Nijmegen; Monday, 02 May, 2016

Another long lie in and after breakfast and checkout I headed out of the hotel and wandered over to the nearby Kronenburgerpark to have a look around. Like the Valkhofpark this contains remnants of former fortifications with parts of defensive walls and the picturesque Kruittoren now turned into a pleasant park with a large lake and fountain.

On a sunny warm day, the park was quite busy, despite it being a normal working day. I had a long wander round before heading over towards the centre of town and wandering up to the main church – St Stevens.

The Church and its tower dominate the city skyline, particularly from the river so I took advantage of the church tower being open on a Monday morning to climb to the top and take in the excellent views over the city and beyond. It’s also very easy to see the change in landscape that made Nijmegen such an important location in times gone by with the land to the West flat as far as the eye can see, but to the East hills starting to form.

Having taken in the views from the top of the tower I descended back down to street level and had a look around inside the quite plane and austere church before wandering over into the Grote Markt for a quick lunch.

Lunch completed I headed down to the riverside and had a quick look around the Bicycle museum before it was time to head back to the hotel, collect my stuff and start the long journey back home.