s-Hertogenbosch; Friday, 14 August, 2026

I had a really good nights sleep and woke up just before my alarm went off at 9am, leaving me just enough time to have a shower, get dressed and down to breakfast before they started putting everything away.

After checking out of the hotel I walked the short distance back to Hoofddorp to start my journey over to ‘s-Hertogenbosch, which was going to be taking about 50% longer than it should have done as engineering works had closed the line between Utrecht and ‘s-Hertogenbosch so my options were either a long rail replacement bus ride, or to pay the €3.20 supplement and get the Intercity Direct the long way round through Rotterdam, Breda and Tilburg to my final destination, and that also meant having to back track first to Schiphol. Given the temperature was already starting to nudge 30c I decided that airconditioned trains were better than waiting for a rail replacement bus and so paid the supplement and started the near 2½ hour journey.

In the end it took a little longer as a holdup outside Breda station meant I missed the fast Intercity Train and instead had to get the stopping Sprinter train the final leg to Den Bosch, adding about another 15 minutes to the journey. By the time I stepped out of the train the temperatures had climbed into the high 30s and with little shade it wasn’t the nicest 15-minute walk to the hotel to check-in, where thankfully my room was already available so I could drop my bags off, freshen up and spray on another layer of sun cream before heading back out.

After a quick detour into a supermarket by the hotel to pick up a couple of litres of water, I headed in towards the centre of town, taking the path that runs alongside the Dommel river all the way into the heart of the city and then on a little further to the Citadel which sits at the point where several rivers and canals meet. The citadel is today mostly council offices, but the grounds and ramparts are open to the public to look around. You can cross through the Citadel and from the opposite side of the moat, formed by the River Aa, get some excellent views of the building.

From the Citadel I had a wander back through some of the narrow streets of the city centre, taking in the many paths of the extensive network of narrow canals that run around the city. By the 1960s these were little more than open sewers and under threat of being filled in, but campaigns to save them saw the canals preserved in the early 1970s and then over the next 25 years carefully drained, cleaned, rebuilt and finally reopened as a tourist attraction.

I stopped off at the Brede or Smalle Haven located right in the heart of the city and the point where the small canal network intersects with the larger traditional canals and rivers of the city. It’s also home to supermarket for some more water and a very nice ice-cream shop for a refreshing late afternoon snack.

From the former fish market area by Smalle Haven I wandered into the very centre of the city and the odd shaped Markt that marks the centre of the city, is home to one of the two city halls of the ‘s-Hertogenbosch (the historic one, as apposed to the modern late 20th century council offices elsewhere in the city centre). The Markt is also home to the town well, which still dispenses drinking water and the statue to the city’s most famous son – Jheronimus Bosch.

From the Markt it’s then a very short walk through the narrow streets to the Parade, a large square directly in front of the city’s Sint Janskathedraal which by the time I got there was already closing for the evening, but I had a little wander around the outside before heading back to Markt to take in one of the many restaurants that line one side of the square to get some dinner.

Having spent most of the afternoon walking in 37c heat by the time I finished dinner I was feeling pretty knackered, so I decided to head back to the hotel for an early night, choosing to head back through the centre of town and over the Wilhelminabrug, the main bridge of the city centre and past the impressive Dragon Fountain or Drakenfontein before using the station as my way of getting across the railway tracks and back to my hotel, where the aircon in my room had reduced the temperature to a very pleasant 16C, which after a quick shower to clear off the days exertions actually felt a little cold.