Utrecht vs. Amsterdam (The Netherlands' Secret Gem) 

Amsterdam, like Utrecht is part of the biggest Megalopolis of Europe, with like 8 million or so people. The Randstad consists of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht. You could take Utrecht as your central hub where you have your hotel and then go by train to Amsterdam for museums and restaurants etc. It is only 20 min by train to Amsterdam Amstel station or not even 30 min to Amsterdam Central Station. And until late after midnight trains go in between Utrecht and Amsterdam. I believe there's just this small window of 1,5 or like 2 hours or so when there's so train going between Utrecht and Amsterdam. I think around 04 at night until 06 no train? Then the first train again around 6 in the morning. Check it with NS to be sure. But also Rotterdam is only 40 min from Utrecht and Den Haag something similar in time 40 to 50 minutes. It is like using the train as a metro really. But also Den Bosch and Eindhoven are not really far by train from Utrecht. Also within the hour. Utrecht Central Station is the biggest station of the Netherlands because it is the central hub and in the middle of the country. But you can also easily travel to Groningen in the North by train. Takes like 2 hours only. Amersfoort very cute, also close to Utrecht. And you can even go for a daytrip to Antwerp, Belgium. Also just a couple of hours: I say take the Thalys (merged with EuroStar recently so soon to be called Eurostar also). Within 3,5 hours the Thalys/Eurostar brings you within 3,5 hours from Rotterdam to Paris. It's the high speed train. You also have a regular train going there. With the Thalys the rule is: the earlier you book your ticket the cheaper it is. So booking the train weeks or months in advance is cheaper.

The fish and chips looks really gorgeous, I could sit and happily chomp away my day. Aaww poor Olivia soggy but still smiling. I love food and it all looks lovely there I’d never stop eating. Restoration at its most perfect with the clock tower. It looks very pretty there have a wonderful time on your travels xx

You really experienced the Dutch weather. In The Netherlands you can get all weather types at one day. Like yesterday we started with sun, then rain, thunder, hail, cold, rain again, hard gusts, and grey but dry until dark, luckily I was on my bike doing groceries in the morning with sun and was in my car during the first rain showers.

really love utrecht, formerly i've been ever studied in zeist... hope oneday i can go back there again...

Utrecht is so beautiful and picturesque! Very magical. -Great video. Thank you for the lovely tour!

Please consider going to the medieval city of Gouda. Of course it is renowned for the cheese, even though it's not made there anymore. I currently live in Paris, Ontario, Canada but lived there until I was 10 years old. My dad actually made the Gouda Cheese at the Producent, the cheese factory at that time. After emigrating in 1955 he made cheddar cheese in Canada. The town square has an amazing city hall built in 1450, and on a particular day there will be a market in the square and a traditional cheese weighing ceremony. Please check it out, I would love to watch your stay there vicariously as I've never been back to the Netherlands.

I learned that the name Utrecht comes from the shorteing of the Roman name Ultimo Trajectum, meaning either where the road ends, or where the shiplane on the Rhine river ends and cargo had to be transferred to sea ships (or vice versa). There is no unanimity on the meaning of the name.

You are really good in finding delicious food. The plate of fried fish and the apple pie looked fabulous♡

Tip! When in Utrecht put your bike in one of the many free bicycle parkings of the municipality... where you park your bike in the beginning of the video at the 'Oudegracht' there are a couple of parkings on walking distance. One underneath the Old City Hall. One on the left side of the entrance to the old post office, now library at the Neude square. But also a bit back you have one next to the Aldi supermarket (right side of the entrance) at the Lange Viestraat. But also next to TivoliVredenburg (In between Starbucks and TivoliVredenburg really), at the street called Vredenburg. And the biggest bicycle parking of the world at Central Station of course (biking there with TivoliVredenburg on your left hand side, using the bicycle path bordering TivoliVredenburg) crossing the road/bridge and after a couple of meter, just before the bridge/viaduct, immediately to your left. Or bike a bit further, underneath the bridge/viaduct and then after a couple of meters to the left, to the big Jaarbeursplein, in front of the big stairs up to Central Station, underneath Central Station. The city of Utrecht really loves for people to park their bikes in the public bicycle parkings. And really in the city center it is no effort to do so. The first 24 hours are always free of charge at the bicycle parkings.

Brugge grew bigger than Utrecht in the old days, hence it has a relatively big old town center, but Utrecht grew more in the less old days, hence it ended up being a significantly bigger city now. Brugge is more a kind of a open air museum, bit like Venice, Utrecht is more alive and less dominated by tourists. The old Dutch saying is: April doet wat ie wil, April does what it wants, the weather can be great for a month, terrible for a month (like this year unfortunately) or great and terrible on the same day. (There is a pretty similar saying for the month of March, and unfortunately we drew the short straw there as well this year, so the country is starting to get a bit depressed by now😅)

YT suggested this video to me. Great you like(d) Utrecht, my home town. There's of course much more to see.. So enjoy your trip!

And when the weather is nicer: bike to Haarzuilens with its beautiful castle (where tout old Hollywood has been a guest of the Baron who owns that castle) and its beautiful park. But also see the village square at Haarzuilens, very quaint and you can eat there: pancakes or a meal. I believe there are two restaurants. (You can also eat at the estate of the castle itself, but way back the entrance to the park and castle used to be where the big fence is, next to the village. They now put the entrance to the other side so visitors easily miss out on the cute, really small village and its square). But also bike to Amelisweerd (next to the big University Campus (Utrecht Science Park). Amelisweerd is a large park so to say, an estate really (landgoed). Used to belong to the family that lived there in the large house. But now it is like a public estate. Nice for walking, biking, eating pancakes at the pancake restaurant. And you can also have a drink and bite at the Youth Hostel at the estate. For people with a low budget and looking for a nicely located Youth Hostel in a green rural area: Amelisweerd could be a good place to stay for them. Make sure to have rented bikes, and then you can bike from there to the center of Utrecht. (but also take the bus or so). But that's only for when the weather is nice. Although the castle of Haarzuilen is also a museum and you can see the inside of the castle with all its beautiful architecture and furniture etc.

They got the kibbeling at Visdock, that place is run by the nicest people you can imagine. I would also recommend to get herring there and the fried squid. The herring is made to order as it should, as is evey fried fish you want. It's great place.

I love your videos!!

Great job😍

I always look forward to your videos❤ Another great one! The food looks delicious 😋

Thanks for introducing Utrecht and the lovely sights it has to offer. Thanks for showing that the "French" fries were actually invented in Belgium and The Netherlands. Great to see the fries being freshly made, double fried and all the home made organic sauces.

Helpful for an upcoming trip, thanks!

So the lay out of the canal sides is like this: The canals (like in Amsterdam are for the distribution of goods from times there were no cars. The big warehouses were stocked form the boats but because in old times there was no fridges nor freezers perishable goods were stored in the big cellars right next to the canal. Behiond those doors there are deep brick covered cellars that have a constant temperature year round of about 12 degrees centigrade/ 53 F, low enough to preserve goods before consumption.

11:45 I lived in the white building (on the right in the picture) for 7 years (1985 - 1991)

i like rainy days ......... Cool

Question: From your video, the city looks very, very crowded, people living in these buildings with numerous apartments jammed together. Am I right or not? Where are the private homes with yards and space for relaxing behind your home in your yard?

Subscribed! Thank you for sharing your adventures.

5:58 Somewhat yes and no. There is evidence that settlement in the Province of Utrecht started about 4000 B.C.E. As for the City of Utrecht, prove of settlement goes back to about 2000B.C.E mainly with the Roman "occupation". Utrecht, then called Trajectum, was part of the Limes which was the Northernmost border of the Roman Empire on the European Mainland (a bit like Hadrians wall in England) Some of the surrounding places were also part of these Limes namely Laurium (now Woerden), Fletio (now De Meern), Fectio (now Fort bij Vechten) and Levefanum (now Wijk bij Duurstede). Utrecht has been a city since June 2nd 1122. Fish and Chips: We don't really do fish&chips. We do the fish without chips mainly. Yes there is Kibbeling with is the "nuggets" but there is also it's full size brother (or sister) the Lekkerbek which is a whole filet of whitefish battered and fried. And no self respecting fishmonger in Utrecht will use frozen cra....products. Howeverm in regards to the use of Cod, many shops will use substitutes that are slightly cheaper (but just as good) and most people can't tell the difference anyways. It might be Hake, Pangasius or oher whitefish. Visa/Mastercard: Have you tried Google/Apple Pay? if contactless payment is available (most places) and you have either of those accounts, they might work as well. I use Google Pay for basically all my payments but I don't know if it works with foreign bank accounts as well. Worth a try anyways. The "double level: They are called Werven (warfs) and werfkelders (warfcellars). It stretches about 2km and runs along both de Oude (the Old) and Nieuwe (the New) gracht (Canal). The warfs are owned by the city since 1948, most cellars are owned by private ownership. It basically is one big harbor and was used (and in a way still is used) as a means of transport of goods in and out of the city. Obviously in the old days way more than nowadays but since the city center became car free it picked up again. There is a special service running for supplying beverages to the restaurants with the nickname "de Zuipschuit" a popular slang name for an alcoholic, literally meaning the drinkingboat as in "you need a boat to supply them with enough drinks), waste management has a boat running as well and some restaurants will supply by boat. I just noticed this was posted a year ago. I checked when I noticed the Dom tower was still wrapped. It is now basically done, only it's foot is still worked on. The tower actually stands at 112,32 meters. Building started in 1321 with the first stone being placed on June 26th. In 1382 the tower was finished. In August 1674 a rare occurance happened in the Netherlands, During a Westerstorm the Dom Church was hit by a tornado which had the central nave collapse seperating tower from Church. The rubble wasn't removed until 1826. When you look at the domsquare pavement you see several lines. One showing the outlines of the old nave and one showing the border of the Roman Empire. Houses of worship had been built (including two prior Cathedrals) where now the Church is standing since at least the 1st century BCE. Started out as Roman Catholic, after the Iconoclasm it changed hands to the Protestants. The river that caused the name to be Trajectum was not the Rhine as that flows nowhere near the city. It was the river Vecht that was crossed. Sadly not much is left of the Vecht within the city, what now is Oude Gracht connects directly to what is left of the vecht in the north and what now is called "Kromme Rijn" in the south. The closest "larger" river is de Lek which is a subsidiary of the Rhine. Trajectum doesn't stand for "Ford in the Rhine" but "Ford in the river" (I was surprised about Ford but that is what translation apps say, obviously I am not talking about the car manufacturer, Ford.. place where you can cross..apparantly). I was unable to verify Uut definitively but it seems correct.

Obviously the tourbus didn't take you anywhere....

Rivierenwijk, is the neighbourhood where my inlaws lived. Very close to the city centre. Nice to see it in a vlog 😂

Poor Olivia she didn’t really want to leave 🥹 but the fries looks good as well as the fish and chips

What was the local area you showed please? Approximately.

The netherlands gets 2/3 of the annual precipitation of england, and just about the same amount as italy, france and portugal. In those last 3 countries you get more precipitation in less days though.

Great to see you pay tribute to the city I was born in and am still living in as of today 🫶

What month was this in? Just thinking about the weather.

Aww you guys got really wet in this one 😅 Thank you for making another wonderful travel vlog 🥰

I Love Jonna Napire 💜💚♥️ APRIL 21, 2024

I would visit Schiedam! There is so much more than Amsterdam or Utrecht!

nice V

Suggestion: Amersfoort

Ah yes, credit cards aren't used a lot in The Netherlands. People use their bank cards to pay, the money will be taken of your bank account in real time. But you can also connect your bank card to Apple Pay for example and you can pay like that with your phone. Not sure if it works in The Netherlands when your credit card is connected to Apple Pay. But the thing to look for is the MAESTRO logo. MAESTRO is the system all these payment systems work with, it is also mentioned on the Dutch bank cards. Otherwise use cash if Apple Pay or Google Pay isn't working either. But I like hardly have cash money anymore, everything is paid for via my ING bank card connected to Apple Pay.

You two are so cute and make great videos ❤

Bruges now has about 120.000 inhabitants, Utrecht about 370.000. Like Utrecht, Bruges is very beautiful too but - unfortunately - overcrowded with tourists.

Utrecht is not a ( secret ) gem ... tourism is a big pet of that city and is advertised everywhere ...

Belgium for frites

Inhabitated?

It is not a secret, only to the ignorant.

i hate rainy days, just not a good condition for tours. Is it always raining in Utrecht?