Utrecht, charming and underrated
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Utrecht, in the middle of the Netherlands, is one of those places that you’ve probably heard of, but have never been there. It is certainly worth visiting for a holiday or even just for a city weekend break, it has been called “charming and underrated” and this is true! As a bonus, it is easy for us to travel there too!
Both Inverness and Aberdeen airports have daily connections to Amsterdam Schiphol airport. The railway station is underneath the airport, and trains run every 15 minutes to Utrecht, costing 8.70 Euros adult one way, taking around half an hour depending whether you catch the Inter-City or stopping service. Tickets can be bought at Schiphol, online from the ticket office or from here.
Utrecht station is the “Crewe” of the Netherlands, nearly a thousand trains a day go from here to everywhere in NL and neighbouring countries. With typical Dutch efficiency and simplicity, the bus and tram hub is also at the Centraal railway station, and the whole complex is overlaid with a huge shopping centre!
The station area seems to be always under development, and one of the current initiatives is the construction of the largest bicycle park in Europe, if not the world. In NL there are around 17 million people and 20 million bicycles. This ratio must be beaten in Utrecht – over 100,000 people cycle into the city centre every day – out of a population of around 312,000 people and 70,000 students. There are currently 12,000 bicycle parking spaces at the station, and this will become 33,000 by 2020, and all under cover and manned – the largest in the world. There are also “pop up” bicycle parks – these appear when there are events on and you need an instant bicycle park! Cycling is safe and easy in Utrecht, which is why 60% of all journeys into the city centre are by bike, the routes are segregated and coloured by red asphalt.
For us who are not used to this level of bicycle usage – take care! There are bikes of all types whizzing along in all directions.
If you are not keen on cycling, it is not a problem – Utrecht is compact enough to explore comfortably on foot. Probably the best known native of Utrecht is Miffy – although the loveable rabbit is not so well known in the UK. Miffy is the creation of local author Dick Bruna. He has retired now, so his studio has been carefully dismantled and re-erected in the Centraal Museum! For more information about Miffy, see here. Young children adore Miffy; Dick’s character is typically Dutch – combining simplicity with clarity.
Another famous example of this Dutch simplicity and clarity is De Stijl (The Style) exemplified by the work of Mondrian and in Utrecht by the Rietveld Schröder house. This whole, functional, striking and minimalistic art style would take at least a book to explain. This house was built in 1924. At that time it was on the edge of the town, with views out over the wide flat flood plain that was kept clear as it would be flooded if enemies attacked. Today it faces a low embankment with a bypass road on it. The architecture is remarkable; anything that is not functional is simply not there. For example, there are no curtains, just wooden panels that slot into brackets over the windows. There are few internal walls, just sliding panels that convert the open space into sleeping quarters. There is certainly no room for the “stuff” and clutter of so many modern houses. It is worth a visit.
Utrecht, like most of the Netherlands, is as flat as a pancake. This means that wherever you are in the city, the tower of the Cathedral is visible, and is a handy reference point to navigate by. This Cathedral is an amazingly unique structure – for a start, half of it is missing! It is dedicated to St. Marten, and construction was started in 1254, and has never been finished. In 1674 there was a great storm. With the structure still uncompleted, the central part simply blew down. The result was that the tower was left isolated. The rubble of the fallen part was left there for a few hundred years, being used as a quarry. The tower, which was started in 1321 and completed in 1382, still stands in splendid isolation. You can climb up to the top, via 465 steps, up 112 metres (367 feet) to have great views for miles. On the way, you will pass the magnificent carillon. The vast range of bells of all sizes, ring out on the hour all day through. There is a special guild, of 25 people, who are all needed to ring all 14 bells. Heroic organ players climb up every hour and “play” the bells. It is the oldest set of bells in the world still rung by hand. You sit on a bench like at an organ. The foot pedals work the huge bells, while wooden dowels, in twin rows, have to be hit downwards to play the smaller bells. When I was there, it was a Mozart week on the bells. All over the city the bells peal out melodiously and add to the charm of Utrecht.
For centuries there was a post of “Tower Keeper”, and he and his family lived in an apartment 25 metres up the Tower! It was not a very well paid job, so one keeper started a pub in the apartment. Unbelievably, the customers reached the bar by climbing a ladder on the outside of the Tower. After a convivial evening, many customers had great difficulty climbing all the way back down again. Today there is still a colloquial expression, unique to Utrecht, where you can be accused of being “as drunk as a ladder”.
The Romans were fundamental in establishing Utrecht, around 45 AD. Below the tower is an underground network that can be explored daily. After all this exercise, and exploring the wonderful interior of the (remaining) Cathedral, proceed through to the very good shop and café. Here the tea and apple cake is excellent quality and value for money, and if the weather is fine, it can be eaten outside in the ornamental garden.
Generally, the tea in Utrecht is good quality, but you only get a cup of not quite hot water to dunk the tea bag in. From the top of the Dom tower, you will see a giant tea pot on the roof of the shopping centre – but this is just an illusion – I have yet to find a decent tea pot anywhere in Utrecht!
One side of the garden has the walls of the University. Outside, in Dom Square, the ornate entrance to that part of the University is faced by a statue of Graaf (Count) Jan Van Nassau. He was one of the first proponents, in 1579, of the Union of Utrecht, which created the united Dutch nation that we know today.
Another famous son of Utrecht is Adriaans. He was a Catholic priest, honest and hard working. Eventually, in 1522 he was elected Pope, and tried to reform the corruption in the church. If he had succeeded it may have headed off the Reformation, but in less than 18 months he was dead. It is said in Utrecht that he was murdered! He had the intention of returning home to Utrecht one day, and in 1517 had a large house built for him, just behind the Cathedral. He never lived to see it, but it is still there today, with a modern statue of him standing in front of it. A very colourful and ornate church worth visiting is St. Willibrord’s – named after the Irish monk who came here around 690 and brought Christianity to the Dutch.
The Dutch embraced Protestantism warmly, and it became dangerous and illegal to be a Catholic. There were several hidden churches. One of these is the excellent café restaurant Olivier. It is still a hidden church, but once inside you will see the statues, large altar piece and organ, as well as the central bar and the tables. The food is excellent (by the way, the Dutch portions are always large – it is a challenge to eat three courses!) and the prices very reasonable, as is their vast range of beers.
It is maybe the influence of all the students, that there are so many excellent eating places at such good prices. The castle (from 1289) is now undistinguished as a castle, but since 1990 is an excellent eating place – complete with its own brewery! See here. All its production is consumed on the premises. You can even have a seven course “taster” dinner, with a different beer with each course, including a cherry beer with the desert. Normally such “taster” menus consist of many tiny plates, but here again the proportions were ample, and I couldn’t get to the end!
Yet another unusual restaurant is W.T.Urean – in an old water tower! The old water tank is the restaurant, reached by stairs or a lift, with splendid views over Utrecht. Yet another recommended place is the Zakkendrager. It is in one of the narrow alleys, and as you go in it becomes larger and larger, with a beautiful garden and great food.
Utrecht has two canals through the middle of it, and one that surrounds the old town, so there are boat trips, and if you need to work off some of the food, there are pedal boats, canoes, or electric boats, to hire. The canals are flanked by pedestrian walk ways, with doors off. These are the entrances to the warehouses of the shops above; today many are converted into eating places. It is pleasantly calming to stroll along the canal, and in the evenings “Trajectum Lumen” lights up the old town with colourful illuminations.
There are several museums to explore, but probably the greatest and best is the Dutch National Railway Museum, the Spoorwegmuseum. This is easily reached on foot, or by special shuttle train from the main Centraal railway station. It is in the magnificent stately and ornate Maliebaan station. This is a delight, and leads you past splendid locomotives and trains into the huge 2005 building that houses all sorts of interactive experiences. Children love it, and it is the best way for them to learn of railways. Adults love it too of course, and there are some rides, a miniature train to ride on, a shop, restaurants, full wheelchair access, picnic area, theatre and lecture hall, the Orient Express hall, goods rolling stock, and a replica street scene that you walk through with a replica of the first locomotive from 1835, De Arend (The Eagle) to take you back in time. Probably the most striking section is the “Steel Monsters” part. You enter and step aboard small four seat cars. These then whizz off into the dark and zoom alongside huge locomotives, with parts lighting up as you pass, showing men cleaning out the soot from smoke boxes, or peering out from fireboxes, and it ends with you rushing towards the three headlights of a train heading straight at you! All enormous great fun. You will certainly need to allocate a whole day to experience and enjoy all that the museum has to offer.
There are plenty of all types of accommodation on offer in Utrecht – again probably reflecting the student influence. All the usual branded hotels are there, and perhaps the best is the 5 star Grand Hotel Karel V. This is handy for the Centraal railway station and the old town centre. The rectangle of buildings was many things in the past, and has been thoroughly modernised to a luxury standard. Everything is super – except maybe the lack of a tea pot! If you want to treat yourself, go there.
I had a really good time in Utrecht, and will be going back again later in the year – that is recommendation enough! It is a good destination at any time of the year. English is spoken everywhere, prices are the same or better than in the UK, the entire centre of the city is a free wifi zone, and everywhere is clean and tidy. If you stay there for some time, there is plenty of interesting places to visit round about, castles and gardens, nature reserve, forts, and charming villages, and being only 40 kms, half an hour by train, from Amsterdam, 175 kms, 2 hours, from Brussels, 125 kms from Antwerp, and Rotterdam and The Hague no more than 45 mins away by the excellent Dutch railway system, Utrecht is a great base for exploration.
