Tilburg travel guide
Wool-mill museums, the LocHal library and the Efteling next door
Tilburg is a university city in North Brabant whose textile past survives in museums and converted mills. Come between May and September, ideally outside Kermis week unless you want the funfair. One day for the city, two if you add the Efteling. Costs are very high, and Schengen rules give many passports 90 days.
Tilburg, the second city of North Brabant, made its money from wool, and the old mills now hold some of its best sights. The TextielMuseum still produces cloth in a former factory and De Pont shows contemporary art in another. Around the central station, the old railway yards have become the Spoorzone, where the LocHal library fills a former locomotive shed.
The older centre is small. Start at the Oude Markt, where the Heikese kerk of 1828 keeps a 15th-century tower, then walk to the Heuvel, with its neo-Gothic church, cafe terraces and a statue of King William II. The king loved Tilburg and had a palace built here. He died in 1849 just before it was finished; the building later became a school (Vincent van Gogh was a pupil) and is now part of the town hall.
July brings the Tilburgse Kermis, ten days of funfair billed as the largest in the Benelux, and the centre is loud for the duration. The Efteling theme park is close too, with direct buses from Tilburg station. Concerts happen at 013, the pop venue on Veemarktstraat.
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Top things to do in Tilburg
Textile museums, contemporary art, a library in a rail shed and the Efteling nearby.
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Best time to visit Tilburg
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Highs around 18 to 23C put the Heuvel terraces to use, and the ten-day Kermis lands in July.
Highs of 6 to 10C and steady rain make it museum weather for the TextielMuseum, De Pont and the LocHal.
The Tilburgse Kermis takes over the centre for ten days in July; book rooms early or avoid those dates.
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Getting there
Intercity trains, Eindhoven Airport
Most people reach Tilburg by train. The main station opens onto the Spoorzone and the LocHal, with the Heuvel a short walk beyond, and two Intercity lines call twice an hour each, towards Eindhoven, Breda, Rotterdam and The Hague, or Den Bosch, Nijmegen and Zwolle. Eindhoven is the closest airport; from Schiphol, change once.
- Eindhoven (EIN)
- Bus 400 or 401 to Eindhoven station, then a direct Intercity west to Tilburg
- Schiphol (AMS)
- Train with one change at Breda or 's-Hertogenbosch, roughly 1.5 hours
- Rotterdam The Hague (RTM)
- Bus 33 to Rotterdam Centraal, then the direct Intercity via Breda
- Coaches
- FlixBus calls at Tilburg on some international routes
- By car, only the routes from Breda and Eindhoven are motorway all the way; from Den Bosch and Waalwijk the roads are slower, so the train usually wins.
- Tap a contactless bank card at the station gates and on buses; there is no need for paper tickets.
Where to stay
Heuvel church bells or the quieter Spoorzone
Hotels are not plentiful in Tilburg, so book early for Kermis week in July and for carnival. The choice is between the lively core around the Heuvel, where church bells and bars carry on late, and the quieter Spoorzone by the station.
- Centrum around the Heuvel
- Terraces and restaurants on the doorstep; City Hotel on Heuvelring has modern rooms, but the church bells will wake you
- Spoorzone and the station
- Best for day trips by train, with the LocHal and the museums close; quieter late at night
- Kempenbaan, south-east
- The Bastion Hotel by the motorway near Hilvarenbeek and the Beekse Bergen park; suits drivers and families
- Bredaseweg, west edge
- Auberge Du Bonheur on the outskirts, a calm option if you have a car
Getting around
Red bike lanes and Arriva buses
Walk Tilburg's centre, where the LocHal, the TextielMuseum, the Heuvel and the Oude Markt are within reach of the station, and cycle for anything further on red bike lanes that often beat the bus. Arriva runs about ten city lines through the centre, and regional buses go to the Efteling.
- Bike
- Red lanes on main roads; parking at the Heuvel, Pieter Vreedeplein and the stations
- City buses
- Around ten Arriva lines through the centre, with limited night service
- Local trains
- Tilburg Universiteit for the campus, Tilburg Reeshof for the west side
- Regional buses
- From the station bus station to the Efteling, Oosterhout and Waalwijk
- On buses, tap your card when you board and again when you get off, or you pay the maximum fare.
Know before you go
What makes Tilburg worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- The LocHal, a public library inside a former locomotive hall by the station.
- The TextielMuseum, where cloth is still made in a former mill.
- A terrace on the Heuvel, under the neo-Gothic church.
Good to know
- Bars stay open until 04:00, but in the last hour you can leave and not get in.
- The Efteling needs a full day; check the bus times from Tilburg station the evening before.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Tilburg, month by month
Tilburg's July and August highs reach about 23°C, and January's about 6°C. July is the wettest month at about 76 mm and April the driest at about 46 mm.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Gilze-Rijen (KNMI, via Wikipedia).
Looms, the LocHal library and late bars on Tilburg's Heuvel
Tilburg fills a day. Leave the station on the Spoorzone side and walk into the LocHal, a locomotive shed turned library, then see working looms at the TextielMuseum on Goirkestraat. Lunch around the Piusplein, visit the Oude Markt in the afternoon, and end with dinner on the Heuvel and a band at 013.
Finish the morning at De Pont, whose large contemporary pieces fill the halls of a former wool spinning mill.
Afternoon. Lunch around the Piusplein, then cross to the Oude Markt for the Heikese kerk and its 15th-century tower. Continue to the Heuvel, where the neo-Gothic Heuvelse kerk faces the statue of William II, and look at the Paleis-Raadhuis, the palace the king died weeks before finishing. Van Gogh later sat lessons there, when it was a school; today it is used for ceremonies and weddings.
Evening. Eat on the Heuvel or along Stationsstraat, then catch a band at 013 on Veemarktstraat or a concert at the Schouwburg on Louis Bouwmeesterplein. Cafes may stay open until 04:00, so the night can run long. Travelling with children, swap the museum morning for the Efteling, a direct bus ride from the station.
Warm worstenbrood, La Trappe beer and the Piusplein grills
Tilburg eats the way the rest of Brabant does, generously and without ceremony. Hunt for worstenbrood, spiced sausage meat baked in a soft roll and sold warm by bakeries, eat a proper meal around the Piusplein or the Heuvel, and drink La Trappe, brewed at the Koningshoeven abbey on the edge of town.
For a proper meal, restaurants gather in four spots: around the Heuvel, on the Piusplein, at the Oude Markt and in the streets leading back towards the station along Stationsstraat. Grill rooms near the Heuvel serve late kebabs, and the Piusplein has Turkish cooking.
Beer is the other local pride. The Koningshoeven abbey, on the edge of the municipality at Berkel-Enschot, brews La Trappe, the best-known Dutch Trappist beer, and its tasting room makes a good target for a bike ride out of town. Back in the centre, the student population keeps cafes full deep into the night; they may stay open until 04:00, but in the last hour nobody new gets in.
For lunch on the go, AH to go by the station and Bakker Bart on Heuvelstraat sell sandwiches. At carnival, when Tilburg calls itself Kruikenstad, worstenbrood and beer are consumed in serious quantities.
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How we research our Tilburg travel guide
Tilburg's train and bus details are checked with NS Dutch Railways and the city's official site, and the Kermis, museum and festival notes against Holland.com and Wikipedia's Tilburg entry.
Last updated . Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of TilburgHolland.comNS Dutch Railways
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Tilburg.
General
Direct buses leave from Tilburg station for the park at Kaatsheuvel; the Efteling website lists the current lines.
Yes, for the TextielMuseum, De Pont and the LocHal, especially combined with Breda or Eindhoven by train.
On Friday and Saturday nights Intercity trains keep running until about 04:00 to and from Eindhoven, Den Bosch and Breda.
A former locomotive maintenance hall next to the station, converted into the city library and a public workspace. It is free to walk in.
Ordinary bakeries all over the centre sell it warm, so there is no need to hunt for a special address. Pair it later with La Trappe, brewed by the monks of Koningshoeven at Berkel-Enschot.
Late, on weekends. Students fill the bars, which may stay open until 04:00, and 013 on Veemarktstraat hosts pop and rock gigs.
Walk in the centre and cycle beyond it on the red bike lanes. About ten Arriva city bus lines link every neighbourhood with the centre.
Walk Tilburg's centre, where the LocHal, the TextielMuseum, the Heuvel and the Oude Markt are within reach of the station, and cycle for anything further on red bike lanes that often beat the bus. Arriva runs about ten city lines through the centre, and regional buses go to the Efteling.
Timing & weather
It runs for ten days in July and fills the centre with rides; it is billed as the largest funfair in the Benelux.
The best time to visit Tilburg is May to Sep. Terraces on the Heuvel and Piusplein, plus the July funfair.
- Summer: May - September (Highs around 18 to 23C put the Heuvel terraces to use, and the ten-day Kermis lands in July)
- Winter: November - March (Highs of 6 to 10C and steady rain make it museum weather for the TextielMuseum, De Pont and the LocHal)
July is the warmest month in Tilburg, with average highs of 23°C, and January the coolest, with lows of 0°C. July is the wettest month, at about 76 mm of rain; April is the driest. Tilburg's July and August highs reach about 23°C, and January's about 6°C.
Getting there
Yes. Take bus 400 or 401 to Eindhoven station and change to a direct Intercity heading west to Tilburg.
Cancellations & changes
By train with one change, at Breda or 's-Hertogenbosch. Allow roughly an hour and a half.
Visa & documents
Schengen rules govern entry to the Netherlands. Citizens of the EU and of many other countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records non-EU travelers' fingerprints and a photo at the border.
Health & safety
Crime in the Netherlands is low. Bike theft and pickpocketing in busy areas are the main issues; watch out for cyclists.
