's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch)

Capital Of North Brabant And Home Town Of Hieronymus Bosch: St John'S Cathedral, The Binnendieze Boat Tours And The Bosch Art Centre · 's-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant

's-Hertogenbosch, which everyone calls Den Bosch, is the capital of North Brabant and one of the most enjoyable old towns in the south: a walled Burgundian-flavoured city of narrow streets, cafe terraces and good food, about an hour by train from Amsterdam. The painter Hieronymus Bosch was born and worked here around 1450-1516 and took his name from the town. People come for St John's Cathedral, the finest Brabantine Gothic church in the country, whose flying buttresses carry dozens of little stone figures - among them, since a restoration around 2010, an angel said to be holding a mobile phone. They come to glide under the houses on the Binnendieze, the old canals that run beneath the city, to see Bosch's whole work reproduced in the Jheronimus Bosch Art Centre, and to eat a Bossche bol, a chocolate-covered cream bun the size of a fist. In February the city turns into Oeteldonk, the frog town, for one of the biggest Carnivals in the country. The honest caveat: none of Bosch's original paintings hang here; the art centre shows copies.

Den Bosch old town from the Markt to St John's Cathedral, with the Binnendieze canals running under the houses, 's-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant, Netherlands

A city open all year; the streets, the Markt, the city walls and the cathedral exterior are free at any hour. The cathedral is usually open daily in the daytime, with shorter hours during services - confirm. Museums mostly open Tuesday to Sunday roughly 10:00/11:00-17:00 and close on Mondays. Binnendieze boats run all year but most often from spring to autumn; book online in summer and on weekends. Den Bosch station has direct trains from Amsterdam (about 1 hour), Utrecht (about 30 minutes) and Eindhoven (about 20 minutes); tap in and out with OVpay. The old town starts about 5-10 minutes on foot from the station. During Carnival book rooms months ahead.

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