Where to eat and drink

Arnhem is not going to give you an Amsterdam-style tourist strip — what it has instead is a compact, walkable scene that rewards exploring rather than sticking to one street.

Where to start looking

The Spijkerkwartier and Klarendal areas, both close to the centre, have Arnhem’s liveliest concentration of independent cafes, bars, and restaurants relative to the city’s size. Neither is a single obvious strip the way some cities have — it is more a matter of walking around and trying places than following one street straight to the best spot.

Nightlife: the Korenmarkt

For an actual night out rather than just a drink, head for the Korenmarkt and the streets right around it, in the old city centre. It is Arnhem’s densest concentration of bars and restaurants by far, door to door across the square and into the side streets, and it is where most of the city’s nightlife actually happens — busiest on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights specifically, noticeably quieter the rest of the week.

The weekly market

Arnhem’s main city market sets up on Kerkplein, by the Eusebiuskerk in the centre, on Friday and Saturday mornings — fresh produce, cheese, fish, and prepared food alongside the usual market stalls. It is worth building into a weekend routine once you have a kitchen to cook in.