Dom Tower

Great guide tour, consider 1h in total to climb up and go down, eat and or drink before the tour starts as no belongings are allowed in (can be left in a locker for free). Not made for light hearted people, first floor is ok to access but after that, very narrow turning stairs. Up to 465 stairs to climb and incredible views on last floor.

This is a place you should visit in Utrecht provided you can take the significant climb up the stairs. The view is certainty worth it. You have to book a tour, which does add to the experience and our guide was friendly and informative. The tour was presented in Dutch and English. The start point is in a shop nearby so make sure you read the information carefully.

It’s a well organized tour. The steps could be a bit slippery. The last steps are a bit challenging as there are many to climb in a single go. They also get very narrow at the end. The views, to be frank, are nothing to brag about- so don’t go just for the view and since the barricades are metallic and not of glass or clear plastic, you cannot get good pictures. Anyway it was exhilarating because of the cool breeze at the top.

Highlight of my trip in Utrecht. I would recommend preserving a ticket a few days before because they may not have a slot available. The ticket includes a tour that leads you up to the top of the tower (you need the ticket to enter and hike with the tour guide). Tour is available in both Dutch and English. The history behind the Dom (as well as the Church) is interesting. The hike is easy to moderate in term of stamina requirement, but the view on top is definitely worth it (if you have a telephoto camera I would definitely recommend bringing it with you, see attached photos).

I would recommend going to this place. It's a living piece of history and the tour guides do a wonderful job of explaining it. Here you can witness the lovely bells that are installed in the tower. Once you reach the top, you are greated with breathtaking views of Utrecht. On a clear day, you can spot most important cities in Netherlands from here. A sunrise tour takes you to the top and ends with a breakfast amongst the views. Worth including in your itinerary!

Lots of stairs to walk up - some in our tour group struggled. Amazing views from the top! Definitely worth doing, skip the other stuff in Dom square.

From a distance, the tower is truly beautiful – almost breathtaking. But up close, when you have to keep looking up all the time, you’ll soon start to feel it in your neck. My recommendation: enjoy the view, but be prepared to visit a chiropractor afterwards! 😀

The pride and jewel of Utrecht is the beautifully restored tower. Unfortunately, I didn’t dare to go up, because of my fear of heights. But it’s impressive from below too.

Given all the scaffolding the team did an amazing job. Well done!!! It was worth Ruhr visit and the guide spoke in Dutch and English.

The Domtoren is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands. The top of the tower can be seen from most places in Utrecht. I had such a hard time figuring out how to get close to it and how to get in. The winding roads made it difficult to find from my hotel, but it's very easy to find from the Utrecht Centraal train station. My guidebook failed to mention where to enter or where to purchase a ticket for the tour. I decided to go into the tourism office (VVV) across the street to find out. As luck would have it, the tourism office is where you buy the tickets (8€) and where you wait for the tour guide. The tour guide for my group was fantastic; she was very knowledgable and said everything in Dutch and English. Once in the bell tower, the smell of church incense is very strong. It smells and looks very old. (It is very old! It was built from 1254-1520.) The stone walls and dark stained glass make it feel like a castle or fortress from the start. The second floor was the bishop's chapel where they still host weddings. Up another floor (and many steep stone steps), and there is a room displaying information about the building and the church next door. (At one point, they were connected, but a hurricane in the 1600s tore the connecting part down.) This floor also has a smaller scale carillon to demonstrate how the one at the top of the tower works. A tourist in my group played it; it's like a piano with very hard to press keys. The next floor was the belfry, housing humongous bells that, the tour guide said, weigh more than two adult elephants. Those bells are rung individually by people pulling a rope, a la the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The floor following that was the one with the carillon. 70 meters from the ground floor, this floor also offered a spectacular panoramic view of Utrecht, and on a clear day Amsterdam and Rotterdam can be seen in the distance. Some of the group went all the way to the top, 95 meters, but I stopped at 70. The tour took about an hour. It was well worth the money for the experience.

As far as historical sites and touristic activities go in Utrecht, the Dom tower is a real must-do and a great item for any Dutch person's bucket list. Though I can't quite remember the view, I know it's amazing. The main reason I can't remember the view is because when climbing the Dom last Wednesday night, it was foggy. And the last time I climbed the Dom before that, was at least fifteen years ago. So, no personal recollection of the view at the moment, but even without seeing anything, the feeling of standing on top of this immensely tall tower is pretty damn amazing! :) Another fun little fact; you can get married here! And they organise fun themed climbs like the "lichtjes kijken" that I did which is climbing the Dom by night, super cool!

Very cool tour of an amazing building. The only quibble is it not clear where the tour starts....in a tourist office across from the Dom. Nonetheless, well worth it!