Nijmegen Travel Forum

I'm thinking of staying in Holland for the U21 football championships in June. I have been to Amsterdam and Arnhem a few times, as well as Rotterdam. Rather than just decide to base myself in Arnhem, which is a lovely city, but I think I have seen all there is to see with regard to bars, nightlife, restaurants etc. Is Nijmegan the same as Arnhem, or does it have more to offer? Or would you suggest I base myself in Eindhoven, as thats where my flight takes me too. I like to see new places all the time and I'm not knocking Arnhem, as I love it and have great friends there, I've just got a bit of that, "seen it, done it" feeling about basing myself there. I'd welcome any suggestions and reasons why to stay at any of the 3 cities I've mentioned.

Thanks

Eindhoven would be a very good option (bar quantity-wise).

You might opt for Utrecht too (big vyty, many deals).

PJ

I'd opt for Nijmegen. It's a university town (thus good night life) and was built in Roman times.
Most of historic Eindhoven has disappeared. It's a modern town. It has Stratumseind with lots of bars but it is basically a small area.

Definately Nijmegen. It's the oldest city in the Netherlands and has (on average) the highest density in square meters of café/terrace space per inhabitant within the Netherlands. (-:
Nijmegen is a beautiful town that has a lot going, especially in summertown. Said by the Arnhem-guy that I am, this should mean a lot!

Here is some more information on Nijmegen: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/31ce3/70026/

and ... what about 's Hertogenbosch ... or Den Bosch (it's the same by the way).
This too is a great place to stay and is situated appr. half way Eindhoven and Nijmegen. Den Bosch: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/31ce3/70d70/1/

Hi Pavlik! This sort of triggered my curiosity for figures.

See
http://www.bedr-horeca.nl/dsc?c=getobject&s=obj&!sessionid=1xRzecGa59bs5Wz8ZWno7p!cnhb9o!M9x@GwuyBTegM75UuUCWRV1zyOvofxaqyo&objectid=14658&!dsname=default&isapidir=/gvisapi/

Where it shows that Nijmegen tops Arnhem by the slightest. Though Arnhem beats Nijmegen with 0.3 more drinking cafe's per 10.000 inhabitants.

Total 'horeca' (all restaurants, bars, hotels), Arnhem and Nijmegen (both larger cities) both beat the national average:
Arnhem 36.7
Nijmegen 32.1
Brielle (my small provincial hometown): 30.6
against a national average of 28.3 per 10.000 inhabitants.

Figures from 1 July 2006.
Interesting, ain't it?

Hey Pavlik: better link is this one: http://www.hasweb.nl/cms/e107_files/downloads/hincregio.xls
Has the same figures (from the same source) as the long link above but also has a database for all individual Dutch towns.

I wasn't setting out to contradict you though. Just curious. Great overview!

Hi Anke-Thea,

Funny you found this out, as it's something that Nijmegen advertises with! Highest cafe/terraces density in NL!

Well, I am quite the exception in a almost everlasting rivalry between Arbhem and Nijmegen. I love my hometown Arnhem and definately also like Nijmegen (except when NEC wins from Vitesse - hahaha). Irina also works there and with only 15 km in between, a very similar setting, a joint Gelre-history ... what's there to rival about?

Thanks for you little investigation. For me Arnhem stays the best place to go out and Nijmegen stays the town with the highest density of cafe/terraces per inhabitant. (-;

Hi Pavlik,
well, the highest density pubs/bars in NL is neither Arnhem nor Nijmegen as you probably found out in link I sent. It is Maastricht, by a far distance!
You may know I went to high school in Arnhem, and lived in Oosterbeek. So I know exactly what that rivalry between both cities is about :-)

Thank you both for your comments - very much appreciated. I think I am going to stay in Nijmegan!!!