Geldrop

Geldrop is a town of 29,000 people (2021) in North Brabant in the Netherlands. It's located at easy biking distance from Eindhoven, but is mostly surrounded by heathlands and forest area. It is this combination of nature and nearby big city facilities that draws in visitors. In fact, with over 280,000 overnight stays a year (both business and tourist), Geldrop hosts far more visitors than you might expect from a town its size. It's a fine base to explore the natural surroundings and a more peaceful alternative to staying in Eindhoven. And the best is, there's even a few sights worth seeing, in particular the charming Geldrop castle right in the town centre.

Understand
For centuries, textile production was the main economic activity in Geldrop. In the 19th century, it had the second largest wool production centre in the country, second only after Tilburg. The textile production declined rapidly after the 1960s, however, until is was almost entirely gone in the 1970s. Today, the Weaving Museum reminds of those glory days of industry. Local authorities are now trying to stimulate the existing recreation and tourism industry further, hoping to develop it into the area's main source of income.

Get in
By public transport, Geldrop is best reachable via nearby Eindhoven. Bus lines 24 and 320 leave from Eindhoven bus station and take about half an hour. Line 320 also connects to nearby Asten and Helmond.

Faster is the NS Sprinter train (direction Weert) which will get you to Geldrop in just 5 minutes.

If you're driving, the A67 passes close by Geldrop. It connects to the A2 to go north or south, or to the E34 to go east and across the border to Germany. Coming from Eindhoven, follow the Geldropseweg and than the Eindhovenseweg.

Alternatively, you can easily reach Geldrop by bike coming from Eindhoven.



Get around
The town is small enough to get by on foot. A bike is a good way to take in a bit more of the surroundings. Some hotels offer rental bikes at a charge.

Do
Hiking and biking is a popular activity around town, as it is surrounded by heat lands and forests. Several trails and routes are available from the tourist information office. In the vicinity of Geldrop are nice little villages. Heeze, 6 km south, has a wonderful castle in a great wooded area. Heeze has some thirty national monuments of which a dozen around the castle. Furthermore, there are monumental longhouse farms, churches and houses. Geldrop is a town within the municipality of Geldrop-Mierlo. Mierlo, with 10,000 inhabitants, is 6 km east of Geldrop. The village has a nice centre and nine national monuments including two old mills, the town hall, a patronage and some farmes.

Tired of biking? Consider a relaxing day in the spa. The Thermen Geldrop are one of the best options around Eindhoven, and offers delightful saunas and massages as well as good food. It can be a bit crowded in weekends, but gets lots of positive reviews.

Buy
Geldrop's history is all about textiles. Why not take a kitchen towel or table cloth as an actually useful reminder of your visit? The Weverij Museum shop has some good examples.

Connect
Geldrop has areal code 040 which is the same as Eindhoven. If dialing from abroad, use +31 but then leave out the 0 in the area code. All hotels have free WiFi.

Go next

 * Eindhoven - the city of light and a design hotspot
 * 's Hertogenbosch - a beautiful historic city some 50 km from Geldrop.
 * Roermond - historically an important town with a pleasant town centre full of monuments.