Experience the best of Eindhoven

Eindhoven, in the province of North Brabant, grew from a small town into a city of electronics and engineering, and is still called the City of Light. Much of the old centre was lost in the Second World War, so the city feels modern, with pedestrian shopping streets, squares such as the Markt and a long street of bars at Stratumseind. The Van Abbemuseum, a leading museum of modern art, shows contemporary art and design.

Strijp-S, a former industrial site, has been turned into a district of studios, restaurants and workshops. The Design Academy, the saucer-shaped Evoluon of the 1960s and the Dutch Design Week each October have made the city a hub for designers. Nuenen, where Vincent van Gogh lived from 1883 to 1885, is a few kilometres away, and 's-Hertogenbosch, home town of Hieronymus Bosch, lies to the north.

Brabant's worstenbroodje, a sausage roll, and vlaai, a fruit pie, are local snacks, along with bitterballen, beer and white asparagus in spring. The football club PSV fills the stadium on match days. Life is easy-going, the countryside is flat and green with heath and cycling paths, and the climate is mild and damp.