Utrecht is one special city in the Netherlands with a unique atmosphere created by terrace restaurants and promenades right at water level along the canals, producing a delightful ambience in a historic setting, and yet also lined with modern shops and restaurants and bars. It's this wonderful split-level setting with pedestrian streets above and down below by the canals you've got the restaurants on their terraces, really quite special. And there are many other delightful aspects to the city of Utrecht. It's the fourth largest city in the Netherlands, and it's got the oldest university, and they claim the second largest collection of historic medieval buildings, second only to Amsterdam. Standing high above it all is the tallest church tower in the country, then add to the mix typical Dutch ingredients of friendly people with a relaxed tolerant attitude, always ranked high in global indexes of happiness and quality of life – bicycles zooming by, great beer, wonderful food, and a compact pedestrian historic zone riddled with picturesque canals. This is a place you would love to visit as we will show you in this detailed travel guide.
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