| 'ad it with Amsterdam? OutUK’s Adrian Gillan reaches Nether-parts other guides don’t reach in Holland’s Eindhoven. |
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Home to Dutch footie kings PSV Eindhoven, the Philips electro-giant and with over 200,000 inhabitants,
including many young design students, Holland’s fifth biggest city punches well above its gay weight!
Eindhoven's cultural jewel is undoubtedly the Guggenheim-esque Van Abbe Museum. |
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This features a world-class permanent exhibition, innovative and often cheeky installations,
amazing architecture and lovely sun-kissed café terrace.
If you’ve time to squeeze in
one more big attraction before hitting the bars, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the
Philips Light Bulb Factory
where you can see a lively
demo of how the first Philips light bulb was manufactured in 1891; plus its adjoining
Centre for Artificial Light in Art, brimming with hot neon and optics.
You can't go to Eindhoven and not visit Evoluon which was built in 1966 as a science museum by Philips during the time they were headquartered in the city. The building is unique due to its very futuristic design, resembling a landed flying saucer. Its concrete dome is 77 metres (253 ft) in diameter and is held in place by 169 kilometres (105 mi) of reinforcing steel bars. In the 1960s and 1970s Evoluon attracted large numbers of visitors due to its innovative interactive exhibitions. In the UK, Evoluon is remembered from Bert Haanstra's wordless short film, commissioned by Philips to publicise the museum, and shown as a trade test colour film on BBC2 television from 1968 to 1972.
About a decade ago Evoluon was used to stage four 3D-concerts by the German electronic band Kraftwerk, each before an audience of 1,200 spectators. Key band member Ralf Hütter handpicked the venue for its retro-futuristic look. Currently, two forward-thinking exhibitions are taking place. | |
| RetroFuture explores how we envisioned the future in the past, while reflecting on our understanding of the future today and humanity's eternal dreams of the future. Spacefarming is about the food of the future and how we will be able to feed more than 10 billion people by 2050 with minimal harm to our planet. | 
Photo: Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
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To see the best of Eindhoven hire a bicycle to roam the many bike tracks both in and out of town. Check out the
Van Gogh Visitor Centre in the nearby village of Nuenen, where the Dutch master
lived and worked for two years (1883-1885). See the actual trees, homes and churches
he painted - even where his then-mistress lived!
You could also absorb the atmosphere and smells at the Historical Open Air Museum on the outskirts of town, with its Iron Age, Viking and Medieval reconstructions. And don't forget to saunter through the lovely Stadswandelpark (City Park) just south of centre, with its many concerts and year-round festival programmes. | |
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While you are in Eindhoven don't forget to just look up, and experience some of the most innovative modern architecture of any city in the world. The Frits Philipslaan Building is a really good example. This incredible apartment building complex can be found in the centre of the city and features several hundred apartments and its own courtyard garden. |
Windows, Frits Philipslaan, Eindhoven Image from Rawpixel |
GAY EINDHOVENNaturally, the Netherlands loves its queers. COC Eindhoven (Pand54 Gay Café) in the Prins Hendrikstraat is a LGBT centre for all ages with friendly volunteers and always a fun atmosphere. There's something for everyone in here and Pand54 is their pleasant meeting café. It's a cozy but also a safe meeting place and their team have an eye for newcomers and know their way around the COC. They make a special effort with visitors for the first time and your first drink is always for free.The COC also hosts Gay Sportclub Kouros Eindhoven, which offers gays, lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals the opportunity to exercise in a relaxed atmosphere with like-minded people. They started with just volleyball in 1989 but since the club has grown into an association with four sports branches: fitness training, ballroom dancing, ladies indoor football and bootcamp. Members are also active in other sports such as squash, tennis, cycling and swimming. Though there are no overtly gay-targeting restaurants in the city, but we'd recommend Mister Frits, the grand café and restaurant of the Eindhoven music building. It's an excellent meeting place for a tasty lunch or dinner, convivial drinks and a good glass of wine. There's a varied and exciting menu and the artistic surroundings make the experience even more enjoyable. Mister Frits is part of the famous Frits Philips Music Centre in central Heuvel Galerie which has a fantastic line-up of shows and arts entertainments. | |
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Eindhoven also boasts a friendly, lively and sizable queer scene, mainly clustered
around Stratumsedijk. Netherboyz really love to party all week round; but
Saturday is defo the biggie! Warm up by getting tanked up at down-to-earth pub
Genestho. They offer some good local beers pumped out at great prices.
Bar De Regenboog Eindhoven is a must when you visit the city. It's known as the coziest cafe in Eindhoven and perhaps in the whole world. It's busy and good fun and the staff are welcoming. |
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One of the largest gay saunas in the Benelux Sauna Tibet, is located on the edge of the Genneper Parken nature reserve. It offers
3 saunas, 2 bubble baths, plunge pool and large swimming pool and a large bar with an attractive fireplace. In good weather they open
the roof terrace. You can visit daily from 12:00 to 02:00 and there is plenty of free parking.
GETTING & STAYING THEREThe four-star Mandarin Park Plaza on Geldropseweg is just around the corner from the main queer quarter on Stratumsedijk, offering spacious rooms, a section of restaurants, a pool and Finnish sauna! Our hotel partners Booking.com also offer a selection of gay-friendly Eindhoven hotels at low online rates. Ryanair fly direct to Eindhoven from London Stansted from as little as £40-60 depending on when you travel.
For general information about Eindhoven and the region check out the following: thisiseindhoven.com zobrabant.nl holland.com Revised January 2024. |
