Utrecht

Sitting on its winding web of charming canals at equidistance from The Hague and Amsterdam alike, the city of Utrecht remains a real metropolitan Jewel of the Netherlands. Amongst its pretty medieval streets and beguiling array of gothic architecture, one of the country’s largest student populations lives, works and plays. This of course implies there are oodles of hip bars, cool cafes, thumping clubs and stylish drinking dives on offer, all alive with Euro-pop, frothy Belgian brews, and buzzing al fresco drinking terraces that poke their way out over the plazas at De Neude, or the docks at Oudegracht. No visitor here can miss the soaring Dom Tower, standing aloft atop the foundations of the ancient Roman fort that first founded the city, while most Utrecht tour guides will also recommend spying out the De Stijl architecture of the Rietveld Schroder House, the interesting collections of the Speelklok and Railway Museum, or the leafy parklands of Lepelenburg , Wilhelminapark and Botanic gardens, where locals can be found chatting the days away during the summer.