These are the best places to travel this summer

Nijmegen

Shop

Get even more with a Lonely Planet guide.

Shop Book
Central town square in Nijmegan

Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

Plan your trip with Guide, an AI travel planner!

Create a personalized trip itinerary in seconds using artificial intelligence.

Create a trip

Overview

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.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Honigcomplex

    Honigcomplex

    Nijmegen

    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…

  • Nationaal Fietsmuseum Velorama

    Nationaal Fietsmuseum Velorama

    Nijmegen

    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…

  • Grote Markt

    Grote Markt

    Nijmegen

    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…

  • muZIEum

    muZIEum

    Nijmegen

    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…

  • Sint Stevenskerk

    Sint Stevenskerk

    Nijmegen

    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…

  • Valkhofpark

    Valkhofpark

    Nijmegen

    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…

  • De Waagh

    De Waagh

    Nijmegen

    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…

  • Museum het Valkhof

    Museum het Valkhof

    Nijmegen

    Changing temporary exhibitions form a substantial part of this regional history museum, at home in a striking glass shoebox-style building by Valkhof Park…

Get a book. Get inspired. Get exploring.

in partnership with getyourguide

Book popular activities in Nijmegen