Utrecht Highlights
The City of Utrecht, with its inextricable combination of rich past and dynamic present, is a truly unique place. This 2000-year-old city teems with a wide range of interesting museums and cultural events with programs full of theater, dance, art and more. Stroll down the quaint streets and along the canals in the Utrecht Museum Quarter and sample the pleasant, intimate atmosphere for which Utrecht is famous. 70,000 students represent the character of this lively city of creative young people. Welcome to Utrecht!
Utrecht is home to the Utrecht University Institute for Risk Assessment sciences (IRAS), one of Europe’s leading academic centers in environmental epidemiology.
Utrecht has developed from a medium-sized provincial city into a regional capital of European importance. The city’s current expansion, more rapid than any in the city’s long history, combines physical expansion with environmentally friendly innovation, major economic opportunities and a new urban dynamism. As a medieval treasure and a leading academic, technological and cultural center, Utrecht is now a pro-active player in the international community.
If you want to explore more of Utrecht, visit to see what Utrecht has to offer.
Top sights in Utrecht
The Dom Quarter, featuring the Dom tower, lies at the heart of the historic city center. Climbing the Dom Tower is a wonderful opportunity to explore the city of Utrecht in an entirely different way! Via 465 steps (there is no lift), a guide will take you to the top of the highest church tower of the Netherlands.
Contact info
Domplein 9
3512 JK Utrecht
E-mail: Only via contactform:
Phone: +31 (30) 236 0010
Website:
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Saturday | 11am-5pm
Sunday | Noon – 4 pm
Admission
Adults € 9,00
Students € 7,50
Based on price level of 2018
Museum Catharijneconvent shows the history of Christianity in the Netherlands through centuries-old art as well as contemporary art.
Paintings by Rembrandt, Pieter Saenredam and Jan van Scorel, relics, video art by Guido van der Werve and others, sculptures of saints, ancient manuscripts, a huge stained glass window by Marc Mulders and all there is to know about holidays such as Christmas, Easter and St Nicholas. This and more is on display in the Catharijneconvent Museum in a magnificent medieval convent. This oasis of art and culture is located in the center and in walking distance from the Dom. The Catharijneconvent Museum tells the fascinating story of the past and present of Christianity in the Netherlands. With a collection consisting of Protestant and Catholic art and cultural objects, there is no other museum like this in the entire world.
Contact info
Lange Nieuwstraat 38
3512 PH Utrecht
E-mail:
Phone: +31 (0)30 231 38 35
Website:
Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Friday | 10am – 5 pm
Saturday, Sunday and Public Hollidays | 11am – 5 pm
Admission
Adults € 14,00
65+ € 12,50
Students € 7,00
Based on price level of 2018
The Centraal Museum is your gateway to art and culture from the world of Utrecht. From Rietveld to the Utrecht Caravaggists, from Dick Bruna to Moesman and from Viktor & Rolf to the centuries-old Utrecht ship. A museum which leaves you inspired time after time.
The museum has been housed in this medieval cloister on the Nicolaaskerkhof since 1921 and currently consists of an eclectic collection of buildings with a large courtyard at their center. It’s a lovely place to wander through hallways and stairwells, and where you can be surprised by the various exhibitions.
Contact info
Agnietenstraat 3
3512 XA Utrecht
E-mail: info@centraalmuseum.nl
Phone: +31 (0)30 236 23 62
Website:
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Sunday |11am – 5 pm
First Thursday of the month open until 9pm
Admission
Adults € 13,50
Students € 5,50
Based on price level of 2018
The gothic Dom Church was built as a cathedral for the bishop of Utrecht and dedicated to St. Maarten.
The interior with many lavishly decorated tombs is impressive. The Dom church draws many people daily for a guided tour or a moment of silence and peace. The free Saturday afternoon concerts (3.30 pm) have been a household word in Utrecht for over thirty years.
Contact info
Achter de Dom 1
3512 JN Utrecht
E-mail: secretariaat@domkerk.nl
Phone: +31 (0)30 – 231 04 03
Website:
Opening Hours:
Monday – Friday | 10 am – 5pm
Saturday | 10am – 3.30pm
Sunday | 12.30pm – 4pm
Admission
No admission applicable, though gifts are appreciated
Based on price level of 2018
Discover the secrets of Sonnenborgh. Go behind the thick walls of the 16th Century Bastion to search for cannon emplacements. Climb the stairs up to the 19th Century telescope domes and gaze at the stars. Imagine yourself as a meteorologist and carry out exciting weather experiments or take a close up view of the Sun with the aid of a special solar telescope. The observatory and meteorological institute were established in 1854 on top of the old Sonnenborgh bastion which dates back to 1552. Scientists conducted research into the weather, the stars and planets, as well as time measurement. Today Sonnenborgh is both a museum and an observatory, and there is still a great deal to see and do.
Contact info
Zonnenburg 2
3512 NL Utrecht
E-mail:
Phone: +31 (0) 30 820 1420
Website:
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Friday | 11am – 5pm
Sunday | 1pm – 5pm
Admission
Adults € 7,50
Students € 4,50
Based on price level of 2018
The Rietveld Schröder House is the architectural highlight of the art movement De Stijl. The house was designed by the Utrecht architect and designer Gerrit Rietveld, commissioned by widow Truus Schröder in 1924. The house is not only designed but also decorated by Gerrit Rietveld (1888 – 1964).
De Stijl
The house is designed according to the principles of De Stijl. Characteristic for De Stijl are the seamless transitions from inside to out, by breaking open the closed walls. The use of primary colors red, blue and yellow (besides white, grey and black) is also part of this art movement.
Truus Schröder was deeply involved in the location and design of the house. She had a clear view on the way she wanted to live. Soberness, for example, was fundamental, as she wanted to live in the active sense and not be lived. This resulted in a large and bright living area which can be partitioned into different spaces using flexible walls.
Through the years, Rietveld did several adjustments to the building, but after the passing of Truus Schöder in 1985, the house was restored and brought back to original state. The Rietveld Schröderhuis consist lots of original furniture by Rietveld. For example the zigzag chair and the famous red-blue chair.
Contact info
Prins Hendriklaan 50
3583 EP Utrecht
E-mail: rshreserveringen@centraalmuseum.nl
Phone: +31 (0)30 236 23 10
Website:
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Sunday |11am – 5pm
Admission
Adults € 16,50
Students € 8,50
Based on price level of 2018
An underground journey of discovery into 2000 years of Utrecht’s history
DOMunder is the new historical attraction in Utrecht for young and old. Immerse yourself in the 2000-year history of the Dom square, Utrecht and the Netherlands. Grab a smart flashlight and embark on an underground journey of discovery full of exciting stories and archaeological treasures. Discover Utrecht’s Roman past, along with the glory days of the Middle Ages. Experience the devastating storm of 1674, when the nave of the of the cathedral came crashing down and the Dom square came into being.
Contact info
Domplein 4
3512 JC Utrecht
E-mail: only via contact form:
Phone: +31 (0)30 233 99 99
Website:
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Sunday | 10.30am – 16.30 pm
Admission
Adults € 11,00
Students € 8,50
Based on price level of 2018
Get to know your inner scientist at the Universiteitsmuseum Utrecht (Utrecht University Museum). At the museum you will experience the differences between science now and in bygone days. Put on a lab coat and carry out experiments or investigate the differences between humans and animals. The Oude Hortus is the old botanical garden of Utrecht. The greenhouses are filled with exotic trees and plants, and is a relaxing place in the middle of the city center, where every season is different!
Contact info
Lange Nieuwstraat 106
3512 PN Utrecht
E-mail:
Phone: +31 (30) 253 80 08
Website:
Opening Hours
Monday – Sunday | 10am – 5 pm
Admission
Adults € 8,00
Students € 4,50
Based on price level of 2018
The Early Music Festival is a ten-day festival held every year in the center of Utrecht. ‘Early music’ is a collective term for music from the mediaeval (ca. 500-1500), renaissance (around the 15th-century) and baroque periods (1600-1750).
The festival boasts over 150 concerts – mostly set against historic inner-city locations – as well as numerous other activities such as summer school lectures, an early music market, and a symposium by the STIMU Foundation for Historical Performance Practice.
The Early Music Festival will be held from 23 August-1 September, 2019, with the theme NAPOLI.
Contact info
City center of Utrecht
E-mail:
Phone: +31 (30) 232 90 00
Website:
Bert Brunekreef, Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, thinks cycling in the Uithof is a horror-experience, especially for his international colleagues. If Utrecht University wants to play with the big boys, it needs to get itself a campus for grown-ups.
Read his article .
