Last Updated on 23 February 2022 by Lily
Life in Utrecht, Netherlands
It’s been nearly 3 months since I moved to Utrecht, Netherlands from London. Time flies so fast. Even though half of the time I am in lockdown, I am still enjoying life in Utrecht. When I decided to move to Utrecht, I couldn’t find much information about life in Utrecht, so I thought it would be great if this can help someone who’s thinking to move to Utrecht. So let me share what I love about Utrecht NL so far after living in 3 months.
Many Independent Shops
Utrecht is full of small unique independent shops like cafes, bakeries, boutiques, restaurants, chocolate stores, kitchen product stores, etc unless you go to department stores. It is so fun to pop up from next shop to next or try a coffee at a new cafe till I find my favourite one! Even writing about it, I get excited! Unfortunately, I have not done that much as shops are closed at the moment due to lockdown. But hopefully soon. If you are the kind of person that love to try new things always, Utrecht is a great place to live.
Only Approx 30 Min to Amsterdam
Utrecht is the 4th largest city in the Netherlands. So it is more peaceful and calmer vibes which I love compared to bigger cities. When I miss big city vibes, I can just take an NS and go to Amsterdam in under 30 min as well. To be honest, Amsterdam is still a calmer atmosphere than London but I still get lively vibes and enjoy once in a while.
And the train journey to Amsterdam is quite nice. NS is clean and quiet. Probably it depends on the time you take or depends on the seasons, but so far I always have had a smooth journey.
Services Are Great and Very Friendly
Anywhere I go such as cafes, restaurants, chocolate stores, boutiques I always get very friendly service and makes you feel welcomed. I still haven’t met anyone rude or unfriendly. It’s just so nice especially I live by myself and I don’t have many friends here yet so sometimes there is a day that I don’t talk with anyone at all. So I go to a cafe and when they are friendly and kind, it makes my day. I think in general Dutch people are friendly from my experience. When I visited Amsterdam with my friend a few years ago, we were walking around the city and all of the sudden, heavy rain started. We didn’t have an umbrella so we just were walking without it. But there was a guy who had only one umbrella in front of us and he noticed us and gave us his umbrella! You can imagine how our hearts melted by the kind act. I didn’t think I was going to move to the Netherlands at that time but now I did and I definitely think I made the right decision.
Bio Products Aren’t Expensive
I am not sure about other cities, but in Utrecht, organic products are almost the same price as non-organic products. I often go to Ekoplaze as they have a wide range of organic products! There is another organic shop called Odin which I have never been to yet but planning to go to. Utrecht is a paradise for me as I am more after organic than chemicals!
People Speak English
90% of Dutch speak English so I have never had a problem communicating with people even though I don’t speak any Dutch. In the restaurant, usually, they have an English menu, in the supermarket, I can choose English on self-checkout, in the station I can choose English on the ticket machine. I can even watch English TV programs on TV. Although I do struggle to recognise what it is in the supermarket as I can’t read Dutch. But as long as I have the google translate app, it’s okay. Also, everything related to government documents for Visa or Tax documents are in Dutch so that is the hard part but again thanks to technology!
Clean Air
In the Netherlands, people ride bicycles a lot. Like a lot. I think that is why much less pollution compares to other countries. The weather isn’t wonderful in the winter here but I still enjoy walking it’s because the air is so clean. I cannot ride a bicycle yet but one of my resolution this year is that ride a bicycle so I will start practice when it gets warmer.
Final Thougts on What I Love About Utrecht After Living for 3 Months
It has been only 3 months since I moved to Utrecht so I am sure there will be more things that I would love. I will probably write after a year if my perspective about Utrecht changes or not. But as you can see, I love here very much so far and I can’t wait to explore more!
Thank you for reading!
Related to Netherlands Life:
• 3 Things You Should Know Before Moving to the Netherlands
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