Wander & Wonder Travel Newsletter

Hey StoryHunter

Every year on 27 April, the Netherlands turns orange for King’s Day.

It’s a grand national holiday, and you’ll find parties on squares and street markets spilling into the cities.

But the best place to celebrate is not in Amsterdam; it’s in Utrecht, which lies just 25 minutes away by train.

In Utrecht, it’s more intimate, local and less over-performed, which matters on a day when the whole country is effectively out on the streets.

It is also the perfect opportunity to explore the city’s canals, the UNESCO sights and the rabbit called Miffy.

Read on to learn about:

🐰 Rabbits in the streets

🔠 Letters in the pavement

🚲 The world's largest bicycle shelter

Explore Utrecht with the new StoryHunt app

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We've launched the new StoryHunt app this week, and we're so excited for you to try it!

It has a lot more features, a cool interactive map, and everything you need to explore the world in a new, exciting way.

Destination of the Week

Utrecht feels very Dutch - think canals, bikes, old churches and townhouses.

But it also has a more layered and slightly stranger identity than Amsterdam.

The canal system is considered unique in the world, with a structure that grew out of medieval trade and storage.

Today life unfolds by the water, where old cellars have become cafés, bars and terraces.

It’s also home to more modern and… weird architecture.

The Rietveld Schröder House - which UNESCO calls an icon of the Modern Movement – can be transformed in different ways to create new spaces.

Don't Miss

One attraction, that instantly reveals Utrecht’s softer and stranger side, is the Miffy Museum.

It is designed as an interactive world, where children can explore spaces inspired by Miffy – a popular cartoon rabbit.

The museum shows how seriously the city embraces Dick Bruna’s legacy.

That alone would make it charming.

But Utrecht goes one step further: the city also has the only Miffy traffic light in the world - a simple street crossing turned into a tiny piece of local folklore.

Did You Know?

In Utrecht, a poem is being written into the city itself - one stone at a time.

The Letters of Utrecht is a kind of art installation in the streets.

Every Saturday, a new letter is carved into cobblestones in the historic centre, so the poem slowly grows beneath people’s feet.

It began in 2012 and is designed to continue into the future, making literature part of the street rather than something confined to a book.

The Trendy Traveler Tip

Do Utrecht the Dutch way: grab a bike straight from the station and start exploring on two wheels.

Cycling is the easiest way to get around the city, and that becomes even more obvious when you arrive at the world’s largest bicycle parking facility.

It's at the Central Station, and it has room for 12,500 bikes in the main garage alone.

Rent a bike nearby, stash it there when needed, and roam the canals/streets like a local.