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From Roman camp to Catholic university town of 13,000 students, Nijmegen buzzes with energy and is vibrant place to spend a couple of days. This is the oldest town in the Netherlands, with a compact medieval centre yet all the urban-cool of a big city. Historic cafes, specialist craft-coffee shops and a decent smattering of museums and monuments lace its streets that stagger gently from the 16th-century Lower Town by the banks of the Waal River to the older Upper Town. In summer, Dutch party lovers pour into town for its annual four-day hiking fest and Zomerfeesten music festival.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Nijmegen.
Cultural Centre
No address reflects the city's youthful zest more than this soup factory-turned-entrepreneurial hub, 1.5km west of Grote Markt by the river. Until 2022 the gargantuan industrial space is open to creatives. Among the 140 companies to already move in are coffee roaster Blommers; microbreweries Oersoep and Bloom; Galerie Bart showcasing the work of young upcoming Dutch artists; a designer furniture shop; and a chocolate bar/
Square
Thankfully, Nijmegen's sweeping market square was among the few parts of the old town to survive WWII. Open-air markets are still held here each week on Saturday and Monday, while ornate Dutch Renaissance De Waagh – built in 1612 – is now a popular cafe. In the middle of the square is the statue of a repentant Mariken van Nieumeghen, a maiden from late medieval Dutch literature who was seduced by Moenen ('the devil') and spent seven years living in sin.
Museum
On one of Nijmegen's main shopping streets, ride the escalator up to this unusual museum where visitors can experience what it is like (or as close as, at any rate) to be blind or partially sighted. English-language tours are held in absolute darkness and are themed: 'A Day in the Life of ..' or 'On Holiday with ..' (minimum age eight years). More daring is the one-hour tour through the city streets which, with the aid of virtual reality glasses simulating blindess, take you around town (minimum age 13 years). All tours require advance booking.
Church
From Grote Markt duck beneath the ornate Gothic Kerkboog (1542; Church Arch) – originally with cattle grid and pit beneath to prevent pigs from the market place escaping into the churchyard – to uncover this iconic church. It was built between the 13th and 15th centuries, but heavily bombed during WWII. Subsequent reconstruction of its classic reformist interior saw no expense spared with the whitewash or chandeliers. A hike up the 183 steps in the tower rewards with a marvellous city panorama.
Park
Perched in a commanding position over the Waal River, the Valkhof is a lovely park and the site of a ruined palace begun by Charlemagne in the 8th century and continued by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa from 1155 (see it in better days in the Jan van Goyen painting at the museum across the way). All of it bar two side chapels was destroyed in 1796: admire the 16-sided Sint Nicolaaskapel, a rare example of Byzantine architecture in the Netherlands, and the ruined Sint Maartenskapel.
Historic Building
Built in 1612 in a Dutch Renaissance style, the ornate red-brick weigh house takes pride of place on Grote Markt. It was here that merchants and traders drove in with their wagons to have their wares weighed and sized before exiting on the market square to sell them. A huge pair of scales still hangs inside the beamed building, today a cafe-bar with partly cobbled flooring and giant wrought-iron chandeliers.
Museum
Down by the riverfront is this museum with more than 250 bicycles: everything from 19th-century wooden contraptions and hand-propelled bikes to an entire room devoted to penny farthings, plus more modern machines. It's a must-see for anyone who has marvelled at the Dutch affinity for two-wheelers.
Museum
Changing temporary exhibitions form a substantial part of this regional history museum, at home in a striking glass shoebox-style building by Valkhof Park. Among the museum's rich collection of first-rate Roman artefacts is a column fragment from Nijmegen's Roman foundation, a replica of which doubles as a sundial on the square in front of the museum.
Historic Building
An oft-overlooked gem, the Latin School stands beside Sint Stevenskerk. A fine example of Renaissance architecture dating to 1545 with sculpted figures of the 12 apostles on the facade, it somehow emerged intact from WWII. The two-headed eagle on the heraldic coat of arms above the doorway is a symbol of Nijmegen. It is now occupied by offices.