Arnhem

After my few days in Amsterdam I travelled down to Arnhem, which takes about 50 minutes on the train and is, as I was told by people in Amsterdam, ‘over near the German border somewhere’.

Arnhem is famous for the World War 2 battles to reclaim it. These battles were retold in the 1977 movie ‘A bridge too far’, although the movie used a bridge in nearby Deventer, because it was decided that Arnhem no longer looked like Arnhem.

John Frost bridge, replacing 2 earlier bridges that were both blown up

The city’s main tourist attractions revolve around its infamy during world war 2. Lonely Planet struggled to come up with half a dozen things to do there, mentioning just the war cemetery, a handful of museums and the zoo.

None of those things appealed to me especially, so instead I decided to do my own thing.

I tracked down a market.

There’s an art market too

Saturday art market

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I went to the fashion district, a formally run-down neighbourhood that has been revitalised with some fashion shops where you can buy unique pieces direct from the designer.

Modekwartier, like a kind of Arnhem version of London’s Shoreditch

I searched out some graffiti.

Street art or graffiti?

The park’s good too.

Quack quack

Best of all, in summer you can climb to the top of the multi-storey carpark where you will find a little bar/restaurant with great views over the city.

rooftop bar

It’s a cute little city. It’s main crime is being twinned with Croydon, which for anyone who doesn’t know is the worse place in the entire London area.