After Amsterdam why not try Wageningen, The Netherlands?
Yes, I too love Amsterdam. It is one of the places we visit regularly and we love it. We even keep on going to some of the common restaurants I blogged about here. And yes, when you are there, you definitely need to visit restaurant Hemelse Modder.
But, why not expand our horizons and visit some of the lesser known places in The Netherlands. This one happens to be close to the place to see Van Gogh paintings (read about Kröller Müller here): Wageningen.
Situated just west of Arnhem (of A Bridge too Far - WWII fame) and Utrecht, this small city packs a punch and hosts a large university, a quaint old city center, heather fields, and the Rhine river, all in easy walking and biking distance from each other.
But first, back to our regular routine...
Just Been There Art
Look at or buy art inspired by this trip. If you like this trip, but can't go, or you too have just been there, this unique art may rekindle fond memories of your own trip. Click the image for a link to the online store.
Note: you will be leaving this site and connect to the artists site.
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| Day Trip in the Heather Fields |
All art copyright by: Christine Ong-Dijcks
Getting There
There are some interesting elements to getting to Wageningen. First the train station is called Ede-Wageningen and is... in Ede. It is an hour by direct intercity from Schiphol Airport or about the same from Amsterdam Centraal Station. At station Ede-Wageningen take a bus to Wageningen bus station, which gets you to right outside the quaint city center. From here, most things we talk about are walking distance. If the weather is nice, rent a bike either in Ede or in Wageningen for some further exploits.
Parking
Parking in the quaint center is as you would expect, challenging. And mostly paid for and while many cities may be more expense, I would not call Wageningen cheap. Either way, here is how the parking meters work (pretty high tech compared to most of the places I've parked at).
The meter speaks (ok displays text...) in Dutch, English, and German, and as it explains, it verifies your license plate and then connects your payment to the license plate.
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| Parking Meter |
Now, as you may have noticed, this meter is at the General Foulkesweg (lots of history there, more later in this post). That is a long road, and you will need to look at the signs to determine which parts are paid, which parts are reserved for residents, and which parts are free parking.
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| Parking signs "Front" |
So, why does this matter? Well, to ensure that resident permit holders have a space to park, certain parking spaces are only for permit holders, whereas other areas are marked for paid parking. So, as you drive down the street at 30 km/h, check the signs to see if it says "vergunning houders zone 1" or has the paid parking chip card symbol.
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| Permit holders parking |
Parking in a zone, even if you pay, will cost a lot of money (and potentially your car is towed). In the sign above, anything to left (in the direction of the arrow) is permit holders only.
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| Everything past this sign - free parking |
Of course, any time you drive around the corner, the story starts anew. So, pay attention to them signs!
Paying and Cash
While cash is accepted, debit and tap to pay is king (or queen) in the Netherlands.
As you noticed (or not), the meters take a bunch of cards. But if you look carefully, those logos are not credit card logos. They are debit cards (Mastercard - debit, Visa - Debit, Maestro, V-Pay). The key thing is that it does take tap to pay, so likely Apple or Android Pay will work - note I paid with V-Pay which is flawless.
Most public transit (like the trains) enabled tap to pay, and cards (no Amex normally) or Apple or Android Pay will work.
Should you need an ATM, they are now mostly in convenience stores like the Primera or the Bruna (magazines and stamps). They are called "Geldmaat" and are bright yellow.
These ATMs service all banks - and these are not like the ATMs in convenience stores in the US, which charge fees. These ones are just regular ATMs and Dutch people will use them to get cash. Most bank branches lack ATMs and are advisory and service centers. So, the yellow ATMs are what you are looking for to get cash.
Places to Stay
Let's start with what we often use, and also used in Wageningen - VRBO. Through VRBO, we booked at Shortstaywageningen. They have a great direct book page (here), so consider using that, as it may be slightly cheaper. They rent rooms, rooms with shared common rooms, apartments etc. We found them very well organized, clean, and conveniently located. In fact, our rental was right around the corner from that parking meter you saw earlier.
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| A must do - breakfast at De Wereld |
The coolest thing about renting here, there was a voucher for a breakfast for 2 at "Hotel De Wereld". We actually used it, and oh man... we loved that breakfast and the place it was in. The bread was wonderful, the eggs amazing, the yoghurt great, the coffee good, and more...
After that breakfast, I am going to recommend staying at Hotel De Wereld. The place is very pretty, and the service and human interactions amazing. So, even if we did not stay there, I would recommend it. Great location, amazing breakfast (did I say that again?), beautiful outside area with drinks. Just a great place. It is however the most expensive of my three options.
If the shortstay is the cheapest, De Wereld the most expensive, the Fletcher Hotel - De Wageningse Berg is the middle of the road. It is on the hill, right next to the - now defunct - pro football club's stadium. You have wonderful views over the Rhine river.
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| View from the Fletcher hotel |
The hotel is modern, rents bikes and e-bikes, has a nice outdoor seating (and dining) area and is relatively low cost, especially off season. Fletcher has many hotels in the Netherlands, and sometimes does amazing deals. We stayed here, and did add a breakfast, which was wonderful but a bit pricey, and not as amazing as De Wereld...
Places to Eat
Apart from the breakfast I talked about... some good places to grab a bite in Wagenigen's city center are
- MyAsia - Thai restaurant at the market square / church square in the city. If the weather is nice, sit outside. We loved the food. Their classic Phad Thai was good, as was the Moe Krob Muahin (crispy pork belly). The fish was well done as well. All three can be recommended.
- Xin Chào - Vietnamese street food in the main shopping area. Again, sit outside if the weather is nice and enjoy the great food and the people that stroll by. We loved their Bánh Mì, which I always go for... try an ice tea with it. The lychee was our favorite over the peach. Other meals we did try were the Bún 'Xin Chào' and the Phô. We enjoyed them, but everyone really loved the Bánh Mì!
- Juffrouw Tok ("miss cluck") - right at the Ginkelse Heide (the heather fields). We didn't do much research, and it is a bit touristy, until you figure out that people go here for the chicken. Yeah, ok, got that part... I mean the chicken Piri Piri... That the thing! People come and order that. Period. So we did that too, and it is quite good!
Places to See
In the end, this is why you want to go, right? So to start off, the little city center is quaint and when you go on market days (Wednesday 8:30 to 13:30 and Saturday 8:30 - 17:00) it will be busy with lots to see and buy. And you can go down to the Rhine river.
Then there is Het Depot, a free sculpture museum with a very nice garden and a very green restaurant. Mostly vegan, I would say. But very pretty when you can sit outdoors. We did enjoy the food we had, just don't expect strong flavors and big hamburgers!
When staying in Wageningen, rent a bike. One example, rent it at Fletcher if you stay there, and bike / walk down to the river. Take the ferry across the Rhine right by the hotel (lexkesveer), bike west along the river to the next ferry (it is about 7 km (5.5 miles) or so) and mostly flat (of course!). At the "veer Opheusden - Wageningen you go across and connect back onto the bike patch (LF4 Midden-Nederland route). The fun bit of this, you bike over the dike on both sides. Now that is very dutch...
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| Airborne Memorial |
If you visit Juffrouw Tok, you will be at the Renkumse Heide which features the above memorial. The WWII gliders landed here during operation Market Garden to capture the Rhine bridge in Arnhem.
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| Renkumse Heide (heather fields) |
The heather fields are wonderful and spread out both south of Juffrouw Tok and to the northwest. Lots of trails and depending on the time of year (late August - September) the heather will be bright purple.
By car, a few other things are real close. One is the Grebbeberg, due west from Wageningen. You'll find a pannenkoeken huis (pancake house) that server big (!) pancakes. My favorite is always the shawarma one... But you also will find some more WWII parts and a zoo called Ouwehands Dierenpark. And going the other way (east - in the direction of Arnhem) a lot of stuff is happening. Examples are Kasteel Doorwerth, Airborne museum Hartenstein, the Dutch Open Air Museum, and much more. Lastly, there are the larger cities, a quick bus ride away like Arnhem itself, with a larger city center than Wageningen.
In short, while Amsterdam and other cities around it like Leiden, Den Haag, Delft, Alkmaar, and more are appealing, for a more walk and bike friendly trip in calming and relaxing surroundings, consider the little city of Wageningen as a place to rend those bikes and go exploring.
That's it for this trip, enjoy Wageningen and surroundings!
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