Froukje

Guide @ Free Walking Tour Utrecht

Welcome to my personal page! Here I would like to share my personal tips of Utrecht and give you the opportunity to experience Utrecht as a local.

Live is something that needs to be experienced. Not something to sleepwalk through. I’ll try to live life very consciously and enjoy and appreciate the big and small things of life. I am convinced knowledge should be shared in a lively and interactive way. I have a very clear and easy to understand way of speaking and I love sharing with you all the historic events that took place here in Utrecht. I will try my best to make you feel very comfortable and always feel free to ask me any questions you might have. I’ll be there for you!

 

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froukje

Life's Motto

Live life to the fullest!
Passion for storytelling86%
Sharing knowledge89%
Outgoing96%
Punctual100%

I created this list of tips very carefully so I am 100% certain you will have a good time in Utrecht! 

Tips, places to visit:

Dom Tower

Go check out the amazing view you will have over the city. Tickets will be available at the Tourist Information Centre.

Centraal Museum

It has a permanent art collection telling you more about the city of Utrecht. They also have temporary exposition that changes every now and then.

 

Kasteel de Haar

A Neogothic Castle just outside the city.

Maarseveense plassen

When the weather is good, rent some bikes and bike to this wonderful natural area, where you can go swimming.

canoe trip

Rent a canoe at the old canal (Oudegracht number 275) and go check out all the different canals in Utrecht. Or go rent a ‘Waterfiets’ (a peddle boat) at old canal (number 165). It will be an experience.

Springhaver

This movie theatre is in the city center of Utrecht. It looks like a cute movie theatre from the 60s and the movies they have are often pretty good. They do nice beers and coffee also.

Dutch typical things to try:

Stroopwaffles

Treat yourself with these two layered waffles filled with sweet syrup. If you are in luck, you can find some fresh baked ones on the market at Vredeburg. In any case, you will find them in any supermarket.

Dutch pancakes

Unlike American pancakes, the Dutch are known for a thinner kind of pancake. Order them with some fruit, Nutella, or syrup and enjoy or – in Dutch – ‘eet smakelijk’! You will find Dutch pancakes in a lovely restaurant called ‘Pannenkoekenbakkerij de Muntkelder’ (Oudegracht aan de Werf 112).

Poffertjes

Small pancakes. If you are lucky you will find them on the market at Vredenburg on the market square.

Tompouce

Go to ‘HEMA’ and get yourself some tompouce (Steenweg 59). A really typical sweet Dutch pastry.

Dutch stew

One of the Dutch dinners is a big stew with sausage called ‘stamppot’. You can get them real cheap for EUR 3,50 at HEMA (Steenweg 59). They will probably close rather early, so try it for lunch instead.

Croquettes and other snacks

‘FEBO’ is a very Dutch fast food vending machine (Lange Elisabethstraat 2).

Say Cheese!

Check out the cheeses on market square at Vredeburg or go to the Cheeseshop
called Cheese & More!

Peanut butter

Dutchies love bread. Not only do they eat bread with cheese in the morning, but peanut butter is also a Dutchies’ best friend. There is a special peanut butter shop in Utrecht where you can buy all sorts of peanut butter. Quiet the experience (Zadelstraat 45). Get yourself some bread at a bakery and enjoy!

Now say krakeling

A sweet cooky that looks like a pretzel. Go and find them in one of the supermarkets.

Bars & Cafes

De Bakkerswinkel

My favourite bakery. You can go downstairs and sit next to the canal to enjoy fresh baked bread/pastries with coffee (Wittevrouwenstraat 2).

Lewis Book Cafe

This place has such a nice interior and. on top of that, a really affordable high tea menu with scones, tea/coffee, and other cakes (Achter Clarenburg 39).

The village Coffee and Music

Hipster kind of coffee place with really nice staff, who can tell you a lot about the coffees they make (Voorstraat 44-46).

Olivier

Go check out Olivier, the pub that once was a shelter church. During the tour I will tell you about the history of this place. It will be worthwhile to take a look inside (Achter Clarenburg 6A).

‘T Oude Pothuys

This bar is in one of the cellers at the Old Canal. It often has life music and it has a very good vibe (Oudegracht 279).

Beers & Barrels

Really nice place with a wide variety of beers. You can also have burgers and other types of fastfood here too (Oudegracht aan de Werf 125).

Verde Maronne

Wine bar with pretty good wines at the old canal (Donkere Gaard 2).

Restaurants

Indian

Surya is a really nice Indian restaurant with really good veggie options (Janskerkhof 23). Another really good one, with a little less ambiance, but probably a little cheaper is called Namaskar. The food is amazing there (Vredenburg 38).

Italian

Ruby Rose: a really pretty Italian restaurant and wine bar with great options for Italian food. If you want to go for a more regular pizza then try il Pozzo at the Old Canal. You can sit outside next to the canal or in one of the cellars.

Asian

Umami is an Asian restaurant. They offer sushi, grill, fusion and wok food in one of the cellers at the old canal (oudegracht 74). Right at Central Station you will also find the Japanese inspired chain Wagamama.

Middle Eastern

Syr is one of my favourite restaurants in the heart of Utrecht, where the Arab and European cuisine meet. Syr started out as a restaurant where Syrian refugees started to work together with Dutch colleagues. A lot of the products are grown organically (Lange Nieuwstraat 71).

Tapas

El mundo: good tapas bar in the city centre (Voorstraat 18), but also a place called ‘Vintage tapasbar’ is a very good option (Drieharingstraat 18).

Burgers

Meneer Smakers is a really nice burger place, with veggie options too.

Ethiopian

If you want to go for a food experience, then please go to the Ethiopian restaurant called Sunshine. You get to eat with your hands. A huge kind of pancake will be served in the middle of the table for everyone to share with loads of different meat or veggies to taste. The owner is really friendly and is always entertaining (pauwstraat 11).

Greek

A very well-known Greek restaurant here in Utrecht is called Corfu. You will find it at the beautiful old canal 178.

German

the one and only German restaurant I know of here is called Kartoffel. They do Brattwurst and schnitzels. But they also have a veggie bratwurst and some amazing Flammkuchen there.