Cobble Stones & Concept Stores // Exploring Nijmegen

Relocation can be an unsettling and stressful experience. Along with all the brain twisting organising and planning, comes the scariest of challenges... change! Although we know really, that change is a wonderful, productive and opportunistic thing, it can be a real emotional ball ache at times.


Those that have read my blog a while now, (hi Mum), will know about my venture from England to the the Netherlands and my epic journey that entailed learning a new language, leaving my family, friends and job behind and starting a fresh with an extremely tall Dutch man. Big change! But amongst many of the doors that have opened to me, since decided to take the leap, one of those brilliant factors is getting to explore my new environment.

After living a year in the area Richard grew up, we re packed the vans once again and headed out East, away from the sea, the cities and the industry and towards the flattest fields you ever saw, stretching out for miles. Being on the border of Germany opens up many more options of cool little towns and villages to explore, as well as discovering what's on offer beyond our own backyard. Which leads me nicely to the historically rich city of Nijmegen.

Nijmegen lies south of Arnhem and is connected to the rest of the country by it's nifty train system and multiple buses, allowing epic access to the hidden treasures that wait within it's welcoming embrace! Full to the brim with twisting lanes, cobbled streets and stunning classic Dutch architecture, Nijmegen has a fantastic balance of old and new, boasting a large student population- (meaning discount beer and high chances of being hit in the head by a frisbee whilst passing through the park!).

Boasting some of the best places to sit down for a coffee and giant wedge of cake, a variety of gorgeous book shops (and a huge public library), antique specialists and vintage clothing galore AND more concept fashion stores than you can shake a miniature succulent at! Nijmegen is my location of choice for whiling away an afternoon, strolling it's pretty side walks and partaking in a little retail therapy before chilling with a new book in one of the multiple parks within the city.

This place holds rank as one of the top hot-spots that I always recommend to travelling friends or play tour guide to family and visitors here, as it holds such a juicy mixture of sights and activities, all the while with it's friendly gezellig atmosphere, and is only a short hop on the train from my home!


Have any of you visited/ lived/ studied here? Do you have any top tips of places to visit and explore within your neighbourhood? I can't wait to share with you some of the other adventures I've snapped, whilst settling in to my next chapter here!