Things to do in Utrecht: Here is a list of some things we like and some things we love in Utrecht • Climb the Dom tower, the biggest tower in the Netherlands It’s a 8 minute walk / 2 mins bike ride. To climb the tower you need to book a tour in advance. • Visit the largest castle in the Netherlands; Kasteel De Haar about 30 car-minutes or 40 bike-minutes away. To visit De Haar Castle, whether to admire its park, its rich history, the exhibitions, gardens, deer or for a wedding, is to be immersed in a different world. Behind every door, every detail, every flower in its colorful gardens is a story. A story about earlier times, different cultures and interesting characters. De Haar is the largest castle in the Netherlands, once the private residence of the Van Zuylen family, whose descendants still stay here yearly. In the last century, the castle also frequently hosted members of the international jet-set with their lavish lifestyle; from Coco Chanel to Roger Moore, they too left their mark on the sumptuous rooms of the most opulent spot in Utrecht. • Walk around the old city centre (the appartment is right in the centre) You can walk around by yourself or book different kind of tours; • Visit the railway museum, at 10 minutes walking distance or a 2 minute bike ride. The Railway Museum is so much more than just a museum. It's a fascinating place where you can learn about how trains changed the world. With a real-life station, a theatre, exciting attractions and a variety of temporary exhibitions and events, you're always on the right track here! • Visit the Centraal Museum to see Dutch Masters in Utrecht and other art. It’s a 6 minute walk / 2 mins bike ride A summer journey through the arts. What does your ideal landscape look like? And how far do you really have to travel to experience a holiday feeling? Artists of all times push boundaries and search for new horizons. For example, artists from Utrecht moved to Italy in the seventeenth century. There they were inspired by the landscape and their Italian contemporaries. Once back in Utrecht, they introduced a new painting style: vast landscapes with an Italian-Mediterranean light reminiscent of a sweltering summer day. In the exhibition On the horizon, we depart from the time of the Italianates to tell a story about how contemporary artists and makers view the journey through the landscape today. It is about the experience of the landscape, about traveling with a clear goal or about the so-called wanderlust; traveling without a destination in mind. It's about inspiration and whether you find it close to home or far away. The journey through the landscape is still an important theme, a source of inspiration, but not only idealized images are created. Themes such as forced migration and climate crisis are also visible in the landscape. On the horizon is the first in a new series of summer exhibitions at the Centraal Museum. The exhibition offers surprising combinations and responds to current events. A broad program of activities has also been developed: always wanted to paint your own landscape with Bob Ross? Make your own clouds in a caravan in the middle of the museum garden? In On the horizon we take you on a journey through the museum, the beautiful garden and the café. An overview of all activities can be found here. • Visit the Rietveld Schroder House It’s a 27 minute walk / 7 mins bike ride In 1924 Truus Schröder asks the well-known Utrecht furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld if he would like to design her new home. The mother of three has just become a widow and wants a house that fully meets her quirky living ideas. She already knows Rietveld from a previous collaboration and knows that he too opposes traditions. A perfect combination. Rietveld and Schröder are working together on the design of the house. Schröder knows exactly what she wants: sobriety and to live instead of being lived. • Rent canoes to explore the canals for 8 euro an hour. Its across the canal from the apartment • Bikerental: Rent a E-scooter through Tier. The price for a TIER ride consists of a fixed activation fee of €1.00 and a minute price of 0,19 euro. Download the app TIER. Or rent a bike for a number of days at black-bikes Utrecht Where to eat: As for nice eateries; if you have young children, 'Mister Smakers' is a nice hamburger restaurant a 5-minute walk away. We are very pleased with it. 'Terroir' (French cuisine) Madeleine (bistro), both good and a bit more expensive; otherwise Ruby Rose (shared dining) Carmel market (Israeli shared dining) San Siro (Italian food) all within a 10 minute walk. Opposite of us is ‘Het Oude Pothuis’; good for a drink but other places offer better food like restaurant 273; very good but also expensive and also opposite us just like toko Pedis, delicious Indonesian takeaway restaurant. If you want a good pubmeal, go to Cafe De Poort, Café Ledig Erf or arthouse filmtheater Louis Hartlooper on the square named ‘Ledig Erf’. There are also Michelin starred restaurants and restaurants in special places or special concepts that we can recommend if you want. You should book at least a day ahead to get a table in a restaurant in Utrecht. Train It is a 15-20 minute walk from the central train station to the apartment. Alternatively you coud take the bus. It’s line 2. Get of at the busstop Catherijne convent and walk 3 minutes. Find the bus in central station at 'platform 2a city centre side'. It’s a 10 minute bus ride. Parking There is often available parking space in front of the door. Between 7 a.m. - 1 a.m. the costs are €7.84 per hour Evening ticket 7:00 PM - 1:00 AM is €26.28. The best option is to find a ParkBee location by downloading an app called ‘ParkBee’ . The closest ParkBee location is a 3 minutes walk away and costs €4,68 per hour of €30,12,7 per day on the Lange Nieuwstraat 119. It is often fully booked But ParkBee has more locations close by. Close by is the Springweg parking garage, which is €6,97 per hour of €69,70 per day at a 5-minute walk. There is also ‘parkeergarage Vaartsche Rijn’ in 13 minutes walking distance for which is €3,50 per hour of €35 per 24 hours. Evening ticket 7:00 PM - 0:00 AM is €8,73. Since one may not need a car for Utrecht and parts of the Netherlands. Parking the car further away for free and taking a tram back may also be an option. Park somewhere around the ‘Trumanlaan’ in Utrecht. Take the Tram on the ‘Beneluxlaan’ towards ‘Science Park’ and get of at ‘Centraal Station’ (a 11 minute ride) and walk 20 minutes from there. You can simply check in and out of the tram using your creditcard. The ride is €3,20, don’t forget to check out!