Utrecht and the surrounding area :- Part 9

Entertainment and travelling around

TivoliVredenburg is a concert venue. It has been a fixture on the Oudegracht for decades. The Tivoli pop music hall merged into this mega concert centre in 2014. It was wrapped around the original symphony hall by well-known architect Herman Hertzberger. The new entertainment centre covers a range of musical styles in five different venues. The Ronda and Pandora halls have taken over the function of the Tivoli while the Hertz, Cloud 9 and 1700-seat Grote Zaal stage classical and jazz events.

Louis Hartlooper Complex is built into a former police station in Amsterdam School style. This is an art film centre where local cinephiles present each movie in Dutch in the tradition of its namesake, who also played the piano for silent films. If this is your thing then Pre and post-viewing discussions go on at the adjacent terrace cafe facing Ledig Erf square. There is also a similar cinema cafe concept at its sister venue, the Springhaver Theater.

RASA is the place to go if you want to hear world music. The RASA' s performance program spans the globe from klezmer ensembles to Malian bluesmen and salsa combos. It is a small theatre but has a comfortable arena seating area, however, more often than not the focus is on the dance floor.

Information can be found at the local Tourist Office on the Domplein which sells the Domtoren tickets. Another tourist information point is in the corridor between the train station and Hoog Catharijne shopping centre.

Utrecht location makes it an obvious travel hub for the country. So it is here that you will find bike routes, train lines and motorways all converging on the city from all directions.

National bike route LF9 runs north through farmlands for 23km to a junction with LF23, which covers both Muiden and Flevoland. To the south, it runs through rich farmlands towards Breda. Marathon route LF7 passes through Utrecht on its 350km route from Alkmaar to Maastricht with Amsterdam is about 50km northwest. LF4 runs east 80km to Arnhem.

Regional buses depart from platforms on the west side of the train station. Information on bus and tram routes can be found at the Jaarbeursplein side of the station. Eurolines has a ticket office opposite the tram station; its buses stop on the west side of the train station on Jaarbeursplein.

Local buses depart from platforms on the west side of the train station however according to current plans, the tram station is to be located on the city centre side in the future.

The construction of the new station continues and should be finished next year. This means that the surroundings are in an ongoing state of transition until at late 2017. If you expect a bit of chaos you will not be disappointed. Utrecht Centraal Station is the national hub for Dutch rail services, so you' ll probably change trains here at some point if you use them.

Continued in part 10