Flamingos Are Flocking to Utrecht

My regular readers know I’m always trying to encourage people to visit Utrecht, whether they live in the Netherlands or are just visiting. After all, it’s a gorgeous city with nearly 2000 years of history and a constant stream of cultural events. So it makes sense that Toerisme (Tourism) Utrecht and I should work together in some way to encourage people to visit. And that’s what we started doing today. Thanks to a conversation on Twitter, I had a meeting with them today at their offices on the Domplein and we started discussing ways to work together to make Utrecht a slightly less hidden gem.

After the meeting, having only gone a short distance, I had one of those great moments of synchronicity/serendipity. There, in an open window, was another flamingo in Utrecht! I’m not much for signs and portents, but it was hard not to feel like this was a good sign for how my blog and Utrecht will continue to work together!

Utrecht: Come Visit

Utrecht is gearing up for the big celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Utrecht next week. Banners are strung in the streets and the Domtoren is getting the finishing touches for the big light show that will launch on 11 April. The list of events that will be taking place this year is impressive.

There’s plenty going on in Utrecht, even when we’re not celebrating the end of a war, but I still get people writing to me as if I live in Amsterdam. While Utrecht is only 20-minute train ride from Amsterdam, it’s still its very own city and a unique one, too. To remind you, here are a few of my past posts where I talk about how great Utrecht is and why websites and magazines and more should pay attention to Utrecht (and other cities in the country) not just Amsterdam. Nothing against Amsterdam, but in such a small country, why not check out a few other cities while you’re at it!

Reasons to Visit

Ranting, You’re Doing It Wrong

An Open Letter (of sorts) to Travel Publications

Coming up this weekend, hopefully, will be some more gargoyles and maybe a mention of the Domplein trees that have pulled up roots and moved. However, this weekend is also the spring beer festival over at Leidig Erf, so who knows what will actually get done. Anyone else going to the festival on Saturday?