Hallo, and good day from me again! I hope that most of you new internationals are settling nicely here in Utrecht despite the buckets of rain lately. In this blog post, I’m going to share a few fun and engaging activities that you can do in Utrecht that don’t cost anything. Yup, that’s right, for free! Happy reading;)
1. Utrecht Neude Library
For someone who loves reading, the library is one of my favourite hot spots in the city centre. The library building is a rather extraordinary one, you can take a free guided tour inside to learn all about the history of the building! And did you know it has much more to offer than just loaning books and movies? It also hosts exhibits of all kinds and has a wide variety of cultural events going on, which you can join for free! Be sure to keep an eye out on their website🙂
2. Open Mic’s
Open mic’s are not just an ESN Utrecht thing! Nope, there are multiple locations that have open mic’s where the entry is free. Here are a few:
- ‘t Oude Pothuys (not the ESN Utrecht one): It is usually on Sunday evenings from 21:00 onwards.
- Tivoli, Het gegeven Paard: usually once a month on Tuesday or Thursday evenings (depends on the months) from 22:00 onwards.
- Café Averechts: every Thursday from 20:00 onwards
3. Sharing Stories, Cafe Nijverheidf
Next to open mic events, Utrecht also offers a variety of different kinds of stage moments for people, one of the more special ones is the Sharing Stories event that happens every other month at Nijverheid. The same cafe also has Ramshackle events every other month, here a variety of open mic, spoken word, and similar events are combined. If you are ever interested in listening to poetry reciters I recommend you come check it out! Here is a link to their website for more amazing activities (not all of them are free though)
4. Church edition
It wouldn’t be a blogpost about free activities without mentioning at least one church. Well, here are 6 churches you can visit, completely without any costs.
- Pieterskerk
- St. Willibrordkerk
- St. Martin Cathedral Domkerk
- Nicoleïkerk
- Jacobikerk
- Janskerk
5. Museum Catharijneconvent
A little disclaimer, it is only free for students if they are with a group of 5 people or more. This particular museum offers both exhibitions and events that you can join! So go to their website and happy exploring:)
6. Pubquiz edition
Yesssss, Utrecht is actually filled with pubs and café’s that host pubquizes. Here is a neat, nice list of where and when they are! you’re welcome 😉
- Lebowski, 3rd Wednesday of every month. (In Dutch)
- Florin, every other Wednesday evening (In English)
- Voortuin, 1st Tuesday of the month (partially in English)
- Stichtse Taveerne, Once every 3 months (partially in English)
- De Beuntjes, every 2nd Monday of the month (In English)
7. Parnassos Cultuur Centrum
Most of you might have heard of it already as it is directly connected (and part of) to Utrecht University. Parnassos has a quite active programme so be sure to check out their website for more up to date information!
I hope you enjoyed this nice list of free stuff to do in Utrecht! See you next time:)
Written by Rose Özüm
Edited by Matthijs Uleman
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