"Utrecht" Utrecht by Mariajoy

Utrecht Travel Guide: 624 reviews and 1,484 photos

During our week in the Netherlands, we had tickets to see Tom McRae in Utrecht and decided that we wanted to make a day of it and see something of the city before the gig started.

After spending sometime just trying to get to the city, (we had got lost in Hoog Catherijne, the giant 70's shopping centre monstrosity which is attached to Central Station). It is so easy to miss the escalators at the tiny exit to the street - be warned! If you miss these you will be in shopping hell for hours!

So after finding our way out - we set off to discover Utrecht - one of the Netherland's oldest cities with a population of 300,000 (30,000 of them students). We found it to be a lovely city, not as exciting as Amsterdam but the people were friendly and the city is compact, clean, and pretty and I would love to return to explore further.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Friendly locals
Cons:That shopping centre!!!!!
In a nutshell:I shall be returning!

Last visit to Utrecht: Oct 2005
Intro Updated Nov 20, 2005
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Reviews (11)

Utrecht Centraal Station Transportation (1)

Centraal Station - busy, bustling and inhabited by the ubiquitous local drunks and weirdos but they seemed pretty... more travel advice

Giraffe heads - or a trip to South... Shopping (1)

Why anyone would want to travel to South Africa when they can be in Utrecht is beyond me... and equally beyond me is... more travel advice

Little Dutch Doggies! Favorites (4)

What can I say??? I got sidetracked... they were sooooo cute!! Petra just had to wait while I got my camera out and took... more travel advice

Winkel van Sinkel Favorites (4)

Very popular cafe/ restaurant/ (with vegetarian/international cuisine!) and also nightlife/music/dancing venue on Oude... more travel advice

Local Customs (3)
See All Bavaria by night
Things to Do (1)
St Janskerk

Nightlife (1)
Tom at the Tivoli
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Comments (13)

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mvtouring May 11, 2009 at 3:37 AM

Another great page that is going to help me have a fantastic holiday, thanks ;-)
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yumyum Feb 3, 2008 at 12:09 PM

Ah, I've also been to Winkel van Sinkel. A local VTer took me there.
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jo104 Oct 16, 2007 at 6:59 AM

Look forward to reading more I passed that restuarant but did we did not eat there.
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jadedmuse Oct 8, 2007 at 10:53 AM

The postcards comment was a hoot. Ahh yes, sitting in a cafe and people watching...like you said, we all do it! ( And those who don't are surely missing out!)
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sabsi Sep 20, 2007 at 8:09 AM

just planning a trip to utrecht for the weekend. i wouldn't mind a bit of shopping but i am scared of the infamous shopping centre already ;)
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Anchovy56 Feb 19, 2007 at 8:41 AM

E-mail is down for me at the mo.
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Airpunk May 26, 2006 at 10:59 PM

A really nice page. Utrecht is among the cities I would like to visit in the near future - I'll just have to avoid the shopping mall...
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bugulma Apr 25, 2006 at 12:32 AM

uh, i'm ready to visit the city just for St Janskerk architecture! very interesting style
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Gili_S Nov 24, 2005 at 2:05 AM

I also have wonderful friendly memories of this city. It just been too long since the last time I was here.
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planxty Nov 21, 2005 at 12:18 AM

Good pages, Maria - now I've got to get ine together ;-)) fergy.