Living in Amersfoort

Amersfoort is a city in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. It is the second-largest city of the province and fifteenth-largest of the country. Amersfoort is also one of the largest Dutch railway junctions, due to its location on two of the Netherlands' main east to west and north to south railway lines. In this way Amersfoort city as well as the university is easily connected to other large cities as Utrecht, Amsterdam, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Hague, Rotterdam and Maastricht.

Housing near SOMT University of Physiotherapy in Amersfoort

SOMT University of Physiotherapy is located near the railway station Amersfoort Schothorst, one of the three stations within Amersfoort. It is located in a modern neighbourhood with office buildings and houses. In close range to the University, SOMT University of Physiotherapy together with its Partner M7 and the local government are planning to build (inter) national student & staff housing. So we can guarantee a house for you! Each apartment will consist of a living room and bedroom and bathroom.

Living Costs

The costs for the student & staff housing are expected to vary between 400 to 600 euro’s a month. Living costs for food and transportation in the Netherlands will cost approximately 200-300 a month. Although costs can be diminished by using everyone's favorite way of transportation in the Netherlands: the bike. With a 10-minute bike ride you will be at the lovely medieval center of Amersfoort.

Sport facilities

As sport clubs are city-run in the Netherlands, Amersfoort offers a lot of sports to suit whatever you need. At www.fitnessinamersfoort.nl you can find all the gyms in the city. If you are more interested to join a club you can go to www.amersfoortsportstad.nl. 

Bars, Cafés, Restaurants

The most popular square in Amersfoort is called “De Hof”, where you will find lots of cafés that are open till early in the morning, or where you can enjoy the sun on the big cozy terraces in summer.

• Café ’t Hoekje
  The society of student association StuRa, the club evening of the student-association is every Thursday. www.lavendelstraat.nl/arrangementen/het-hoekje
• Curtis café
  Join the terrace during day time, have some lunch, or come back for a dance during night-time. www.curtiscafe.nl
• Café Lobbes
  Intimate beer café, where you can catch up with your friends or play some board games.
• Café Miles
  Café Milles is famous because of its Live Music. Every week various artists will perform on stage.
• In den Grooten Slock
  Oldest café in Amersfoort. A good place to have a quick meal or to drink a beer in the evening.
• ’t Zoldertje
  Would you like to have a chill evening, and play some pool? Go to ‘t Zoldertje! http://www.zoldertje-amersfoort.nl

Restaurants

• De Vereeniging
  Cheap, healty and delicious! Every tuesday students can buy a daymeal for only €6. www.devereeniging.nl
• Wit Lof
  Healhy and affordable ‘to go’ meals. www.wit-lof.com
• La Cubanita
  “All you can eat” mexican food. www.lacubanita.nl
• Pannekoekenhuys Den Potsenmaeker
  Typical dutch dish, ‘pannenkoeken’; like pancakes, but different!
  www.potsenmaeker.nl
• Vlaams friteshuis “Van Gogh”
  One of the best hand-made French fries of the Netherlands. www.vangoghfrites.nl
• A la minute
  Great Italian food for very reasonable prices; www.a-la-minute.nl

Cinemas and theaters

• De lieve vrouw
  Cult/Art movies and theatre. www.lievevrouw.nl
• JT Bioscoop Amersfoort
  Cinema showing all major movie productions in their original language www.jt.nl
• Pathe Bioscoop Amersfoort
  Cinema showing all major movie productions in their original language www.pathe.nl
• De lieve vrouw
  Cult/Art movies and theatre. www.lievevrouw.nl
• Flint theater
  Theatre: www.deflint.nl

Shopping

A numerous amount of shops are present in the city centre. In general, all stores have the following opening hours:

• Monday: 13:00 hrs – 18:00 hrs
• Tue-Wed: 09:00 hrs – 18:00 hrs
• Thursday: 09:00 hrs – 21:00 hrs
• Friday: 09:00 hrs – 18.00 hrs
• Saturday: 09.00 hrs – 17.00 hrs
• Sunday: 12.00 hrs – 17.00 hrs

Market

On Friday and Saturday mornings, the market square (de Hof) is full of stalls and tents selling fresh produce, meats, cheeses and lots of fun merchandise as well. The Friday market is particularly known for its food and goods. Prices are generally comparable to the Aldi and Lidl, the food is farm-fresh and the atmosphere is great. Although prices are not as tightly fixed as in a department store, haggling is generally not acceptable. Still, there is always a bargain to be found and the more you buy, the cheaper it gets. The market is open from 09.00 to 13:00 hrs on Friday and from 09.00 to 17.00 hrs on Saturday, be on time to get the best quality!

History

The city has a very old town centre with city walls, beautiful canals, lots of small restaurants and pubs and a lovely market every Saturday morning. The city grew around what is now known as the central square, the Hof, where the Bishops of Utrecht established a court. It was granted city rights in 1259 by the bishop of Utrecht. A first defensive wall, made out of brick, was finished around 1300. Soon after, the need for enlargement of the city became apparent and around 1380 the construction of a new wall was begun and completed around 1450. The famous Koppelpoort, a combined land and water gate, is part of this second wall. The first wall was demolished and houses were built in its place. Today's Muurhuizen (wall houses) Street is at the exact location of the first wall; the fronts of the houses are built on top of the first city wall's foundations.

The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwentoren (Tower of Our Lady) is one of the tallest medieval church towers in the Netherlands at 98 metres (322 ft). When it was built, it was the middle point of The Netherlands, it was exactly built in the center and a reference for the Dutch grid system. The nickname of the tower is Lange Jan (‘Long John’). In front of the Long John, is a lovely market square (one of many) with a lot of restaurants and pubs.

The inner city of Amersfoort has been preserved well since the Middle Ages. Apart from the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwetoren, the Koppelpoort, and the Muurhuizen (Wall-houses), there is also the Sint-Joriskerk (Saint George's church), the canal-system with its bridges, as well as medieval and other old buildings; many are designated as national monuments. During the Middle Ages, Amersfoort was an important center for the textile industry, and there were a large number of breweries.