Dordrecht

Introduction

In my trip to the Netherlands last year, Dordrecht was one of the many lovely places I went to for the day. It's an old city with a strong economy located in the south of Holland and is a place that not many people outside of The Netherlands have heard of very much, but it's easy to find lots of information about the area with a simple google search. It's technically an island, but because of the strong transport links and because it's not very isolated, it doesn't feel like an island. I think it's a shame that not many people know about the place, and I think it looks like a lovely place to live.

Prices

I got a ticket to travel on the buses for about 13 euros. Not only did it include all the local bus routes, but it also covered the boat trip as well. That's because across the waters is Sliedrecht, and a lot of the locals use the bus to commute to work.

I thought 13 euros was really good value especially in some places where it's from 16 euros just for one boat ride. I had a look around the shops as well and I thought the prices were decent. Managed to get quite a lot of souvenirs of Holland without breaking the bank. The restaurant prices varied, but I did have a nice salad at one of the local restaurants which I thought was nice and was good value for money.

From Amsterdam Centraal Station to Dordrecht, a return was about 30 euros and then it's an extra couple of euros for the quick service when you change trains at Rotterdam. It takes about an hour to get there, so if you get there early, you could spend the whole day there if you wanted to. If you're staying in Rotterdam, it's even cheaper as it's a lot closer to Dordrecht. Tickets are available from five euros.

Also worth mentioning that a lot of the public toilets charge 50 cents for use unless you are a customer of their premises.

Facilities

As it's also one of the oldest cities in Holland, it also has a lot of history connected to the place. Naturally, there's a lot of museums to explore, I didn't go to any museums this time, but would consider having a look at it on my second visit.

It was a very wealthy place in it's prime, and still to this day going on the boat, or the waterbus as they call it, you can see a lot of industrial sites and business parks but once you're past those, you see some lovely views of little houses down the lake, windmills and The Biesbosch National Park, which is described as Holland's Jungle.

It's easy to get around the city by foot, bus and boat. It's also a lot more care friendly than its country's capital. The public transport was mainly punctual and had no issues with the buses and boat. English isn't as widely used as it is in other major cities in The Netherlands but there were English menus available in the restaurant I went to and also in one bookshop I went to, they had quite a wide selection of books written in English.

A lot of the shops I saw were mainly local shops and Dutch chain stores and nothing I recognised from the UK. There are lots of little shops about and VVVdordrect lists the majority of them. There's a lot to do in the city and the shops tend to close between 5 and 5:30.

Conclusion

Dordrecht is a lovely place and I would go there again on my next trip to Holland. I haven't considered staying there yet, but I'm sure it would be lovely. The hotel prices didn't seem too bad. The cheapest is £50 a night. A lot of the place seems to be untouched by tourism, so that's a big appeal to some travellers and local holiday makers.

Even though the things to do may seem the same as some other places, it's a lot less crowded them the city centres and there are a lot fewer queues as well. I really enjoyed the peace and quiet. I personally think it's worth venturing out for it, especially if you're near Rotterdam.

The weather was lovely on the day we were in Dordrecht, so we were quite lucky there. Even if the weather did turn sour, there would have still been some museums, shops and cafes I could have stayed in until the rain cleared up, but I think Dordrecht is best enjoyed under the sunshine.

Further Reading

Dordrecht's Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dordrecht

Tourist Information on Dordrect - http://www.vvvdordrecht.nl/