Utrecht — Langs de werven van de Oudegracht

Utrecht has a canal you can look at twice. From above, the Oudegracht looks like many other canals: façades, bridges, cyclists. But a few metres lower, just above the water, lies a second street: the wharf, with vaulted cellars behind it that run under the road. Canals with wharves like these are considered unique in the world. Once you know how they came about, you look at the city differently.

This city walk follows the canal from north to south, in about an hour and a half and eleven stops. You see how a difference in height, created by digging, grew into a harbour on two levels, and what became of it later. Cellars that once held wine, wood, peat and food are now homes, studios and terraces by the water. Exactly where you go, you discover along the way.

At every stop you read the story of exactly that place on your phone. Sometimes it is a building you would otherwise walk past, sometimes a bridge you have often crossed. You look up, you look down at the wharf, and the city gains an extra layer. That is how three kilometres of walking become a story you put together yourself.

You walk at your own pace, without a guide and without a group. You buy the route, start when you are in Utrecht and then have 48 hours. As soon as you start, you receive your digital goodie bag by email, with tips for along the way and a button to pick up the route again at any moment. A coffee break or a terrace on the wharf: the route waits for you.

The whole route can be done up on the street. If you like, you can walk part of the way down on the wharf in a few places, right by the water. After this walk you will never see the Oudegracht as just another canal again: you know what lies beneath the street.