A short citytrip in the category of ‘micro-tourism’: Eindhoven is the perfect spot to go! We have our bikes with us. After all, we are in the Netherlands … From our hotel (The Student Hotel – convenient at the train station and the centre), we start our tour around the city.
Cycling
Routes are available at the tourist information centre, but we use the Streetart Cities app as guide. Streetart is the perfect to see a city from from a different perspective. And since Eindhoven is so close to Belgium, it is no surprise to find some great works of Belgian artists, like Dzia or Smok.
With our bikes we are able to get a bit further away from the city centre. The Hovenring – a surreal hovering bike-roundabout on top of a very busy road – is an attraction in its own. We are not surprised to find such a safe and innovative bike path here in the Netherlands. At the other side of the ringroad, you can find another must-see bike path: the Van Gogh-Roosegaarde path, which is made of some kind of fluorescent bitumen.
Walking
We also visit the site of the former Philips factory buildings. Till the factory shut down at the end of the 20th century, Eindhoven was the home of Philips – the factory known for its quality light bulbs and electrical appliances.
Eindhoven still breaths Philips, with a museum in the centre, the old buildings turned into urban shops and a skate park, and streetnames linked to the factory. Apart from the industrial history, Eindhoven has some nice and big parks (like Dommelplantsoen), and an eclectic mix of architecture. The city was heavily bombed in the Second World War. There is only one original area left: the Bergen – small streets with little shops, very cozy.
Like Rotterdam, there are many modern and big buildings that define the skyline. And that skyline is perfectly viewed from our hotel room: we sleep at the 21st floor!
Eindhoven was a nice city to visit, a daytrip would have been enough since we were on our bikes. But we loved the view from our hotel though!
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