De Uithof
The university campus east of town, officially Utrecht Science Park: landmark architecture, botanical gardens on a fort, tram 22 to Centraal.
Modern university buildings and a tram stop at Utrecht Science Park, formerly De Uithof
Why people stay in De Uithof
De Uithof, renamed Utrecht Science Park but still called De Uithof by everyone over thirty, is the university and hospital campus built on former farmland east of the A27. Around 70,000 people study, work or are treated here on a weekday, and almost nobody sleeps here. Streets have European names — Heidelberglaan, Padualaan, Budapestlaan, Universiteitsweg — and the buildings are a genuinely serious collection of late 20th-century architecture: Rem Koolhaas's Educatorium, Mecanoo's library, Wiel Arets's Minnaert building, all within a ten-minute walk of each other.
The other reason to come is horticultural. The university's Botanische Tuinen on the Budapestlaan wrap around Fort Hoofddijk, a small fort of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie, with a rock garden terraced into its earth banks, a pinetum, tropical and desert glasshouses and a butterfly house. Entry is around €11, it opens daily through the growing season and shuts for much of the winter, and on a Tuesday morning in May you may share it with a dozen people. It is the best argument that this campus belongs on a visitor's list at all.
Evenings are the campus's weak spot. Lecture halls empty by 18:00, the canteens close, and by nine the Heidelberglaan is a lit tramway with cyclists on it and the hospital glowing at the northern end. Student bars exist but are few and term-dependent; in July the place is a ghost town. Beds are equally thin — a handful of guest rooms and apartments tied to the university and hospital, plus B&Bs on the Bunnik and Utrecht Oost fringes — so anyone attending a conference here should look at Rijnsweerd, Utrecht Oost or Bunnik and ride in.
Where it earns its place on this site is sustainability and access to green. The campus runs on a heat and cold storage network with a stated ambition of energy neutrality, its car parks are being pushed to the edge, and it is served by a tram line built specifically to replace bus queues. Step off the eastern side and you are in the Kromme Rijn valley, with Amelisweerd's old woods, Rhijnauwen's fort and pancake house, and the cycle route towards Bunnik and the Heuvelrug. It is a campus with a national park within half an hour.
There is no real hotel district here, so treat the campus as a destination and sleep on its edges. The best options are the eastern side of Utrecht Oost around the Kromme Rijn, 10 minutes by bike, and Bunnik village, 15 minutes by bike or two stops by train, where doubles run €80 to €120 with free parking. On campus itself, university and UMC guest accommodation on and around the Heidelberglaan and Padualaan is bookable for visiting academics and hospital family, typically €80 to €130, plain and quiet. If you must be within walking distance of a lecture hall, book that months ahead — supply is measured in dozens of rooms. Avoid anything on the A27 side for noise, and be aware that campus catering shuts at 18:00 and much of it closes entirely in July and August.
Things to do in De Uithof
At Budapestlaan 17, the university botanical gardens use the earthworks of Fort Hoofddijk as a rock garden, and add a pinetum, prehistoric garden, tropical glasshouses and a butterfly house. Entry around €11, open daily in the growing season, closed much of winter. Allow two hours and go before 11:00 for the glasshouses in peace.
Start at the Educatorium on the Leuvenlaan, Rem Koolhaas's folded-concrete lecture and canteen building, then walk to the university library on the Heidelberglaan and the black-glass Minnaert building. All are publicly accessible on weekdays during term. Half an hour on foot covers the best of Dutch campus architecture from 1995 onwards.
The tram from Utrecht Centraal to the P+R at the campus edge takes about 16 minutes, running every few minutes, and it was built to replace the most overloaded bus corridor in the country. Ride it once in the morning peak to understand how a Dutch university city actually moves. A day ticket is about €8.
Head south-east off campus and in 10 minutes you are on the Kromme Rijn at Rhijnauwen, with a fort, a hostel, and the Theehuis where pancakes run about €10, then the beech avenues of Oud and Nieuw Amelisweerd. Free, open all year, and the finest half-day walk within cycling distance of central Utrecht.
The Utrecht University Museum sits in the old city rather than on campus, but its research and much of its botanical collection connect directly to the gardens here. Combine the two in one day: gardens on the Budapestlaan in the morning, tram 22 back to Centraal, then the museum's cabinet of curiosities in the afternoon.
The campus sports complex on the Uppsalalaan has outdoor pitches, courts, a pool and a climbing wall, and sells day passes at student prices, usually under €12. It is the one part of Utrecht Science Park that is genuinely busy at 20:00, and a good way to get a swim without trekking back into town.
What to see
Hotels near De Uithof
No hotels are listed in De Uithof yet. The nearest ones are on the region page.
Every hotel we cover in De Uithof
Getting around De Uithof
From Schiphol take the intercity to Utrecht Centraal, 35 minutes and about €11.20, then tram 22 from the platform beside the station to the campus, roughly 16 minutes, departing every few minutes on weekdays and slightly less often at weekends and in summer. Buses also serve the campus from Centraal and continue east to Zeist and Bunnik. Cycling from the city centre takes 20 to 25 minutes via the Biltstraat or the Kromme Rijn route, and the campus is designed around bikes: separate lanes, thousands of racks, and almost no through traffic. Drivers should use the large P+R at the campus edge rather than hunting for on-site spaces.
Questions about De Uithof
Barely. There are university and hospital guest rooms and a few serviced apartments, typically €80 to €130, plus B&Bs just off the campus, and that is close to the whole supply. Anyone here for a conference should book months ahead or stay in Utrecht Oost, Rijnsweerd or Bunnik and ride in, which takes 10 to 15 minutes by bike.
Tram 22 does it in about 16 minutes, leaving from the tram platform beside the station and running every few minutes during weekday daytimes. Buses cover the same corridor and continue towards Zeist. By bike it is 6 km, roughly 20 to 25 minutes, mostly on protected lanes. Evening tram frequency drops, so check the last departure if you are out late in town.
Yes, and it is the main visitor draw here. The rock garden built into the earthworks of Fort Hoofddijk is unusual, the glasshouses are properly stocked, and the butterfly house works well with children. Around €11, open daily in the growing season and largely shut in winter, so check dates in November through February before making the trip out.
Largely, yes. July and August strip out the students, most canteens close or run short hours, and evenings are very quiet, though the hospital keeps the northern end busy year-round. If you want the campus with a pulse, come during term on a weekday morning. If you want the botanical gardens without crowds, come in the holidays.
