I spent a great day visiting Utrecht with my camera about three weeks ago – that one weekend which was actually sunny and the sky was brilliant blue (hasn’t happened since…).
My first impression when I finally found my way through the maze of the shopping centre around the Central Station was that… the city is a mess. A very non-Dutch mess... I guess the best way to describe it is as big, rambling and sprawling – the streets meandering left and right, up and down (yes, a Dutch city with no straight streets!), every second building is of different height, architectural styles are mixed – from enormous gothic cathedrals, through extremely narrow 4-storey merchant-like houses along the canals to modern industrial buildings here and there.
I did have a map of the city centre with me but I gave up on using it after the first 5 minutes and just walked around. And it was great – I loved the colorful houses squeezed alongside the canals, the bridges and the numerous churches with inner courtyards-turned-gardens.
One thing that really stood out was that the water level in the canals was much lower than in other cities – in fact it was so low that there was another level of wharf-basement structures underneath the street. Some people turned it into patios or sun terraces, and in a few places this canal-level boasted specialty shops or cafes.
There’s plenty of things to see in Utrecht, including the famous Dom church and tower, St John’s Church (I recommend the flower market which takes place on the square behind this church every Saturday), the many picturesque canals criss-crossing the city centre (especially the Oudegracht) or the the gothic churches of St James and St Nicholas. It is also a great city to just wander around and explore the many markets, side streets, speciality shops and cafes. So if you’re looking for an interesting destination for a city trip, Utrecht comes highly recommended ;-)
PS: Beware of the bikers!!! They're everywhere and much more crazy than anywhere else in the Netherlands!