger, 1979), and conversion of part of the ancient canal structure into a highway (Catherijnebaan). Protest against further modernisation of the city centre followed even before the last buildings were finalised. In the early 21st century, the whole area is undergoing change again.

By train

The redeveloped music centre TivoliVredenburg opened in 2014 with the original Vredenburg and Tivoli concert and rock and jazz halls brought together in a single building. In 1528 the bishop lost secular power over both Neder- and Oversticht—which included the city of Utrecht—to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles V combined the Seventeen Provinces (the current Benelux and the northern parts of France) as a personal union. This ended the prince-bishopric of Utrecht, as the secular rule was now the lordship of Utrecht, with the religious power remaining with the bishop, although Charles V had gained the right to appoint new bishops. In 1559 the bishopric of Utrecht was raised to archbishopric to make it the religious centre of the Northern ecclesiastical province in the Seventeen Provinces. It’s hard not to fall in love with Utrecht, one of the Netherlands’ oldest urban centres and for centuries its religious heart.

There are few other campsites, though some farmers also have small scale camping on their land. Utrecht, like any big town, has its fair share of business hotels of the big chains. Keep your eyes peeled; some of these stores are easy to miss. Every Saturday, a paviour adds another letter to The Letters of Utrecht, an endless poem in the cobblestones of the Oude Gracht in Utrecht. With the Letters, Utrecht has a social sculpture as a growing monument created for the benefit of future people. There are many schools for primary and secondary education, allowing parents to select from different philosophies and religions in the school as is inherent in the Dutch school system.

Structure

Make your trip to https://bookkeeping-reviews.com/ unforgettable by paddling through the canals in a canoe. If for no other reason than the coffeehouse and dinner bar Tijm, which has set up a drive-through (or should we say sail-through) in the back where canoeists, rowers and other boaters can order beer, coffee and other tasty treats. Many of those are located in the southern part of the old town, the Museumkwartier.

• With the industrial revolution finally gathering speed in the Netherlands and the ramparts taken down, Utrecht began to grow far beyond its medieval centre.
• Utrecht was chartered in 1122 and had a city council as early as 1304.
• For example, they will pick up your tiles for free if you replace them with green features.
• Spread out a blanket and order a pizza or, better yet, treat yourself to a barbecue!
• The fortified city temporarily fell to the French invasion in 1672 (the Disaster Year); where the French invasion was stopped just west of Utrecht at the Old Hollandic Waterline.

There are also several foundations to support art and artists. Training of artists is done at the Utrecht School of the Arts. The Centraal Museum has many exhibitions on the arts, including a permanent exhibition on the works of Utrecht resident illustrator Dick Bruna, who is best known for creating Miffy (“Nijntje”, in Dutch). BAK, basis voor actuele kunst offers contemporary art exhibitions and public events, as well as a Fellowship program for practitioners involved in contemporary arts, theory and activisms. The Utrecht Centraal railway station is also served by the pan-European services of Eurolines.

By bike

Utrecht is host to the international Early Music Festival (Festival Oude Muziek, for music before 1800) and the Netherlands Film Festival. The city has an important classical music hall Vredenburg (1979 by Herman Hertzberger). There are several other venues for music throughout the city. Young musicians are educated in the conservatory, a department of the Utrecht School of the Arts. There is a specialised museum of automatically playing musical instruments. The transition from independence to a relatively minor part of a larger union was not easily accepted.

• The tenure of Willibrordus is generally considered to be the beginning of the Bishopric of Utrecht.[12] In 723, the Frankish leader Charles Martel bestowed the fortress in Utrecht and the surrounding lands as the base of the bishops.
• These fortresses were designed to house a cohort of about 500 Roman soldiers.
• The castle would last less than 50 years before it was demolished in an uprising in the early stages of the Dutch Revolt.
• It’s not that I didn’t like Amsterdam, but it’s no secret that the Netherlands’ capital can be packed with tourists.
• The tickets can be bought online or at U-OV ticket machines or service desks.

Visiting Utrecht was a welcome change of pace to the crazy commotion that usually happens in Amsterdam. I found the canals to be even prettier than Amsterdam’s, and I really enjoyed just walking around. I was able to watch street performers, lazily sit at a café and just relax in Utrecht.

Furthermore, it acts as departure and arrival place of many coach companies serving holiday resorts in Spain and France—and during winter in Austria and Switzerland. The feudal conflict of the Middle Ages heavily affected Utrecht. The Dom Tower was also a super striking structure that I pretty much got all to myself. Utrecht is also known for its novelty museums, including the Railway Museum and Museum Speelklok – a museum dedicated to automated musical instruments throughout the ages. The city is the headquarters of the Netherlands’ railroads and trades on its location as a services and transport centre. A ton of service positions exist in the ancient city centre.

The city of Utrecht is subdivided into 10 city quarters, all of which have their own neighbourhood council and service centre for civil affairs. Iconic in every right, the Little Mermaid statue sitting by Copenhagen’s waters attracts many tourist every year. Grand hotel Karel V is a unique 5-star hotel in the heart of Utrecht from where you can walk to the central station in less than 10 minutes. Utrecht is known as a student city with a large population of single young people. This results in a booming nightlife with many places to have a quick meal, some drinks or a dance. Transwijk park, for example, is especially known for the large-scale Liberation Day festival which is held there every year, while Griftpark boasts a large playground and a petting zoo.

Two other buildings were constructed around the Nieuw Galgenwaard stadium (2007). These buildings, the ‘Kantoortoren Galghenwert’ and ‘Apollo Residence’, stand 85.5 m (280.5 ft) and 64.5 m (211.6 ft) high, respectively. Utrecht’s ancient city centre features many buildings and structures, several dating as far back as the High Middle Ages. It has been the religious centre of the Netherlands since the 8th century.

• The transition from independence to a relatively minor part of a larger union was not easily accepted.
• The international buses to Belgium and Germany are often a cost effective alternative to the trains with longer (Germany) or similar (Belgium) travel duration.
• As always, don’t flash your wallet at markets and have a natural caution for pickpockets in the city centre.
• Utrecht’s bishops came increasingly under the influence of Holland until the Utrecht bishop Henry of Bavaria sold his temporal rights to Emperor Charles V in 1527, upon which Utrecht became part of the Habsburg dominions.

The cathedral’s nave collapsed in a storm of 1674 and was never rebuilt; the chapter room (1409), which is joined to the church by a Gothic cloister, is now the main assembly hall of the university. The Paushuize (Pope’s House) was completed in 1523 for the only Dutch pope, Adrian VI, who was a native of https://bookkeeping-reviews.com/utrecht/. The city’s Maliebaan (1636) is one of the finest promenades in the Netherlands. In the 19th century the old city ramparts were made into parks, and modern residential districts arose. Utrecht as a student city is quite safe, although there are some neighbourhoods in the outskirts that you probably don’t want to visit.

From Utrecht CS, trams run southwest passing P+R Westraven to Nieuwegein Stadscentrum where the tram line splits into two branches to IJsselstein-Zuid and Nieuwegein-Zuid. The southwest section of the line operates every day to a little past midnight. Because Utrecht is in the midst of a huge greening campaign, the city is building more and more bike-only roads and even housefront gardens. The municipality has come up with special subsidies and solutions for the latter. For example, they will pick up your tiles for free if you replace them with green features.