|
leisure guide
To those conference attendants
that are willing to stay a few days longer, we hereby
would like to make some suggestions.
inside Utrecht
Utrecht
is not only a city full of places to visit but also
a cultural center, with different cultural events during
the year.
|
what to do
One of the best things to do in Utrecht is just
to walk around in the historic city-center and
its canals (grachten or kanalen
in Dutch).
The
Utrecht
Board of Tourism keeps an updated
list of
- places
to visit (go to "cityguide" and then
click on "highlights" or "signposts").
- events
and exhibitions (go to "what's on"
and then click on "events&exhibitions")
information and local transport
The VVV tourist office in Utrecht is located in
one corner of Neude square (the square of the
post office). It is open seven days a week in
the summer and offers information on cultural
and tourist attractions in Utrecht. This is also
the place to go for maps, books, guides, gift
vouchers, or to book tours within the Netherlands.
As the city center is not too big, it is possible
to walk to most attractions from the hotels or
the railway station. Alternatively, one can buy
a public transport daycard (those who only intend
to use public transport sporadically can also
decide to buy tickets in the bus or tram). A third
option is also to do Utrecht by bicycle, which
can be rented at the railway station. |
outside Utrecht
Due
to its central position, Utrecht is a good starting
point for day-trips to other places in the Netherlands.
Amsterdam
Only 35 minutes by train, the country's capital attracts
a large number of visitors for its historical buildings,
musea and its general atmosphere. The city center can
be visited by foot, by bicycle or by public transport.
|
getting there
From Utrecht Central Station, there are 6 trains
an hour to Amsterdam Central Station. Avoid the
"stoptrein" and take the next "intercity"
instead, as it will overtake the stoptrein
halfway. The last regular train back to Utrecht
leaves Amsterdam Central Station at 00:16 (but
night-trains to Utrecht go every hour). The cost
of a day-return ticket is about € 11.
what to do
One of the best things to do in Amsterdam is just
to stroll around in the historic city-center.
Most things worthwile seeing are within the ring
of canals, although the Jordaan-neigborhood can
also be worthwile.
-
The Rijksmuseum
is one of the largest musea in the Netherlands;
home of "De Nachtwacht" and other great 17th
century masterpieces. The museum is currently
undergoing a great renovation. The current
exposition is therefore limited to the most
important masterpieces.
-
The Van
Gogh Museum is home of the largest collection
of Van Gogh paintings in the world. Both the
Van Gogh and the Rijksmuseum are located at
the Museumplein ("museumsquare"),
which has recently become popular as a hang-out
during warm summerdays.
-
The Vondelpark is one of the biggest parks
of the city, designed in english romantic
style. At a summer's day, it can be quite
busy, especially when there is a
free performance (like music, standup
comedy or dance) going on.
-
The Anne
Frank Huis, on the edge of the Jordaan-neigbourhood,
consists of an exposition at the house where
Anne Frank wrote her diary during the time
she and her family were hiding from prosecution.
The museum can be quite busy, with very long
queues to enter, so it pays off to go early.
information and local transport
There are two tourist offices at the Amsterdam
Central Station. The first one is inside of the
building, at platform 2; the second one is located
at a seperate building opposite to the station.
Notice that booklets and maps of Amsterdam can
also be bought at Schiphol Airport and in some
shops in Utrecht.
As the city center is not too big, it is possible
to walk to most attractions from the railway station.
Alternatively, one can buy a public transport
daycard at the GVB-office opposite to the railway
station (those who only intend to use public transport
sporadically can also decide to buy tickets in
the bus or tram). A third option is also to do
Amsterdam by bicycle, which can be rented at the
railway station (when coming out of the station,
immediately walk to the right).
|
The Hague
Amsterdam
may be the capital of the Netherlands, but The Hague
("Den Haag" or "'s Gravenhage" as
the Dutch call it) is the city where the government
is located. The city is a mix of fancy and less fancy
neigbourhoods and contains a number of interesting attractions.
|
getting there
From Utrecht Central Station, there are four trains
an hour to Den Haag Central Station. The trainride
takes 36 or 42 minutes (depending on whether you
take the "intercity" or the"sneltrein")
and costs about €16 for a return ticket.
what to do
-
The Panorama
Mesdag is actually a piece of 19th century
virtual reality. Visitors walk through a narrow
corridor which leads to a stairway up. Once
above, they find themselves at the beach of
The Hague as Mesdag painted it in 1881. The
painting entirely surrounds the visitors,
creating a quite remarkable effect.
-
The Peace
Palace was constructed in 1913 and serves
as the seat of the International Court of
Justice. The quite unusual building can be
visited, for which advance reservation is
needed.
- Madurodam is
the place to go if you want to visit the entire
Netherlands but don't have the time. It consists
of a mini-village of the most important buildings
and places, replicated on a 1:25 scale in
minute detail.
-
The Mauritshuis,
right next to the parliament, hosts a large
collection of dutch and Flemish masterpieces
from the 16th and 17th century.
- Escher
in het Paleis contains the work of the
Dutch graphical artist M.C. Escher, well known
for his work on graphical methamorphoses and
"impossible" figures. Particularly interesting
is the 3D animation where the visitors seem
to fly through Escher's work.
information and local transport
Tourist information is available just outside
of the Den Haag Centraal railwaystation. Take
the side-exit on the right and follow the signs
"VVV tourist information". Although all of the
above mentioned attractions could be done by feet,
some may find it preferable to take the public
transport. HTM (the public transport company of
The Hague) has a small counter in the hall of
Den Haag Centraal where tickets can be bought.
Notice that, unlike Amsterdam, tickets for public
transport are not available in the tram; they
have to be bought in advance.
|
countryside
For those that prefer a trip to the countryside, we
suggest the following two options:
-
The Kröller
Müller museum is quite extrodinary
because it is located inside of one of our
national parks ("De Hoge Veluwe") The museum
contains a large collection of 19th century
art, including many works by Van Gogh. Free
bicycles allow visitors to explore the park.
-
From the city central canal ("Oude Gracht")
in Utrecht, it is possible to cycle all the
way to Amsterdam using a very scenatic route.
The tour takes about four hours, if one takes
it easy. Bicyles can be rented at the Utrecht
Central Station. For those not wanting to
cycle back to Utrecht anymore: it is possible
to take your bicycle with you on the train
(this requires a bicycle-ticket of abour €
6).
|
practical travel information
You
can find more information about the Dutch public transport
in the travel information
page.
|
