As mentioned before, Schoonhoven was chosen as the location for Rolands art. Not only because Mark Rolands, the founder, was raised in this lovely city, but also because it is very artist-friendly. It is kind of friendly in general. The city is located in the province of South Holland but doesn’t have that big city vibe or arrogance as it lies close to Utrecht, a more down to earth province. People in this city live peacefully and welcome strangers with an open heart, just like the people of Basel do every year for the Art Basel exhibit.

Small with a big heart

It’s a very small city and up until 2014 it was even the smallest municipality in the Netherlands. This is quite impressive since the Netherlands is quite small on its own. Nevertheless, the people have big hearts and that’s what counts. In Schoonhoven you can still visit your neighbour and ask them for a bit of sugar is you forgot to buy it yourself. Most of the time this will mean that you’ll end up having a coffee together and enjoying the entire afternoon. All of this, within easy reach of the big city.

How to get there

The city of Schoonhoven inconveniently located between two big cities; Rotterdam and Utrecht and two smaller cities; Gouda and Gorinchem. This makes it easy to get basically anywhere, especially since Utrecht is located in the centre of the country and Rotterdam houses one of the biggest ports in the world. All of these places are just a stone’s throw away from Schoonhoven. So no matter whether you are travelling with public transport, by car, by bike or by boat, you always have plenty of options to get to this lovely city. It might take you a bit longer to get there by foot, but if your heart is set on it, you can always give it a try.

Transport to the city

The public transport to Schoonhoven is limited to the bus. You can easily reach Rotterdam, Utrecht and Gouda and that means the Netherlands is at your feet as these are three of the most central locations. If you prefer to take the car, it’s about a 17 km drive from Gouda, 25 km from Rotterdam, 30 km from Utrecht and 20 km from Gorinchem. From the last destination, you do need to take a boat. Even though there are limited max times for parking in the city centre, you can always use one of the alternative parking zones just outside the centre that make your life and your stay much easier. But you can also decide to avoid these parking issues altogether and just come by bike. It’s a great workout and there’s a nice bicycle café for people who just arrived and want to talk about the beauty they have passed on the way there. Never a dull moment in Schoonhoven. It might even give you some inspiration for your next painting. The last way to get to this great city is by boat. As the city has a river, you can very well reach it by water and get even better views.

Silver

Something else Schoonhoven is famous for is silver. It houses the Dutch Silver Museum and a lot of stores to sell you the best silver in the country. After all, during the middle ages, this was the silver centre of the Netherlands. Could that have anything to do with the arty edge the city is slowly getting? We believe it does, since creating silverware is also a form of art.