Things to do and see in Eindhoven

Citytrip Eindhoven

Recently I went on a citytrip to Eindhoven, a city in the south of the Netherlands.

Eindhoven is -with it’s 220.000 inhabitants- Holland’s 5th largest city.

Now you can say a lot about Eindhoven, but charming and pretty it is not. This has a lot to do with the fact that it has been heavily bombarded during WW II, leaving holes in the city and streets. As a consequence you will see a pretty house built in 1930 next to ugly buildings from around 1960 etcetera. There’s not much architectural unity left.

The lack of architectural coherence and beauty did not stop me from having a great weekend, because Eindhoven has a lot of other qualities.

How many days do you need to explore Eindhoven

Although Eindhoven may not be an obvious choice for a city trip, it has enough to offer to entertain you for at least 3 to 4 days. And if you are able to visit the city during one of it’s yearly events, then you can even stretch that to 5 days.
My citytrip only lasted 48 hours and I was not able to scratch everything off my list of things to do and see. Next time ;-).

Ofcourse all depends on your energy level, your ‘speed’ and your interests. If I look at myself, e.g., I am a slow traveller with a low energy level and many interests. That means that I rather do and see three things thoroughly and in a relaxed pace, than running around like a Japanese, ‘doing’ 20 attractions in one day. For an energetic, fast person, 48 hours in Eindhoven may be more than enough.

Things to do and see in Eindhoven

If charming and pretty are not the right words to describe Eindhoven, then which are? Well, I would say:

• friendly: really, everybody that I encountered, from taxi drivers to shopping assistants to people on the street were so genuinely friendly! Sweet, even.
• cultural: there are several musea and galleries. E.g. the famous Van Abbemuseum with contemporary art, the Philips Museum, Designhuis, DAF museum,and many more.
• industrial and design: Eindhoven is the city from Philips, the famous Dutch factory and producer of lightbulbs and nowadays of all sorts of electronic devices. My hotel, the Art Hotel, was located in a former Philips office building.
• international: due to Philips, it’s campus, the university and technical schools, there are a lot of students from abroad and expats in Eindhoven. The presence of an international, young, highly educated crowd tends to stimulate interesting initiatives in a city.
• soccer-loving: the city’s soccer team, PSV, is quite famous. There is a huge soccer-stadium in the city.
• hip hotspots: there are numerous cool restaurants, bars and shops. Like Grand Cafe De Vooruitgang, where I had a cappuccino and an apple pie. A big, cosy and popular place, amongst young and old, families and couples alike.Nice places for dinner, drinks and coffee can be found in the city centre as well as in the supercool neighborhoods Strijp-S and Strijp-R. With a special mention of Piet Hein Eek, a fantastic, successful Dutch designer.
• events: the city has some wonderful, yearly festivals: Carnaval (february 13-17 2015), Fiesta Del Sol (end of june), Jazz in Lighttown (august), FunFair at park Hilaria (august), Lightroute festival (september), the Dutch Design Week (october 17-25 2015), and last but certainly not least: light festival GLOW (november 7-14 2015)
• street art: the prime location to find street art in Eindhoven is De Berenkuil, an area near the campus. But walking through town, you will stumble upon some street art here and there as well.
• argentine tango: Eindhoven’s tango-scene, gathered in and by TipoTango, is one of the friendliest tango-crowds that I have ever met. Highly recommended to tango-dancers!

Travel series about Eindhoven

In the coming weeks, you can expect a series of articles about Eindhoven:

• Where to sleep: Art Hotel Eindhoven
• Tips for culture and art lovers: Van Abbe Museum, other musea and galleries and street art
• Where to eat and drink
• Where to shop
• What to do and see in Strijp-S
• Strijp-R: Piet Hein Eek and Pinkie
• Argentine Tango in Eindhoven

Do you know Eindhoven? If you do, and if you have any tips on what to do and see, then please share them in the comments. We would love to hear from you!