Introduction Arnhem, as I'm sure many of you are aware, was unlucky enough to be the site of a fairly major battle in 1944. It was bad news for the town, which suffered severe damage. If you've visited a few Dutch towns, you'll know that at their centre is usually a large square. The standard arrangement is big church one end, fancy town hall at the other, wall-to-wall pubs inbetween. Well, the church is still there (see photo). Unfortunately the rest of the square consists of 1950's buildings that are so bland, I've already forgotten what they look like. And I didn't spot much in the way of pubs, either. So what should be the focal point of the city is strangely dead. But don't despair, because there are plenty of refreshment opportunities elsewhere in the centre. What most interests my sons about Arnhem is their unique (in Holland) form of public transport: trolleybuses.

Café Sint Jan
Jansplein 2, 6811 GD Arnhem. Tel. 026-445 5622
Opening hours: Sun - Wed 11:30-01:00 Thu - Sat 11:30-02:00
Number of draught beers: 5
Number of bottled beers: +-10
Regular draught beers: Amstel Pils (5%) Wieckse Witte (5%) Palm (5%) Kasteel Dubbel Kasteel Tripel
Food: Meals, snacks.
Jansplein - with an unusual heaxagonal church at its centre - is lined with pubs. I like the way just about all the old town (or where the old town was berfore the war) of Arnhem has been pedestrianised. A shame they haven't done the same in Amsterdam. Café Sint Jan manages to occupy most of one side of the square, yet be surprisingly compact once inside. Yes, the interior is oddly inefficient, the bar counter taking up most of the floor space. Table seating is confined to one of those irritating two-steps up railed off jobs that seem designed to use space poorly. There was something - I'm not quite sure what - that reminded me of fake Irish pubs. But obviously it's nowhere near as awful as that. The draught beer choice, with two Kasteel beers, is slightly idiosyncratic. It makes a change, doen't it? The service was exrtemely friendly.
Rating: ***	Public transport:

Café Moortgat
Ruiterstraat 35, 6811 Arnhem. Tel. 026-445 0393
Opening hours: Mon - Thu 12:00-01:00 Fri - Sat 12:00-02:00 Sun 16:00-02:00
Number of draught beers: 12
Number of bottled beers: +-100
Regular draught beers: Gulpener Pils (5%) Gulpener Dort (6%) Gulpener Korenwolf (5%) Gulpener Gerardus (6%) De Koninck (5%) Leffe Dubbel Hoegaarden (5%)
Food: Snacks.
Ruiterstraat is one of the streets off St Jansplein. Moortgat is a long, low building on the corner of an alleyway. Despite being pretty central, this is a fairly quiet spot. Inside there is, as you would expect, plenty of dark wood and beer memorabilia. More unusually for a specialist beer bar, it has a billiard table. The Dutch type, without pockets. Billiard tables are getting pretty rare in Amsterdam, pushed out by the more tourist-friendly pool table. But I digress. Bare wooden floorboards, and simple, mismatched furniture (several benches that look suspiciously like pews) complete the picture. My favourite old advert - the black and white Dort sign portraying a blackend miner holding a big glass of beer. The beer selection reminds you how close the German border is: there are six Weizens, including the wonderful Aventinus. Other interesting items include Schlenkerla Rauchbier, Achel trappist and a selection of Baltika beers from Russia. And I almost forgot the most important point - the prices. No draught beer is more than 2.50 euros. Aventinus only 3.75 for a half litre.
Rating: *****	Public transport:

Stadsbrouwerij De Hemel
Franseplaats 1, 6511 VS Nijmegen. Tel.: 024 - 360 6167 http://www.brouwerijdehemel.nl/
Opening hours: Tue - Fri 14:00 - 21:00, Sat - Sun 12:00 - 21:00, closed Monday.
Number of draught beers:
Number of bottled beers:
Regular draught beers: Luna Godelief Serafijn Helse Engel Nieuw Ligt
Food: Snacks, meals.
Brewpub in a large old building, rather incongruously surrounded by a modern housing estate. Bloody Americans. If their pilots had better orientation skills Nijmegen might have retained more of its original city centre. The intereior is tasteful and simple - very much in keeping with the style of the building. My kids were very impressed by the free sweets. Here's one pub I won't have to physically drag them into. The menu includes several dishes cooked with their own beer. There is - by Dutch standards - a decnt-sized beer garden. The only downsuide is that, despite it's central location, it's quite tricky to find in the maze of crappy modern streets.
Rating: ****	Public transport:

Samson
Houtstraat 4, 6511 JN Nijmegen. Tel.: 024 - 323 3023 Email: richard.bos@12move.nl
Opening hours: Mon - Sat 10:00 – 02:00, Sun 13:00 – 02:00
Number of draught beers: 12
Number of bottled beers: +-75
Regular draught beers: Heineken Pils
Food: Snacks.
Samson is a proper, specialist beer café on a pedestrianised shopping in the centre of Nijmegen. Spreading across two houses, it's roomier than you might expect. I wish I had some better photos so I could show you the full glory of its brown-café interior. But, even in the middle of the afternoon, there wasn't a great deal of light. The beer selection is an interesting mix of Dutch, Belgian and German. This close to the border, I guess the latter shouldn't come as that much of a surprise. There is a reasonable amount of outdoor seating.
Rating: ****	Public transport:

Café Daen
Grote Markt 23, 6511KA Nijmegen. Tel: 024 - 360 6906
Opening hours: Tue - Thur 16:00 - 02:00, Fri 15:00 - 03:00, Sat 14:00 - 03:00, Sun 16:00 tot 02:00, Monday closed
Number of draught beers: 6
Number of bottled beers: +-25
Regular draught beers: Jupiler Pils Hoegaarden Witbier Palm Leffe Blond
Food: Snacks.
Living in Amsterdam, I've become quite blasé about beautiful 17th century pubs. But Daen still impresses. Located in the corner of the main square that wasn't redevelopped by bombing, the stunning exterior is matched by an atmospheric interior. The beer list is a bit over-Inbeved, but they do have guinness Special Export Stout.What else do I need? An unspoilt old boozer and proper Guinness. That'll do me. There is a limited amount of outdoor seating.
Rating: ***	Public transport:

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