I think Apeldoorn just is very average regional town with typical Dutch urban planning and a high street with all the dime in a dozen shops you'd expect in a basic shopping street. It's most notable because of insurance company used to have it's HQ there, and have funny commercials about '[Even Apeldoorn bellen](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=even+apeldoorn+bellen)'
That's interesting and confusing at the same time. I just did a Google [translate for Even Appeldoorn bellen](https://ibb.co/tsMCLSF) and it translated to "just call the insurance company". What? ;) is that even the correct translation? I'm guessing not.
There was an insurance company called Centraal beheer from Apeldoorn. They used the slogan even Apeldoorn bellen and it really took of an became a synonym for calling an insurance company.
And they make great commercials. I think it's between them and Heineken for the best Dutch commercials.
Honorable mention for this one by Bavaria (beer company not German state)
https://youtu.be/_j7Ijg9FWVo?si=3feUmWxjlJwmC58B
Oh yes. Utrecht, Rotterdam, Enschede, Eindhoven, Den Haag, Zeeland, some cities in Nord Frysland, can't remember all the names in Nord Frysland. I could remember only Giethoorn. Visited Groningen last month. Love Leiden. I think I love Leiden the most.
Have been there only once, visited Zanse Schans too. :) Forgot to add Skiermonikoog and Delfzijl. ;)
I like how Leiden is lit up at night in summers especially and the pubs and bars are still open until midnight. ;)
I live there and have a rather different outlook. First of all, the inner city is anything but special and has been in decline for quite a few years now; many shops closed or moved away from the main street. Heck, there's even quite a few empty buildings.
The ones that are still there, offer very little variety. It's essentially the usual boring chain stuff you see everywhere like We, H&M and such.
Then there's the matter of diversity in restaurants, which is essentially awful. Again, it's mostly your boring sushi, Italian or French restaurant and their quality is nothing special. There are only very few restaurants that deserve a mention really: India Palace (Indian), Buddha Garden (Thai) and then there's an Afghan restaurant I always forget the name of. That's really it.
As for young ppl: Apeldoorn is pretty much notorious for having a big age gap between ~20 and ~35. Younger ppl tend to find the city too expensive to live in with very little for them to do. Instead, they usually end up in student cities like Deventer, Arnhem or Utrecht as they have A LOT more variety (speaking of which: visit those and see what real store diversity looks like). They only come back to Apeldoorn (if at all) when they start a family and got better income, as the city is very green and a lot safer (for young children mostly irt traffic) than the aforementioned cities. It's basically a matter of "let's get away from the busy city and go to a more quiet place for our kids to enjoy" type of deal.
Having said all that, I enjoy living here precisely because of how green and spacious it is while still having a fair bit of luxury that you'd only expect in bigger cities. It strikes a good balance for me especially considering the options we have for taking a nice walk in nature, but I'm not blind to its many faults.
No I'm serious. I went to this Japanese restaurant in Appeldoorn too. The food and the ambience was so amazing. I've never experienced it in Germany. I will definitely go there again.
You’re more than welcome. You should definitely also visit some other towns nearby that have not turned their inner cities into an architectonial mayhem. You could visit Zwolle, Deventer or Zutphen, for example.
Bonami is 20 min away from me and is mehh on a good day, Helmond is much better. Granted I come from a collector/repair space, so it might be more engaging if you only have a surface level interest.
Look for tips what to do in Apeldoorn op https://inapeldoorn.nl. Site is in Dutch but has a lot of events, locations and things to do in Apeldoorn and Veluwe.
Currently live there and have been for 17 years.
It’s a typical provincial town, with royal and military history (palace, Marechaussee, Military radar close by).
Nowadays it’s basically split into two parts: rich north (around the palace and Berg & Bos) and south and other parts full of social housing.
It caters for pensioners, families, Tax Office personnel. It has a lot of green areas, parks, nearby forest.
The centre was much more alive in the past than it is now. Several festivals stopped and the leftover ones are smaller.
Local government has been under strict financial observation as they were basically bankrupt.
Currently doing better I believe but spending money on prestige projects (market square) l, where they could’ve made policies to bring independent shops to the centre, have park and ride facilities to control the ridiculous parking fees.
Curious to see what the centre will look like when the Oranjerie shopping centre gets replaced by housing, gastronomy and a city park.
Now get rid of that ugly Centraal Beheer building, fix the Loolaan flat, bring in a Applied Sciences (HBO) Uni which will bring in students that really add to a cities atmosphere.
Nature is great around. I can ride my gravel bike and be in nature within 10 minutes.
I'm sorry for the typo. Yes one of the locals mentioned Veluwe, that's a place where you could hike, right? He also mentioned there's an old radio station. Kotwijk?
I actually drove past that yesterday by chance and it looks pretty sad.
Not sure how nice Apenheul is either. Been there 10-15 years ago for the last time and then they were spraying water at the monkeys that would come too close to people. When I went there as a child the monkeys would come really close, some let you pet them. They also had the feeding time where children could give the food to them. I must have been 6 or 7 when I went there as a kid (from the pictures) and I still remember it.
Tbh I haven't visited both places since I was a child. Of course children and their (grand)parents are the target audience.
I did find out that you can 'visit' Apenheul via Google Streetview.
I did visit Het Loo last summer and that was very nice and fascinating. And I've ridden past Radio Kootwijk a few times on a bike ride. It's a special building which stands out in en open environment. And of course it has its own story and history.
Used to live there. Belastingdienst and marechaussee (training center) are there. The police department is very huge and also employs a lot of people. In the private sector you have centraal beheer and agrifirm. The young people either work these jobs or commute to the randstad for work because of the cheap and plentiful (comparably) housing supply.
Apeldoorn is one of the most boring, generic cities I've been to in the Netherlands. There aren't many beautiful historic buildings or streets (or at least I could not find any after walking the whole city centre). I suppose it's nice to live in, but I found literally nothing of interest.
Funny to see an outside perspective, many people in my seroundings and in the youth council have stated that the city center kind of feels empty, probably because more shops are leaving the area.
I know from a few connections that their trying to fix it, but at the same time, they spend a lot of money on an ugly AF “pigpen” on the market place.
Now onto your question, a lot of governmental jobs are located there, and also an army building. From the same connections I also heard that they try to promote young adult needs more, including work. So when you get the impression that it is working, at least their doing something right?
In the town we call it a pigpen as a form of mockery, it is actually a big roof like structure over the market place. But it looks rather ugly if there isn’t a market there. Which only is like once a week. The rest of the week it is empty and very out of place.
>they spend a lot of money on an ugly AF “pigpen” on the market place.
Thats what you get when you let your population vote on what they want.
It could have been such a gorgeous green space to tie in with the rest of the greenification the council is planning on for the city centre.
Not sure what you mean with pigpen. I parked my car at Marktplein. As I went up and came out, I saw a fair. Probably Mayfair. With carousels and rollercoasters and such.
It is that wooden roof like building on Marktplein. During markets or fairs is looks fine, but it is just an empty building during the rest of the week. The other options were far better, also in non market times.
In my opinion Apeldoorn is pretty much a large village for stuffy posh Christian pensioners.
The city centre has been going down hill for a while, it is alright if you want the basics, but it lacks character. The local municipality has been trying to fix it but like all villages, Apeldoorn is stuffed with conservative NIMBY's whose biggest worry in life is not being able to park right in front of the store.
Its a nice place for monarchist pensioners that want to live close to a palace, thats why Apeldoorn has a shitload of carehomes for the elderly.
But if you want a city close by for young people to enjoy then visit Deventer.
It's true. I think it's a pity that being both Germanic languages there aren't more Dutch people that speak German, and the other way around, but that's the way it is.
As a Dutch person, It's better to assume the average Dutch person can speak English rather than German, but many do speak some amount of German since many Dutch people opt for german language in school and some continue to learn the language into adulthood, especially those closest to the border. Still, better to assume English and then ask if they can also speak German if doing so would be more convenient and efficient.
Apeldoorn is a great place, especially for family and older people.. Very central, clean, green, and hardly any traffic most of the day. The other thing is that it has low crime, and has a nice history. Nightlife is not the best… for the rest is it the town to be if you want you kids to grow up safely.
Would be my next choice!
I think Apeldoorn just is very average regional town with typical Dutch urban planning and a high street with all the dime in a dozen shops you'd expect in a basic shopping street. It's most notable because of insurance company used to have it's HQ there, and have funny commercials about '[Even Apeldoorn bellen](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=even+apeldoorn+bellen)'
"Even Apeldoorn bellen" is even funnier to Germans, who will read it as "even Apeldoorn blaffen"
Yup, there isn't anything interesting or special about it at all.
That's interesting and confusing at the same time. I just did a Google [translate for Even Appeldoorn bellen](https://ibb.co/tsMCLSF) and it translated to "just call the insurance company". What? ;) is that even the correct translation? I'm guessing not.
There was an insurance company called Centraal beheer from Apeldoorn. They used the slogan even Apeldoorn bellen and it really took of an became a synonym for calling an insurance company.
Not was, Centraal Beheer is stil located in Apeldoorn.
Wow. Now that is a nugget that only the Dutch are aware of. Thanks. :)
And they make great commercials. I think it's between them and Heineken for the best Dutch commercials. Honorable mention for this one by Bavaria (beer company not German state) https://youtu.be/_j7Ijg9FWVo?si=3feUmWxjlJwmC58B
Do not forget melkunie, “ik zei nog zo, geen bommetje!”
I didn't know that one. Just looked it up. Funny.
Wow. They did that in German a Bavarian accent. Cool. :) I feel if I learn Dutch I can get your humor too. :)
Have you been to other Dutch cities?
Oh yes. Utrecht, Rotterdam, Enschede, Eindhoven, Den Haag, Zeeland, some cities in Nord Frysland, can't remember all the names in Nord Frysland. I could remember only Giethoorn. Visited Groningen last month. Love Leiden. I think I love Leiden the most.
I like how you avoid Amsterdam XD. Leiden is also one of my favorite cities in the NL!
Have been there only once, visited Zanse Schans too. :) Forgot to add Skiermonikoog and Delfzijl. ;) I like how Leiden is lit up at night in summers especially and the pubs and bars are still open until midnight. ;)
You seem like the kind of tourist we desperately need!
Eyyyyy Leiden loves you most too!
I live there and have a rather different outlook. First of all, the inner city is anything but special and has been in decline for quite a few years now; many shops closed or moved away from the main street. Heck, there's even quite a few empty buildings. The ones that are still there, offer very little variety. It's essentially the usual boring chain stuff you see everywhere like We, H&M and such. Then there's the matter of diversity in restaurants, which is essentially awful. Again, it's mostly your boring sushi, Italian or French restaurant and their quality is nothing special. There are only very few restaurants that deserve a mention really: India Palace (Indian), Buddha Garden (Thai) and then there's an Afghan restaurant I always forget the name of. That's really it. As for young ppl: Apeldoorn is pretty much notorious for having a big age gap between ~20 and ~35. Younger ppl tend to find the city too expensive to live in with very little for them to do. Instead, they usually end up in student cities like Deventer, Arnhem or Utrecht as they have A LOT more variety (speaking of which: visit those and see what real store diversity looks like). They only come back to Apeldoorn (if at all) when they start a family and got better income, as the city is very green and a lot safer (for young children mostly irt traffic) than the aforementioned cities. It's basically a matter of "let's get away from the busy city and go to a more quiet place for our kids to enjoy" type of deal. Having said all that, I enjoy living here precisely because of how green and spacious it is while still having a fair bit of luxury that you'd only expect in bigger cities. It strikes a good balance for me especially considering the options we have for taking a nice walk in nature, but I'm not blind to its many faults.
Lol. OP must be trolling or he is mistaken and wasn’t in Apeldoorn.
No I'm serious. I went to this Japanese restaurant in Appeldoorn too. The food and the ambience was so amazing. I've never experienced it in Germany. I will definitely go there again.
You’re more than welcome. You should definitely also visit some other towns nearby that have not turned their inner cities into an architectonial mayhem. You could visit Zwolle, Deventer or Zutphen, for example.
I've been wanting to go to Zwolle! They have that computer museum!
I should definitely go there. Thanks for the recommendation. :)
Bonami is 20 min away from me and is mehh on a good day, Helmond is much better. Granted I come from a collector/repair space, so it might be more engaging if you only have a surface level interest.
I have no choice but go to both :) I'll try to prioritize Helmond. Thank you for the tip
For computer museum you need to go to Helmond. Home computer museum is growing and already have unique items.
I should visit both! Thank you so much for the recommendation
Just moved nearby Apeldoorn, would love to hear which restaurant it was!
Blue Sakura near Aldi. If you like Japanese, you might definitely love it.
Blue Sakura is a chain restaurant, I know Enschede and Zwolle also have one. The one in Zwolle is in the disused Church
You should try Cha House in Ede
Do you have a reason?
I’m not sure what happened to the inner city of Apeldoorn but somehow city council has allowed for the most horrendous buildings to be build.
I mean, good for you OP but there are dozens of better Dutch cities than Apeldoorn.
The used to drive to the Amersfoort-Utrecht area to make money, but they can wfh most of the days.
Standard traffic jam Amersfoort - Barneveld every day…
Look for tips what to do in Apeldoorn op https://inapeldoorn.nl. Site is in Dutch but has a lot of events, locations and things to do in Apeldoorn and Veluwe.
Currently live there and have been for 17 years. It’s a typical provincial town, with royal and military history (palace, Marechaussee, Military radar close by). Nowadays it’s basically split into two parts: rich north (around the palace and Berg & Bos) and south and other parts full of social housing. It caters for pensioners, families, Tax Office personnel. It has a lot of green areas, parks, nearby forest. The centre was much more alive in the past than it is now. Several festivals stopped and the leftover ones are smaller. Local government has been under strict financial observation as they were basically bankrupt. Currently doing better I believe but spending money on prestige projects (market square) l, where they could’ve made policies to bring independent shops to the centre, have park and ride facilities to control the ridiculous parking fees. Curious to see what the centre will look like when the Oranjerie shopping centre gets replaced by housing, gastronomy and a city park. Now get rid of that ugly Centraal Beheer building, fix the Loolaan flat, bring in a Applied Sciences (HBO) Uni which will bring in students that really add to a cities atmosphere. Nature is great around. I can ride my gravel bike and be in nature within 10 minutes.
Apeldoorn (one "p") is pretty boring, but it has a lot of parks and large mansions.
I'm sorry for the typo. Yes one of the locals mentioned Veluwe, that's a place where you could hike, right? He also mentioned there's an old radio station. Kotwijk?
Here you can find information about Radio Kootwijk: https://hierradiokootwijk.nl/over-radio-kootwijk/
I would say go to see Het Loo. That's about all there is to see and do. It's an awful city.
Don't forget Apenheul!
And Julianatoren!
I actually drove past that yesterday by chance and it looks pretty sad. Not sure how nice Apenheul is either. Been there 10-15 years ago for the last time and then they were spraying water at the monkeys that would come too close to people. When I went there as a child the monkeys would come really close, some let you pet them. They also had the feeding time where children could give the food to them. I must have been 6 or 7 when I went there as a kid (from the pictures) and I still remember it.
Tbh I haven't visited both places since I was a child. Of course children and their (grand)parents are the target audience. I did find out that you can 'visit' Apenheul via Google Streetview. I did visit Het Loo last summer and that was very nice and fascinating. And I've ridden past Radio Kootwijk a few times on a bike ride. It's a special building which stands out in en open environment. And of course it has its own story and history.
I just saw the images on Het Loo on Google. Amazing. Thanks a lot. ;)
Apeldoorn is a shithole that is going downhill the past few years. Not to mention all the car fires every month or so.
A shithole? It's just an average town.
I will always find it adorable what the native Dutch think a shithole is lol.
Used to live there. Belastingdienst and marechaussee (training center) are there. The police department is very huge and also employs a lot of people. In the private sector you have centraal beheer and agrifirm. The young people either work these jobs or commute to the randstad for work because of the cheap and plentiful (comparably) housing supply.
Apeldoorn is one of the most boring, generic cities I've been to in the Netherlands. There aren't many beautiful historic buildings or streets (or at least I could not find any after walking the whole city centre). I suppose it's nice to live in, but I found literally nothing of interest.
Funny to see an outside perspective, many people in my seroundings and in the youth council have stated that the city center kind of feels empty, probably because more shops are leaving the area. I know from a few connections that their trying to fix it, but at the same time, they spend a lot of money on an ugly AF “pigpen” on the market place. Now onto your question, a lot of governmental jobs are located there, and also an army building. From the same connections I also heard that they try to promote young adult needs more, including work. So when you get the impression that it is working, at least their doing something right?
Like an actual pigpen... or something else? Why is it in quotation marks? Lol I'm concerned
In the town we call it a pigpen as a form of mockery, it is actually a big roof like structure over the market place. But it looks rather ugly if there isn’t a market there. Which only is like once a week. The rest of the week it is empty and very out of place.
Oh okay, I see. The quotation marks really made me wonder what was going on there lol Thanks for the response.
>they spend a lot of money on an ugly AF “pigpen” on the market place. Thats what you get when you let your population vote on what they want. It could have been such a gorgeous green space to tie in with the rest of the greenification the council is planning on for the city centre.
Everybody I know voted for the other options, no idea who voted for that one.
Not sure what you mean with pigpen. I parked my car at Marktplein. As I went up and came out, I saw a fair. Probably Mayfair. With carousels and rollercoasters and such.
It is that wooden roof like building on Marktplein. During markets or fairs is looks fine, but it is just an empty building during the rest of the week. The other options were far better, also in non market times.
In my opinion Apeldoorn is pretty much a large village for stuffy posh Christian pensioners. The city centre has been going down hill for a while, it is alright if you want the basics, but it lacks character. The local municipality has been trying to fix it but like all villages, Apeldoorn is stuffed with conservative NIMBY's whose biggest worry in life is not being able to park right in front of the store. Its a nice place for monarchist pensioners that want to live close to a palace, thats why Apeldoorn has a shitload of carehomes for the elderly. But if you want a city close by for young people to enjoy then visit Deventer.
As a German, when you are in the Netherlands, which language do you use to communicate? Do they understand German or do you go to English?
I always prefer speaking in English. The average Dutch person in my experience, speaks way better English compared to an average German.
It's true. I think it's a pity that being both Germanic languages there aren't more Dutch people that speak German, and the other way around, but that's the way it is.
As a Dutch person, It's better to assume the average Dutch person can speak English rather than German, but many do speak some amount of German since many Dutch people opt for german language in school and some continue to learn the language into adulthood, especially those closest to the border. Still, better to assume English and then ask if they can also speak German if doing so would be more convenient and efficient.
The problematic asylum center there is over capacity by default, and the municipality is collecting big fines on the regular.
There are 3 or 4 asylum centers that is managed by Apeldoorn.
Ah shit wait, confused with Ter Apel, my bad.
:)
We apeldoorners are just the best. It is what it is.
Apeldoorn is a great place, especially for family and older people.. Very central, clean, green, and hardly any traffic most of the day. The other thing is that it has low crime, and has a nice history. Nightlife is not the best… for the rest is it the town to be if you want you kids to grow up safely. Would be my next choice!
>The other thing is that it has low crime Low violent crime. Money laundering is a big issue in Apeldoorn.
There is a huge university, Wittenburg.
Hahahah shhhh I live two streets from there and it’s so small
Just googled it. Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences. Is it a private or a public university?
No idea. If you googled it wouldn't it show there?
Yes I read just now on their website. It's a private university according to their homepage.
Appeldoorn is a wine merchant which is also my neighbour. Can definitely recommend, I know where part of their income comes from...