A Day Trip to Utrecht, Netherlands from Amsterdam

Are you thinking of a day trip from Amsterdam? We have a perfect idea for you!

Utrecht in Netherlands is a small city located about 30 min by train from Amsterdam, it is the perfect place for a day trip.

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Many people visit Amsterdam, however, there are many other places to see around. One of the places which should be on your list to visit in Utrecht.

When we visited Utrecht, we thought that it is like a small version of Amsterdam. But without tourists:). You can easily walk around and explore this beautiful city without being surrounded by many tourists hunting for taking pictures of the main attractions.

We prepared Itinerary for One day trip in Utrecht so if you are planning your trip, check it out.

Before we dive deep into this tour, grab our travel tag and enjoy your next adventure in style!

How to get there?

As mentioned before, in the Netherlands you can easily get anywhere with a train. In this case, we took a train from Amsterdam Centraal station. It takes about 30 min and you can check here the travel information for each train. The price for 1 adult/one way is around 7-8 EUR if you don’t have the chip card (if you live in the Netherlands, you can have personal travel card-chip card, which provides discounts for you).

The best option is to get off at Utrecht Centraal station as it is in the middle of the city. When you get off the train, you will see that you will have to walk through the huge shopping mall, so you can also do a bit of shopping on the way back:)

You can always rent a car if you don’t want to use public transport. This way is more comfortable and you can stop in different places on the way to Utrecht. To rent a car we always use Auto Europe as it always provides you with the best deal of the day and it compares all companies and prices.

What to see?

One of the main attractions in Utrecht is definitely Domtoren (Dom Tower). Dom tower is the pride of Utrecht (Netherlands) and it is definitely a must-see during your trip. At 112m, it still remains the highest church tower in the Netherlands. The Dom Tower has a long history and the tower stands where the city Utrecht was originated 2000 years ago. The main attraction is to climb all 465 steps up without any lift! You can visit the tower only as a part of the guided tour and it will take you around one hour.  Here you can find more information about opening hours and possibility to buy combine ticket with a visit to Museum Speelklok.

Disclosure: We went to Utrecht in Autumn 2018 and the Dom Tower was still under construction so we could not visit it. We recommend checking the official website to see if the construction has finished.

After the Dom Tower, you should definitely visit Padhof Garden which is part of the monastery garden. It’s a beautiful spot to relax, sit down and during the summer reading a book. The Padhof Garden remains as one of the most stunning courtyards in the Netherlands.

Time for Break

If you follow our blog, you might know that we always explore all different kinds of bars and restaurants in each place we go to. This time we headed to Kafe Belgie. It has a massive selection of beers, either draft (20+) or bottled (30+) so it might take a few minutes to decide. You might also find some unusual beers so if you are a beer lover, this will be a place for you!

Time for food! Yes, we love it.

We did some restaurant search before we came to Utrecht and we found amazing Vietnamese restaurants Kimmade. Kimmade restaurant is located in the middle of the city centre and it is very small, max 10 people can fit in the restaurant. That is why you will probably see people waiting outside to get a free table or waiting for taking away. We had delicious Pho Bo soup and Banh Mi sandwich.

Walk along the canals in Utrecht Netherlands

When you feel full and refreshed, we recommend walking along the canals of Utrecht. When you walk around, you will discover the unique canal structure in the inner city. Oudegracht canal is one of the most iconic canals in Utrecht and it is worth to see.

Coffee Break

Oh yes, coffee break is must for us! After walking around the city, we wanted to have a good coffee and something sweet to accompany. We discovered Anna Pancakes which already gives you a hint what they serve there:) coffee and pancakes, both delicious!

With the sweet pancakes, we finished our day trip in Utrecht (Netherlands) and we took a train back to Amsterdam.

Read further on how to spend 2 Days in Amsterdam.

Where to stay?

If you want to stay more days in Utrecht and travel to Amsterdam on a daily basis, it’s also a good idea as you will find much cheaper hotels in Utrecht than in Amsterdam. You can also stay more days in Utrecht to explore other places like Kaastel de Haar which is located approx 30min from Utrecht city centre by car.

Where to stay in Utrecht depends on your needs. There is a very nice 5 star Grand Hotel Karel V where you can enjoy all the luxury.

Hotel Dom is also one of the best choices in Utrecht for a reasonable price and it is placed just around the corner of Dom Tower.

If you are on a budget, there is a very nice Strowis Hostel in the Utrecht city centre.

We are sure that there are many places in Utrecht worth seeing, so please feel free to contact us so we can add more information to our one day trip itinerary to Utrecht.

If you are planning more trips, you can visit our travelling section and see our popular post about Copenhagen – The Perfect Place For Weekend Escape.

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A big hug from Me, Mika and SImone the funfoodtravelling team!