Often touted as an alternative to Amsterdam, this compact city is both hip and cool without being pretentious. It’s also historic and beautiful, but with a modern edge. Visitors can enjoy its vibey canalside culture, just like Amsterdam, but without the masses of tourists, stag parties and hen dos. It is neat, compact, beautifully preserved, and small enough to cover all the main sights in a weekend.
Welcome to Utrecht, often described as a charming and quieter alternative to Amsterdam or a “slice of Bohemia.” It offers a more authentic Dutch experience than its big, sometimes brash sister, Amsterdam. While Amsterdam is a vibrant, global city with world-class attractions, Utrecht boasts its own unique blend of historical charm, beautiful canals, and a lively student atmosphere, thanks to being home to the largest university in the Netherlands.
Being smaller and more compact city than Amsterdam it is also easier to navigate and explore on foot or by bike. Accommodation and dining in Utrecht are generally less expensive than in Amsterdam too.
According to findingdutchland.com “Utrecht is awesome because it masterfully relishes in the old world beauty that inspired the Dutch masters whiel gently embracing the beauty of its’ present.”
Due to its central position within the country, it is an important hub for both rail and road transport and has the busiest railway station in the Netherlands, Utrecht Centraal.
It also has the second-highest number of cultural events in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam. In 2012, Lonely Planet included Utrecht in the top 10 of the world’s unsung places.
The city is subdivided into 10 city quarters, all of which have their own distinct characteristics and neighbourhood councils and service centres for civil affairs.
Utrecht is the fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the province of Utrecht. Many of its buildings and structures date as far back as the Middle Ages. It has been the religious centre of the Netherlands since the 8th century. In 1579, the Union of Utrecht was signed in the city to lay the foundations for the Dutch Republic. Utrecht was the most important city in the Netherlands until the Dutch Golden Age when it was surpassed by Amsterdam as the country’s cultural centre and most populous city.
Because of Utrecht’s role as a fortified city, construction outside the medieval centre and its city walls was restricted until the 19th century. Surrounding the medieval core is a ring of late-19th—and early-20th-century neighbourhoods, with newer neighbourhoods positioned farther out.
The cityscape is dominated by the Dom Tower, the tallest belfry in the Netherlands and originally part of the Cathedral of Saint Martin. An ongoing debate is over whether any building in or near the centre of town should surpass the Dom Tower in height (112 m [367 ft]).
Another landmark is the old centre and the canal structure in the inner city. The Oudegracht is a curved canal, partly following the ancient main branch of the Rhine. It is lined with the unique wharf-basement structures that create a two-level street along the canals.The inner city has largely retained its medieval structure and the moat ringing the old town is largely intact.In the 1970s part of the moat was converted into a motorway. Thankfully it was then converted back into a waterway, the work being finished in 2020.
The most efficient and comfortable way to get to Utrecht from the UK is by train. You can take the Eurostar train from London St Pancras International to Rotterdam, where you’ll change to an Intercity train for the final leg of your journey to Utrecht.