Doesburg: The Most Beautiful Hanseatic City You Don't Know Yet

Everyone knows Deventer and Zutphen. But Doesburg? That's the best-kept secret of the Hanseatic Route. The canal winds through the centre, past facades four centuries old. On Fridays, there's a market; on Saturdays, a cluttered antique shop that only opens when the owner feels like it.

Doesburg is a village that accidentally became a city, and that's precisely why we're moving here soon. This is my plea for the city, and my cheat sheet for you if you finally come to Doesburg.

Where You *Must* Eat & Drink

• De Waag city tavern from 1478, yes, you read that right. Sit outside when the sun shines, inside if you want romance. Workers here used to get part of their wages paid in beer. We're actually living in worse times. Order the house's blonde beer. 📍 Map
• Granos ✦ insider coffee with Spanish flair, close to the most photographed spot in Doesburg. Churros, pastel de nata, a delicious cappuccino, and from the window, you can watch the whole city pass by. Start here. Always. 📍 Map
• Het Arsenaal 1309 coffee and cake in a medieval building that was once a monastery. Nuns probably walked here with the same sense of peace towards the Martinikerk. A tip from me: take the apple pie, you'll never want anything else! 📍 Map
• Sofia Ristorante the nicest Italian restaurant in town. Authentic pasta, soft lighting, and a hostess who treats you like family. Reserve a table. Because it's always full, and that says enough. Doesburgers love this place. 📍 Map
• DRU Restaurant for when you fancy something a little more chic. Seasonal menu, local farmers, and that soft lighting where your photos won't need a filter anymore. You go for one evening and end up staying for two. 📍 Map

Shops Where You Accidentally Linger for an Hour

Doesburg has no chains. No H&M, no Starbucks. Instead, it has a handful of shops that feel like someone started them mainly for themselves, and that's precisely the charm.

• Puur Zenz ✦ insider the soap shop I mentioned. You can smell it from outside, a wonderful scent that draws you in! Handmade skincare products, 100% natural, from a local maker who also has her workshop here. Take the cotton-scented soap; it smells so good. 📍 Map
• Mosterdfabriek Doesburg the oldest mustard factory in the Netherlands, since 1457. Taste the coarse mustard, take a jar home, and leave with a story and an authentic piece of Doesburg. 📍 Map
• Jets Style ✦ insider small shop with great charm, opposite TOUF. Bags, jewellery, home accessories, and the most beautiful cards and gifts in town. For cards and gifts: this is your spot. 📍 Map
• De Kaarsenstudio ✦ insider on Meipoortstraat, a street full of little surprises. They make some of their candles themselves, in the workshop behind the shop. Soy wax, their own recipe, brands you won't find anywhere else. 📍 Map
• TOUF old-fashioned tasty cakes and chocolates in a trendy interior. Pop in or sit on the bench outside. 📍 Map
• Cotton & Coffee on Boekholtstraat: clothes, jewellery, and a special cup of coffee under one roof. The concept works because the owner decorated it for herself. You'll buy things there you weren't even looking for. 📍 Map
• Het Boekenhuis a second-hand bookshop with creaking floors and a cat that decides for itself when you're allowed to leave. Books and a cat, do I really need to convince you further? 📍 Map
• Atelier op de Koepoortstraat ceramics by a local maker. Truly worth a visit, and that's all you need to know, really. 📍 Map

And If You Have Time to Spare

• Martinikerk, climb the tower ✦ insider 94 metres. The highest church tower in Gelderland. 220 steps up with a city guide who stops halfway to tell you something about the nuns, the Eighty Years' War, and the stripes in the street paving referring to a tram from 1881. 📍 Map
• Lalique Museum glassware, vases, and jewellery by René Lalique, in a national monument. A household name for art lovers. For me, a wondrous world of inspiration that I rediscover every time. Friendly volunteers included. 📍 Map
• IJsselkade at sunset ✦ insider walk to the quay in the evening. The restored warehouses reflect in the water. Be careful at high tide, the quayside floods then, but if you can: go. 📍 Map
• Culturele Zondag (Cultural Sunday) ✦ insider every first Sunday of the month, galleries, ateliers, and museums open their doors from 12 to 5 pm. Free admission. You get to enter places that are normally closed and sometimes even the artist's home. A well-established event for 30 years. Plan around this if you can. 📍 Map

Doesburg feels like a village that accidentally became a city. And that's precisely why we're moving here soon.