Some people say Venice is the best canal city in Europe. I disagree. I would argue Amsterdam is better, and so is Utrecht! Utrecht just might be my favorite canal city! It is so charming, and not as busy and bustling as Amsterdam. Also, it has soooo many cute shops. We did a last minute stay in Utrecht, after our Munich roadtrip got derailed by the kids. If you did not see my Insta Stories, they had a puke party in the backseat, an hour into our 6+ hour drive to Munich. It was a mess! Once we got home and showered, we regrouped and decided to hop over to the Netherlands for a night.
Utrecht is a quick, two hour drive from Dusseldorf. If you had more time, you could also visit Amsterdam, which is 45 minutes further.
ACCOMODATION During our quick trip, we stayed at the Moxy Hotel. It was a really cool hotel. The kids loved the huge chair, the teddy bears, the cool swing chairs, and the games. It is right on the canal, and it features a very nice terrace. There is a bar on the ground level, for a night cap or afternoon snacks. It is about a 25 minute walk to the city center, with kids. When we come back, I would choose something a little closer to the city center. Without kids, the location is fine. On a clear day, you can see the DOM Tower from the hotel rooms. Unfortunately, she's currently covered in scaffolding.
FOOD
Ted's Utrecht | I loved this place!! We went before heading back home, on Monday. They serve all day brunch! I didn't make it past the Churro's French Toast, on the menu. It was really good! Fernando enjoyed the philly chese steak, and the girls kids french steak. A solid brunch spot! Thier dirty chai was delicious!
KEEK | I stopped in for a coffee. We ended up getting chocolate cookies and a lemon tarte, as well. The cookies were so good! So good, had we not ordered the last two, I would have ordered more! So good, we went back Monday for more. The coffee, it hit the spot!
Brothers In Law Tap House | I love a good brewery or tap house. This was a quick walk from our hotel. It is a great, family friendly restaurant. I really enjoyed their half chicken and their raspberry sour beer. Fernando had the loaded nachos, with pulled pork, It was really yummy, also.
Camping Ganspoort | This was a 2 minute walk from our hotel, so we went while our room was getting ready. If it had been a few degrees warmer, I would have loved to sit outside on their terrace. The coffee passed my test. :) I ordered the goat cheese, baba ganoush, zucchini sandwich...it was SO yummy! Laney loved her grilled ham and cheese!
ATTRACTIONS Railway Museum | We got tickets for the museum and never made it. I am very sad about it, because it looked so cool! We had planned to go on Monday. When you buy your tickets, it does not let you pick a day or time, therefore I didn't realize it was closed on Mondays. When we come back, this will be my top priority.
The DOM Tower | The DOM Tower is one of the things Utrecht is known for. You can climb 465 steps to the top of the tower for nice views of the amazing city. We opted to not climb the hundreds of steps with the girls. I did want to explore underneath the tower - DOMunder - however, there were no tickets available. It looks like a really cool experience!
Miffy Musuem | When we checked in, the hotel staff recommended this kinder museum. We went, but I would not recommend it, if you have kids 4 years old, or older. I feel it is better suited for kids 3 and under. We were in and out in less than 30 minutes. Most of our time was spent at the coloring table. Laney was very underwhelmed.
Paper Moon Books | We stumbled upon this bookstore while walking around. The kids enjoyed their time here. We picked up three new books. It is such a cute kids book store. There is a large variety of books for a variety of ages. There are comfy chairs, and a coloring station. Playgrounds | Due to how short our trip was, we never got to visit a playground. With more time, I would have loved to visit Playground Watervogelbuurt, Playground Abstede and Elke Speeltuin. They all looked like great places to burn off some energy.
Traveling with kids can be fun, but it also can mean pivoting. We had to do a major pivot for our holiday weekend. Despite the pivot and missing out on a weekend with friends, we enjoyed ourselves. When roadtripping, we also have lots of snacks, a potty in the trunk (you might laugh, but it is the MVP of any roadtrip), iPads, and low expectations. For snacks containers, we love GöBe snack containers. They also serve as entertainment for the kids. For a potty, we use the same Summer Infant one (German similar), we used for potty training both girls. **TIP: store camping toilet paper in the top.
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