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Utrecht Self Guided Tour with Stories along the Canals

Explore Utrecht on a self-guided audio walk through a cathedral split in two, a fish doorbell, resistance heroes, medieval legends, and vanished fortresses.

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$6.99

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Highlights 


  • Trace missing buildings through outlines, stones and surviving fragments.

  • Hear Truus van Lier’s story beside the statue, watching her old lookout.

  • Follow a canal-side poem that grows one letter at a time.

  • Discover Utrecht’s lower wharves and the iron women of Winkel van Sinkel.

  • Find local food stories at Theo Blom and Broodje Mario before finishing at Weerdsluis.

Preview Stop

Truus van Lier Statue
00:00 / 01:04
Find the bronze young woman standing here. She's life-size, and she isn't looking at you. She's looking along the street. Follow her gaze. She's watching the way a man used to walk home. This is Truus van Lier, the woman whose name blooms on the moat every spring. She was a law student here in Utrecht, and when the Germans occupied the country, she joined an armed resistance group. The man she was watching was the city's police chief, a member of the Dutch Nazi party. His force hunted Jews in hiding, and he was about to arrest a group of Jews and resistance people. So Truus followed him for weeks. She learned his route from the police station to his home on this street, the Willemsplantsoen. On the third of September, nineteen hundred and forty-three, she waited at the end of the Walsteeg, the little lane that comes out right here. When he passed, she shot him twice. He died in the street, in the arms of his wife. Truus got on her bicycle and rode away. About six weeks later, she was betrayed and arrested. She was deported to Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp north of Berlin where the SS carried out executions, and there she was killed. She was twenty-two. When this statue was planned, the artist faced a problem. Only a few portrait photographs of Truus survive, not enough to show how she stood or moved. So the body was cast from a living Utrecht law student of the same age, and another sculptor modelled the head. It was unveiled on Truus's birthday. The artist explained the spot simply. Truus often stood here, keeping watch. Now look across the water to the opposite bank. That's where the daffodils spell TRUUS each spring, facing the lane where she waited. Her story has a quieter twin. Truus had a cousin with the very same first name, Geertruida, who went by Trui. While Truus fought with a pistol, Trui ran a crèche, and through it she saved at least a hundred and fifty Jewish children. She has a flower monument of her own, in a park across town. Two cousins, one name, two kinds of courage. When you're ready, follow the map to the Mariaplaats, where a whole church has gone missing.
About this activity 

Free Cancellation 

  • Cancel up to 2 hours in advance for a full refund 

Valid 365 days 

  • Tour is valid for 1 year and can be used multiple times 

Language Options  

  • English | French | German | Spanish | Italian | Dutch | Polish | Russian | Portuguese

Duration  

  • 2 hours and 30 minutes

Itinerario

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Full Description
Follow Utrecht’s canals through a city that remembers what disappeared—from a vanished fortress to a cathedral split in two. This self-guided audio walk connects 22 stops with resistance stories, local legends, chocolate towers, and a lock with a fish doorbell. Allow around 3 hours for the 4.5 km route, with time to pause whenever you choose.
Important Information 


  • Instructions with link to app and how to access the tour will be sent to your email post checkout  

  • You can gain instant access to the tour by downloading the app and buying the tour on the app. 

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