On a clear day you can see the vast city and that is Utrecht from the top of the tower. The guided tour takes roughly one hour (and is done in English by request) and you are taken up some 465 steps en route to the route, but don't worry, you are given ample rest time on each floor and you are briefed of the history of all aspects of the tower. From who used to live there to long living superstition and myths. As it is the tallest church tower in The Netherlands I would urge any archaeological enthusiasts and general sightseers to give it try.

www.domtoren.nl/default.asp?action=pagina&pagina=1832&taal=1&sId=123&click=1168&path=_0_1168

Domplein 9-10
3512 JC Utrecht

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

As its name suggests, this cafe specialises mainly in Belgian beers, but it also has a respectable number of Dutch ones for you to sample as well. If you can't find something you fancy in its list of 10 draught beers and nearly 200 bottled ones you probably don't like beer. Good food with imaginative vegetarian options in the dagschotel (daily menu). A great place to relax.

Oudegracht 196.Telephone 030 231 2666

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

A huge, excellent, cheap cafeteria-type restaurant on the fourth floor of Vroom & Dreesman's department store where fresh food is cooked in front of you. In the summer you can eat outside at the roof-restaurant with great views of Utrecht.

Vroom & Dreesman in Hoog Catherijne shopping mall, adjacent to Utrecht Central Station.

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Stairways is a studenty, friendly rock club in the centre of Utrecht. The music can be an acquired taste but thats pretty much the same as in every club in the Netherlands. But its got a great atmosphere and a good layout with a huge bar and areas where you can talk, dance, or look out over the dancefloor. Always a good, studenty night out with continentals who all speak perfect english.

11-12 Mariaplaats, Utrecht;
www.stairways.nl

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Although now just a café, the Winkel van Sinkel was the first department store opened in the Netherlands. It's a striking building standing by the Oudegracht with its façade featuring four giant cast-iron statues which were fabricated in England, as nowhere else had the technology at the start of the 19th century to produce them.

They were so large that they had to be transported to the store by water but unfortunately they were so heavy that the crane off-loading them from the boat collapsed under their weight, earning the statues the nicknames "these fallen English women" and "the English whores."

The fame of Anton Sinkel's shop spread throughout the Netherlands, inspiring a song which (roughly translated) goes:

At the big shop of Sinkel's/All things can be bought/Sweeties and shandies/Undies for dandies/Needles for knitting/And tablets for shitting.

www.dewinkelvansinkel.nl/
Oudegracht 158

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Always a nice way to see Dutch cities, canal trips round Utrecht last about an hour and take in the Oudegracht and the Singel.

Trips depart from jetties on the Oudegracht near Potterstraat

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

A fascinating showcase of over 360 years of the University of Utrecht, it has an amazing range of scientific instruments, human and animal specimens, geological curiosities, medical materials and archeological discoveries. It also has a pleasant botanical garden.

Lange Nieuwstraat 106; www.uu.nl/uupublish/4192main.html

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends