Get on your bike — it’s second nature in Utrecht, which frequently ranks as one of the world’s friendliest cities for cyclists. A bicycle is the best way to see this alternative to Amsterdam — it’s the best way to get around the stag-do-free streets and an old town that’s a shortcut to seeing all the party-piece canals, pretty wharf cellars and pancake houses you’d ever want from the Dutch.
With your posterior in the saddle and time-stood-still squares to stumble upon, medieval Utrecht also undercuts its neighbours because it’s imbued with youth: cutesy rabbit Miffy is a local treasure, while the Netherlands’ largest university ensures its pick’n’mix restaurants and bars are full-on, not just on Fridays. The city’s holy of holies — the landmark Dom Tower — has had a five-year facelift and, with civic pride expected all year long, visiting now feels like giving Utrecht the attention it’s long deserved.
Day one
• Morning: Visit the Dom Tower
• Eat at: Kluts Bakery
• Afternoon: Wander or kayak the canals
• Drink at: Café ’t Neutje
• Evening: Hear live music at TivoliVredenburg
• Eat at: Rum Club
Day two
• Morning: Nijntje Museum and Centraal Museum
• Eat at: Broodje Mario
• Afternoon: Cycle to the Rietveld Schroder House
• Drink at: Louis Hartlooper Complex
• Evening: See Utrecht Lumen
• Eat at: Broei
What to do
• Bump-bump over the cobblestones, then lock up your bike and climb the Dom Tower’s 465 steps to discover a bell tower bigger than any other in the Netherlands (it’s very much “mine is bigger than yours” with the forthright Dutch). Below the horizon-wide view, in further proof of one-upmanship, there’s more concentrated history on Dom Square. How venerated is the Dom? It’s Utrecht’s most popular tattoo, and a pop-up parlour is opening below the belfry this summer (£11.50; domtoren.nl).
• Nobody mentions the A-word here. The rivalry with Amsterdam is so entrenched Utrecht only refers to the capital by its 020 dialling area code. The balm-like calm of canals are similar, but here they’re even easier to navigate on a loop that distils the essence of the Dutch Golden Age via a tour of arched bridges, tunnels and quays. Your passport to this open-air museum is a vessel from Kayak Utrecht (£7 per hour; kayakutrecht.nl).
• No matter how trendy TivoliVredenburg gets, it always comes back to the music here. The venue crams its fandom of funk, jazz, pop and comedy into five halls and stages and, on any night, it stresses the sing loud, party hard attitudes of Utrecht’s young-at-heart locals. It’d be a chaotic jumble elsewhere, but in Dutch hands, the building is a clean-lined, glass music box (some events free; tivolivredenburg.nl).
• The Nijntje Museum is exactly the introduction you need into the mind of the author and artist Dick Bruna, who created Miffy in 1955. More than 100 million bunny book sales aren’t to be sniffed at, and this cartoon dreamland is a riot of retina-searing primary colour (£7; nijntjemuseum.nl). Across the street, Centraal Museum has a replica of Bruna’s Utrecht studio (£14; centraalmuseum.nl).
• Time for a bike ride and highlights abound: Rietveld Schroder House, a De Stijl-era architectural touchstone; Paleis Lofen, a rambling palace lost behind gabled houses; and, underneath the central station, the world’s largest bike garage, home to 12,500 two-wheelers and a ride-through workshop.
• Daylight fades, darkness descends and the streets turn into an art trail. Utrecht Lumen plays with traditional architecture, illuminating squares, tower blocks and vaults with installations and neon over a two-mile circuit. There’s a UFO on the front of the Dutch Railways HQ that’s bound to raise a silly grin (free; discover-utrecht.com).
Advertisement
Where to eat and drink
Kluts Bakery
Despite the truckles of orange cheese everywhere, Utrecht is going vegan. At Kluts, you can grab lactose- and egg-free pie, cake, cookies and coffee, all with a view of the hulking St Martin’s Cathedral (bakes from £3; klutsutrecht.nl).
Café ’t Neutje
Turn into a Dutch brown café at any time and they’ll brighten your mood. The chestnut wood panelling, low lighting and round-the-shoulders hug of warmth are poles apart stylistically from today’s design bars, but they emphasise community and conversation, nostalgia not novelty. Cafe ’t Neutje, on Neude Square, is a classic of the genre and worth perching inside regardless of the weather (drinks from £5; neutje.nl).
Rum Club
Wharf cellars are a hallmark of Utrecht, but they also hide the old town’s buzziest spots. Rum Club transplants a carnival vibe on to pretty Oudegracht canal and it heaves with floral shirts, bushy potted palms and tropical street food. The seafood tostadas, empanadas and sea bass ceviche are served with a side of dangerously racy cocktails (mains from £7; rum-club.nl).
Broodje Mario
You’ll know what you’re looking for when you see the queue. In Utrecht, the old masters of the art of sandwich-making have their roots in Italy and this takeaway counter is a formula not to be messed with. The hunger-hitting jackpot is a squidgy bun layered with cheese, salami, chorizo, green pepper and grated veg. Gouda-nuff for anyone (from £4; broodjemario.nl).
Louis Hartlooper Complex
This cinema couldn’t be less like your local multiplex if it tried. It shows movies that matter in a former police station and doubles as a hip hangout for drinks on the canal-side terrace (drinks from £4, tickets £11; hartlooper.nl).
Advertisement
• Netherlands travel guide
• How to see tulip fields in the Netherlands
Broei
There’s a clutch of vegan restaurants and the best is this plant-based kitchen on the Vaartse Rijn canal. The changing menu waltzes through the garden, with celeriac, cabbage, carrot and chicory the headliners — an unnecessarily unnerving prospect for carnivores because it’s so darn good (three courses £30; broei-utrecht.com).
This article contains affiliate links that can earn us revenue
Where to stay
Mother Goose Hotel
Modern style and great views
Rooms with exposed-brick walls, upcycled furniture and deep bathtubs overlook the delightful Ganzenmarkt (“goose market”) — and the promise is you’ll be taken under the team’s wings like family. And we loved it. On request, a delicious veggie breakfast (£20) from Vegitalian around the corner is served in a wicker basket hung on your door handle (room-only doubles from £91; mothergoosehotel.com).
The Nox
Advertisement
Perfect for couples
There’s no better location than the old town and this sleek hotel is accented with deep blues and a subtle lunar theme — romantics will love the glass of check-in fizz. The best rooms have standalone tubs and outside the lanes spill with coffee shops, home decor boutiques and foodie spots, including the sibling Restaurant Hemel & Aarde for tasting menus of duck and kingfish (room-only doubles from £105; thenoxhotel.com).
Grand Hotel Karel V
Historic stay with bikes to hire
A five-star pad in what was once a 14th-century monastery makes for a tasteful stay with an old-world feel. The rooms could do with more razzmatazz, but the breakfast setting is museum-like, and are lavish courtyards and gardens to dawdle in and bikes to hire (room-only doubles from £162; karelv.nl).
Getting there
Take the direct Eurostar from St Pancras to Rotterdam then a local train to Utrecht Centraal station. Or fly to Amsterdam Schiphol from Edinburgh and Manchester then hop on the train.
Getting around
Advertisement
The centre is very walkable and, as this is the Netherlands, everyone is on a bike, with rentals available at most hotels. The old town is also largely vehicle-free.
Mike MacEacheran was a guest of Discover Utrecht (discover-utrecht.com)
Sign up for our Times Travel newsletter and follow us on Instagram and X
