Utrecht at Christmas
Utrecht is a gorgeous town at any time of the year, but is especially so at Christmas.
As the sunsets early, and day becomes night, the twinkly lights come on everywhere, and the atmosphere becomes very special. Even the rain helps as the cobbled streets glisten with reflected lights.
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Our love affair
Nikki started working in Utrecht around 2010 for “The” Rabobank.
While Steve always preferred staying in hotels in the 12 years he worked away from home, Nikki always preferred having her own space. Although she was shown many apartments, fortunately she discarded all that were close to her work (and would have allowed a longer lie in), and picked one right in the middle of the city centre. Bars, restaurants, shops literally one minute from her front door. What a wise choice that turned out to be!
Not only did it mean “beers with the boys” never involved a long walk home for a single woman (albeit Utrecht is incredibly safe), it also meant that on the many weekends that Steve popped over, we were right in the heart of where all the fun resides.
We both fell in love with the place. Being a university town, it has a real buzz, full of youthful exuberance. Of course, we fit in well with that (ahem); maybe Nikki more so than Steve.
On top of that, the bars and restaurants are simply amazing and multitudinous. We both love a dark beer, and Belgian and Dutch versions are found everywhere, and all with their own special glass. It really is fun discovering new ones, many that you never hear of in England, some that you find in Waitrose (Nikki has a standing order for Westmalle every week).
We also love the Dutch. You know where you stand with them as they don’t mince their words. They are also tall and skinny! Even the women seem to be in the 6 foot range. Apparantley it all dates back a hundred years when they introduced growth hormones to their dairy cattle, and it crossed over into humans. Fun fact #3,569.
This trip
We have been to Christmas markets for the last few years with our good friends Michelle and Grant and, for some reason, this year the stars didn’t align (we have already pencilled in 2026 to make sure it doesn’t happen again) and we had to make our own plans.
Like much of Europe, December 6th is a very important date in the Yuletide calendar, perhaps even more than the way Brits celebrate Christmas and Boxing day.
It’s all about Saint Nicholas, or Sint Nicholas for the Dutch. It also includes the tradition of the controversial ‘Zwarte Piet’ or Black Pete as it translates. Click here for more info.
So we decided this would be a fun alternative for this year, also satisfying the itch that we hadn’t been since 2019 (Covid didn’t help).
We left home at 1.30pm on Friday, and sat down to our first drink in the hotel at 11.30pm. 10 hours of travelling for a 40 minute flight! Thanks EasyJet (who we normally love).
Our hotel for the 3 nights was the Karel V, a five-star luxury. It was 300 metres from Nikki’s old apartment; which meant it was 400 metres from all the fun!
Saturday
Saturday was spent resuming our relationship with the shops, and more importantly, the bars of Utrecht.
It was also the day when we started to realise that maybe our choice of weekend, Sint Nicholas and all, was not wise. We discovered that any Christmas markets, both here and wider afield such as Amsterdam, mostly started the following weekend. Ouch!
Still, our enthusiasm undiminished, we set about what would be approaching 15,000 steps around the city.
Favourite haunts, such as College ‘T’ Bar, Cafe de Postillon and Oliviers were revisted, and new friends made at Bar Cava, Cafe le Journal and our new favourite right next to the hotel, Springhaver (a bar within a theatre). Don’t worry, we only had 3 in each!
After a lovely Lucy (aka kip) we had reservations at Vis en Meer where we had our next clue that, maybe, we had picked the wrong weekend. Past trips had taught us that unless you book weeks in advance, you do not get in here. It’s one of the buzziest restaurants in town, with great food. As we arrived, front of house did not bother to check their resevation list, and we soon discovered why – only about 6 tables were booked.
It turns out that December 6th is a big family day in the Netherlands, and most people have special meals a bit like we do on Christmas Day. Although the food was its usual brilliant self, the atmosphere was a real let down, and we had finished our meal less than an hour after arriving (and that after asking for a pause between main and dessert).
Still, it meant we had more time to explore bars ……
Amersfoort
On Sunday, we decided to jump on a train and visit a town recommended by one of Nikki’s old Dutch colleagues, Daniel.
Amersfoort was about a half hour train ride (always great fun in Netherlands) from Utrecht and turned out to be every bit as pretty as Utrecht. Lots of cobbled streets, with beaustiful buildings, bridges over narrow canals and more. All set off by dazzling fairy lights everywhere.
We stopped at the impressive Onze-Lieve-Vrouwetoren aka Long John Tower.
After a stroll around shops, including a massive cook shop (always a must for Steve), we pitched up on bar stools at Bij Janssen Cafe in a little back street. About 5 minutes in, all TV’s were tuned to final Gand Prix of season, with all the local rooting for local hero Max. It was very pleasurable to watch George Russel melt their dreams. An enjoyable afternoon, and a return to Utrecht.
In the evening we went to one of Nikki’s favourite restaurants – Humphreys. Unfortunately our culinary trip was proving not to be successful as restaurant was nearly empty and food warranted a one-star TripAdvisor review – click here.
Monday
After our delays arriving Friday, it seemed like no time at all and our weekend had come to an end. We had an evening flight so there was time for more exploring of Utrecht, and a final visit to Oliviers for a spot of lunch – which unfortunately was disappointing and rounded off a bleak culinary weekend, but the bars were fantastic!
Fortunately our return journey was less troblesome, and we arrived 10 minutes early, and indoors within the hour.