Netherlands

The Top of Holland: Climbing Utrecht’s Dom Tower

By Kat Knapp on August 24, 2016

I have been living in the beautiful city of Utrecht for almost three months now and I finally got around to climbing the tallest church tower in the country which sits in the middle of the City: Utrecht’s Dom Tower.

It was actually a complete accidental touristy afternoon. I was innocently doing some much needed for my next adventure (which I will share with you all soon) when I happened to walk past the Dom’s tourist office. The sky was unusually clear for a Dutch summers day and I realised I had to make the most of the clear skies and finally see that panoramic view.

I had heard that on clear days you could see all the way to Amsterdam – it was time to see how true that was.

I bought my ticket just as the last group for the day was entering the tower and ran to catch the group. And I was on my way up.

I quickly checked my ticket – 465 steps to the top. I guess I would skip my run that evening.

The tour guide was lovely and we stopped at 3 different points on the way up. We stopped to admire the historic bells with a total weight of no less than 32,000 kg, we then climbed up to one floor higher where the magnificent 17th-century Hemony carillon and lives and then another stop at a viewpoint before the final panoramic top level.

At 112 m and 32 cm (369 ft) in height, the Dom Tower is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands. So you can only imagine how great the view is. (Although the highest viewpoint is actually at 95 m (312 ft)).

After the intense climb we finally reached the platform where we had a magnificent panoramic view of the city of Utrecht and its surroundings (all the way to Amsterdam).

Due to it’s extreme height there are extreme safety precautions and unfortunately the view is very obscured by fencing which slightly diminished the magnificence of the view.

It was still a great experience and a great excuse for an afternoon post-shopping workout.