Go Citybreak: EindhovenThe city is a surprisingly good option for a break. Just don't outstay your welcome, writes Tony Clayton-Lea
BACK IN THE 12th century, when Duke Hendrik I of Brabant granted city rights to "Endhoven" (which translates as "End Yards"), it consisted of fewer than 200 houses enclosed by a rampart. You would wonder what he would make of Eindhoven now.
Formerly the war-torn property of Spain and France - invading and renegade troops ransacked and razed it during the 15th and 16th centuries - it has become the fifth-largest city in The Netherlands, with a population of more than 200,000.
Eindhoven came into its own as a docile child of the industrial revolution, guided to adulthood by the commercial fortitude of Philips, which was founded as a light-bulb manufacturer in 1891. In the early 20th century the electrical industry was joined by car and truck manufacturing, courtesy of Van Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek (aka DAF).
During the second World War such industries didn't go unnoticed by Hitler, which is why air raids destroyed large parts of the city.
The reconstruction that followed has done little for Eindhoven: very few examples of its architectural history remain. High-rises built with little or no regard for their legacy still blot the landscape. In the 1960s a new - for which read ugly - city hall was built, while its neogothic predecessor, dating from 1867, was bulldozed to make way for an arterial road that never materialised.
All this leads to the impression of Eindhoven as a thriving if less appealing Dutch city than Amsterdam or The Hague. Yet it wears its legacies lightly. Despite being an industrial hub - in 2005 a full third of money devoted to research in The Netherlands was spent in or around Eindhoven - it has made strides in becoming known as a centre of design excellence.
You can sense this by walking around the city. A student population invigorates it, making sure the days are filled with almost scarifying bicycle-riding along the city's admirable network of cycle lanes and the nightlife is studded with the babble of chat-up lines and breezy humour.
The centre is where it's all at; during the day you can stroll from start to finish in about two hours, so if you plan to spend more than a weekend here you need a definite schedule of events. Otherwise you might end up twiddling your thumbs.
Thankfully, there are a few good art galleries to visit, notably the Van Abbemuseum, which gathers works by contemporary artists, and Design Huis, which is an art space of no small significance - the weekend of my visit it was showing impressive work by the NCAD graduates Róisín Sheridan, Maria Brady and Eilís O'Connell.
Once you have checked the galleries and museums off your list, you might want to see the city's soccer team, PSV Eindhoven, the dominant club in the Dutch premier league.
If you're not a soccer fan, then the shops might tempt you to part with some cash. There are few high-street names you'd recognise, which makes a traipse around the city centre a rather more worthwhile exercise than normal, in that you're not too sure what's what, clotheswise.
Ultimately? Honestly? Despite some cool restaurants and vibey bars, a few subtle aspects here and there, Eindhoven is essentially a two-day, two-night destination, for a look-see on the way to somewhere slightly more intriguing, interesting and exciting.
• www.vvveindhoven.nl
Where to stay, where to eat and where to go
5 places to stay
1 Sofitel Cocagne Eindhoven. Vestdijk 47, 00-31-40-2326111, www.accorhotels.com. Recently restyled as a contemporary five-star hotel, this is the best option for style-conscious travellers: the rooms are at the smart-luxury end of the scale. Refreshment options include Babylon Bar, Brasserie Bruegel and the fine-dining L'Étoile. As a bonus, it's also less than 10 minutes' walk from the train station. Doubles from €99.
2Eden Crown Hotel. Vestdijk 14-16, 00-31-40-8444000, www.edencrownhotel.com. This hotel is central, beside the main shopping area and the train station, but its four-star status is surely nominal, as it has drab rooms and a chilly foyer. It is being renovated, however, so next year might be a better time to visit. Good, helpful staff, mind. Doubles from €80.
3Amrâth Hotel Pierre. Leenderwag 80, 00-31-40-2121012, www.hotelpierre.nl. Slightly out of the city boundaries, but accessible enough by foot, this Best Western hotel is a lower-budget four-star option. In two words? Pleasant, hospitable. Doubles from €90.
4Holiday Inn Eindhoven. Veldm Montgomerylaan 1, 00-31-40-2358235, www.eindhoven.holiday-inn.com. Discounting the ugliness of the building, this is a central four-star choice if you want the familiarity of a franchise as well as a little luxury (pool, sauna, steam bath, gym and so on). Doubles from €120.
5Mandarin Park Plaza. Geldropseweg 17, 00-31-40-2146500, www.parkplaza.com. The rooms and suites here are a cut above four-star quality. The calming indoor pool and Finnish saunas are the cherries on top. Doubles from €85.
5 places to eat
1The Little One. Jan van Lieshoutstraat 26, 00-31-40-2438995. The city's smallest and oldest bar. As brown as a bar of Bournville, this tiny place oozes atmosphere. The downside? Despite the city's smoking ban, it also reeks of cigarette smoke. That said, it is a welcome refuge from the noisy megapubs elsewhere in the city, a place where conversation rules and thumping music plays second fiddle.
2New York Café. Dommelstraat 9, 0-31-40- 2939227, www.newyorkcafe.nl. At noon this crushed-velvet bar, on one of the city's quieter streets, is cool. Twelve hours later it's hot - although you might not be able to credit- crunch your way through a bottle of Cristal at €400 a pop.
3Javaans Eetcafe, Kleine Berg 34b, 00-31-40-2450097, www.javaanseetcafe.com. This place has the city's most curious interior. From the outside it looks as if all the area's cats have gathered together side by side. Inside, it's dark coffee and even darker décor.
4Stads. Paradijslaan 48, 00-31-40-2367656, www.stads.nl. This funky weekend haunt has chestnut-red decor, an in-house DJ dropping classy tunes and a tasty mix of typical Dutch food, including, each Friday, a tasting menu.
5Design Restaurant. Smalle Haven12-14, www.smallehaven.com. Next to (and with access to) a vintage clothes shop, this exudes a wonky approach to customer care and interior design (every table has a different, inelegant lampshade, for example). The food is fab, though: crunchy, almost raw vegetables and a mix of meat and fish.
5 places to go
1Design Huis. Stadhuisplein 3, 00-31-40-2329720, www.designhuis.com. An airy art space where design, art and technology interconnect via events, exhibitions and symposiums.
2Philips Incandescent Lamp Factory 1891. Emmasingel 31. Emmasingel 31, 00-31-40-2755183, www.philipsfabriek1891.nl. A strangely compelling journey through time and changing technology. Group visits only.
3DAF Museum. Tongelresestraat 27, 00-31-40-2444364, www.dafmuseum.nl. One for the car fanatics.
4Van Abbemuseum. Bilderdijklaan 10, 00-31-40-2381000, www.vanabbemuseum.nl. Contemporary art space housing works by Picasso and Chagall, among others.
5Artificial Light in Art Centre. Emmasingel 31, 00-31-40-2755183, www.kunstlichtkunst.nl. Sculptures and art on the theme of artificial light. In the Philips factory building.
Check out
Boekencafe. Dommelstraat 24, 00-31-40-2369952, www.boekencafe.nl. A terrific cafe, bar and library whose shelves are stacked with European- and English- language titles. Despite having no interest in the motor industry, I was sorely tempted to buy a mint condition Kings of the Road, by Ken W Purdy. If there is a more tranquil place to while away an hour in Eindhoven, then it passed me by.
Hit the shops
Loose. Spyndhof 1, 00-31-40-2938430, www.looseshop.nl. The place to go if you're looking for something out of the ordinary. Rockabilly is the soundtrack, and customised clothes and knick-knacks for the self-aware teenager are the stock. Otherwise, the main shopping streets are gathered in the centre. Thursday is late opening, until 9pm; shops remain closed on Sundays.
A good night out
Marketplace is the city's entertainment hub. With a statue of Frits Phillips, the city's industrial father, gazing out over proceedings that might have shocked him back in the day, Eindhoven lets its hair down in this area of bars, cafes and casinos. Close by is Stratumseind, full of bars, clubs and pubs. It is, depending on your point of view and age, a terrific spot altogether or a drab, sleazy part of town best avoided late at night.
Did you know?
Eindhoven houses Europe's largest indoor skateboard park. Beukelaan, 00-31-40-2341060, www.area51skatepark.nl.
Go there
• Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus. com) flies to Amsterdam from Dublin, Cork and Belfast. Eindhoven is less than 90 minutes by train from Schiphol Airport.