Netherlands is world-famous for its hundreds of canals,
the impressive buildings made of colorful bricks that seem to have come out of
a fairy tale, the windmills that turn you back in time and the beautiful
tulips. Eindhoven, the 5th largest city of the country though, seems to be far from
this picture.
Nevertheless, the fact is that Eindhoven airport is
the basis of many low-cost airlines, making the city an ideal destination for a
weekend getaway. (Read more about the perfect place to stay in Eindhoven, here!)
Eindhoven's biggest common element with the rest
Netherlands apart from the thousands of bikes, is that the city is always
vibrant. Eindhoven's pedestrian streets are crowded from early in the morning
until late at night, even during winter, when temperatures are extremely low.
The city also has many excellent restaurants and cafes that seem to be always
full of people.
Walking around &
shopping
Eindhoven can be explored very pleasantly both on foot
and by bicycle. Start your walk from the central square of the city, Markt
Square, which is surrounded by beautiful buildings and cosy cafes. Walk around
the pedestrian streets of the city's center, where, if you are a shopaholic,
you will discover some very interesting shops. Eindhoven, except for the city
of technology, it's also considered as the city of design and shopping! Visit
the imposing cathedral of Saint Catherine and if you were hungry, make a quick
stop, at Rpel for yummy french fries!
Philips Museum
Even if you do not know anything about Eindhoven, if
you look around you will probably see something related to Philips. No matter
how strange it sounds, Eindhoven owes its existence to the Philips family,
which chose the specific area where a tiny village was located at that time to
set up Philips & Co. Philips Museum was built by Queen Beatrice at that
point where, in 1891, Gerard Philips built the first incandescent bulb.
Feelgood Market
Feelgood Market is a huge open-air market that
opens every 3rd Sunday of the month in Strijp-S district at Eindhoven. Here you
can enjoy many local specialties and tastes from all over the world, to taste
local beers and do some shopping, listening to live music.
Van Abbe Museum
A city as modern as Eindhoven is expected to host an
impressive museum of modern art. I personally love museums of this kind but I
could not imagine that in such a small city it would be located one of Europe's
most impressives museums of modern and contemporary art. Van Abbe Museum was
founded in 1936 and one of the things that makes it very special is the fact
that it allows you not to just look at the exhibits, but also to touch and
smell them.
Day trip to Den Bosch
As I said earlier, Eindhoven is not the most typical
Dutch city, so, a day trip to neighboring Den Bosch is a good opportunity to
discover one of the most charming little towns in the country.
Den Bosch or 's-Hertogenbosch, is a beautiful city
with cobbled streets, many historic buildings, a particularly imposing
cathedral and interesting museums, which is located just 20' by train from
Eindhoven.
The best day to visit the city is on Saturday in order
to have the opportunity to explore the huge outdoor market set up in Den
Bosch's central square where you can find everything from local products and
flowers to clothes and delicacies.
Another reason to visit the city is to try the famous
Bossche Bol, the traditional dessert of the city, which you will find in every
restaurant and café in Den Bosch, but it is worthwhile to try it at
Banketbakkerij Jan de Groot, opposite city's train station.
Hey, I live in Eindhoven. Funny to read something about my own town. Good read though, pretty nice job!
ReplyDelete