Utrecht escorts, driving south to meet you

The Dom Tower rises above the historic centre as the highest church tower in the country, and almost every walk through Utrecht ends up in its shadow. The Oudegracht runs through the middle of town on two levels: streets above, and old wharf cellars down by the water, now filled with restaurants and bars whose terraces sit right at the canal's edge. Around the Neude and the Janskerkhof, student life, medieval churches and busy cafés sit side by side, and TivoliVredenburg brings concerts into the very heart of the city. Design lovers make the trip for the Rietveld Schröder House, a modernist landmark on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and for the collections of the Centraal Museum.

Every Utrecht booking starts with a drive from Amsterdam. On a quiet evening the A2 reaches the centre in around forty minutes, but this is one of the busiest motorway corridors in the country, and weekday rush hours can add a good deal more. Please give us more than the usual hour's notice, and message earlier in the day if you can. We will look at the road, tell you honestly when she can be at your door and confirm it in the chat before anyone sets off.

No Dutch station handles more passengers than Utrecht Centraal, and intercity trains from Amsterdam Centraal pull in around half an hour after leaving, with direct trains from Schiphol taking a little longer. Walk through the covered Hoog Catharijne mall attached to it and you come out in the old town; the Dom is a twelve minute walk. Utrecht Vaartsche Rijn, a smaller stop to the south, suits guests staying in the newer residential quarters by the canal.

Our companions make the journey by car on the A2, which on a clear evening means roughly forty minutes from the south of Amsterdam to the edge of the old centre. The inner city itself is largely closed to through traffic, so the car stops on the ring of singels around the centre and she walks the last part. Around the Jaarbeurs, parking and drop off are simple, which makes trade fair evenings some of our most predictable arrivals outside the capital.

Utrecht evenings tend to be relaxed and unpretentious: dinner in a wharf cellar, a drink on a canal-side terrace, then back to the hotel. After a long trade fair day at the Jaarbeurs, Karolina, poised and witty, keeps the conversation sharp and the evening discreet. Vanessa, curious and relaxed with a love of languages, suits a slow dinner, and Roxi brings playful, vivacious energy when the night calls for it.

Heading on to the coast later in the week? Our Den Haag and Rotterdam pages cover those drives, and the complete line-up is available for Utrecht too.