Trains vers Utrecht

The Dutch city of Utrecht ticks all the boxes for stereotypes: gabled houses, bicycles, tree-lined canals and cafés with tulips aplenty in the spring. We like it for being rather like Amsterdam, but without the huge crowds of tourists. The main station is called Utrecht Centraal. It is a vast complex that seems to be always in the process of being rebuilt; it’s hard to avoid getting lost in the Hoog Catharijne shopping centre which dominates the station area.

But persist. Utrecht gets better and better. Climb the cathedral tower for a great view of the city and then relax over a coffee or a beer in one of the cafés which line Oudegracht. When it’s time to move on, you’ll find a superb range of onward train services. Utrecht Centraal is the busiest rail hub in the Netherlands. There are upwards of 30 trains each hour leaving Utrecht for other cities across the country. Amsterdam and Schiphol airport are both just 30 minutes away. The train journey to The Hague or Rotterdam takes just 40 minutes.

Utrecht is also a good jumping-off point for international journeys. The Dutch and German rail administrations jointly operate sleek ICE trains directly from Utrecht to Düsseldorf, Cologne and Frankfurt. There's also a direct daytime ICE to Basel in Switzerland. An evening train from Utrecht to Düsseldorf (1 hr 40 mins away) connects seamlessly into onward night trains to Innsbruck, Munich, Linz and Vienna.