Eindhoven is a municipality and a city located in the province of Noord-Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, originally at the confluence of the Dommel and Gender streams. The Gender was dammed off in the post-war years, but the Dommel still runs through the city.
Neighbouring cities and towns include Son en Breugel, Nuenen, Geldrop-Mierlo, Heeze-Leende, Waalre, Veldhoven, Eersel, Oirschot andBest. The agglomeration has some 440,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area (which includes Helmond) has nearly 750,000 inhabitants. Also, Eindhoven is part of Brabant Stad, a combined metropolitan area with more than 2 million inhabitants.
This is the city where I am living and where I am studying. The most important place is the centre of the city, next to the Central Station. You can go there because it is full of shops, restaurants, pubs...
With the covered shopping centre 'De Heuvel Galerie', Piazza Centre, large department stores including the exclusive 'De Bijenkorf' and an extensive selection of boutiques an specialist shops, the centre of Eindhoven is the most bustling shopping centre in the South of the Netherlands.
Where to go?
The following streets form the main, pedestrianised shopping area: 18 Septemberplein, Demer, Rechtestraat, de Markt, Nieuwstraat, Hermanus Boexstraat, Vrijstraat and Hooghuisstraat.
How can you arrive?
- Eindhoven is a rail transport hub. The main station has connections in the directions of:
-Tilburg - Breda - Dordrecht - Rotterdam - Delft - Den Haag
-'s-Hertogenbosch - Utrecht - Amsterdam - Alkmaar
-'s-Hertogenbosch - Utrecht - Amsterdam Zuid - Schiphol Airport
-Helmond - Venlo
-Weert - Roermond - Sittard - Maastricht/Heerlen
Eindhoven's central railway station is served by both intercity and local services while the smaller station, Eindhoven Beukenlaan is only served by local trains.
Up until World War II, a train service connected Amsterdam to Liège via Eindhoven and Valkenswaard, but the service was discontinued and the line broken up. Recently, talks have resumed to have a service to Neerpelt, Belgium via Weert.
Located approximately 8 kilometres from the town centre, Eindhoven Airport is the closest airport nearby, and the second busiest in the country (after Schiphol). There are flights with Air France to London City, Ryanair serves London Stansted airport, Dublin, Rome, Milan, Pisa, Marseille, Glasgow, Madrid, Valencia, Stockholm, Reus and Girona (both near Barcelona)and Wizzair. In the summer season, Reykjavík is served with 2 weekly flights operated by Iceland Express.
There are direct bus to the central station for €3 each 20 minutes (401 line).
The A2 / E25 motorway from Amsterdam to Luxemburg passes Eindhoven to the west and south of the city. The A2 connects to the highway A58 to Tilburg and Breda just north of the city. Just south of Eindhoven, the A2 connects to the A67 / E34 between Antwerp and Duisburg. In 2006, the A50 was completed connecting Eindhoven to Nijmegen and Zwolle.
The public transport of Eindhoven consists of almost 25 city bus lines, which also serve neighbouring cities like Veldhoven, Geldrop and Nuenen. Two of these buslines (401 and 402) arehigh quality public transport and the buses on these lines are so-called Phileas vehicles, a combination of tram and bus. Apart from the city lines there are some 30 regional and rush-hourlines.
What do you have to visit?
Philips Stadion.
-PSV Eindhoven is the major football (soccer) club in the city. Playing in the Philips Stadion it is one of the dominant clubs in The Netherlands' top-ranked league, Eredivisie. PSV won the national title a total of 21 times. Recent successes include the 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 national titles, finishing second in the league in 2002 and 2004. In international football, PSV were the 1988 winners of the European Cup (Champions League), the highest achievement in European club football.
Going out in Eindhoven
Eindhoven has a compact and lively city centre. People go out and nightlife takes place mainly in five different 'going out areas'. These areas, each with its own atmosphere and character, are all within walking distance of one another in the city centre. One of them are the Stratum Street.
It is a street with numerous bars, cafes and pubs. It is the perfect place to enjoy one night dancing.
Opening hours
In Eindhoven the pubs are opened until 04.00 hours on Fridays and Saturdays. On other days they close at 02.00 hours.
