Tilburg already existed in the late medieval period, when there was West-Tilburg and East-Tilburg (Which is now in [wiki=f100d71ea7977b3dfb171b5ee2b9a114]Oisterwijk[/wiki]). The lordship was known as Greater Tilburg, of which it was first Oisterwijk also with it, later it was Goirle. It was a part of the Bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch. Around the late 15th century, Tilburg contained a castle and Herd Places. These small places, streets with houses along it and agriculture between those streets formed the structure of which would once become the city of Tilburg.
Going further to the 18th century, slightly the first herd places became filled. In 1809, Louis Napoleon gave Tilburg city rights, after centuries of neglecting by the Dutch politics due to the catholic background of the city. However, the King William II, had found his nice place in Tilburg, and gave the mission to build a palace. Sadly, three weeks before completion in 1849, William II died. The palace is still standing as one of the few who survived the mayor Becht's destruction terror in the '60s.
The city expanded rapidly in the coming century, from being not much more than a village, to one of the largest cities in the Netherlands. The industrial revolution meant that hundreds of looms were standing in the city, filling the rest of the former herd places. Wool and textiles from Tilburg were very known at the first half of the 20th century. These times gave Tilburg the name of Kruikenzeikersstad (Jars-pissing-people city).
As the 2nd World War was over, Tilburg shortly retained this position until halfway the 1960s. Since then, the economy would implode, that did not happen due to government money to attract Tilburg for modern industries.
Many monuments have not survived the renewal terror from Cees Becht in the 1960s. Beautiful historical buildings have made place for wider roads and gray flats. Also the train station was a historical one, but isn't anymore.
Music.
Tilburg is home to two concert halls: the Concertzaal in the Schouwburg Tilburg at the Louis Bouwmeesterplein 1, and 013 (being called after the net number) at Veemarktstraat 44, which gives more pop music.
On smaller venues, there are a couple cafe's with a music stage in the city.
Paradox is the most well known. It's a jazz stage but gives also room for experimental and independent music. Within the jazzscene it's a well known musicpodiun througout the Netherlands.
Other bars with musicstages are The Little Devil (metal), Cafe Extase, Hall of Fame (both often local artists) and Cul de Sac.
Out of the city center there are more bars with musicstages. Cafe Berlijn at the Korvelseweg and Kaffee Lambiek at the Wilhelmina Park.
There are also museums:
* Textielmuseum
* Museum 'De Pont'
* Natuurmuseum Brabant
* Peerke Donders Paviljoen
In the entire city you'll find many gallerys and local artists. Tilburg is kind for amateur artists. One example is Duvelhok at the Sint Jozef Straat. Museum 'De Pont' is a great museum for modern art. It had a permanent collection and temporairly exibitions. These are often for upcoming and promising artists.
There are three theaters known in Tilburg.
* Theaters Tilburg, de schouwburg. This is the largest of the three theaters. It's also home to the concertzaal, a concerthall mainly used for classical concerts.
* Theater De Nieuwe Vorst. This is a smaller theater. It has exibitions of upcoming and often local artists and artist groups. There is also a cafe and a garden, where they show films as an outdoor cinema during summer.
* Midi theater. This theater has a story. Now a theater, but it was originally build as a cinema.In the past the council fell after having problems with the finance of this theater. It been unused for several year but since the end of 2015 bought and restored as a theater by a new other. It's also often used during the festivals in Tilburg as a concerthall.
Three cinemas are known well throughout Tilburg. All cinemas have movies in English, while Cinecitta has many movies in French, Spanish and Italian languages.
* Cinecitta Willem II Straat 29, Tel:(31-)013 542 1379, cinecitta.nl
Cinecitta is an arthouse cinema, with arthouse movies, documentaries and is cosy, has no pauses and in a historical building.
* Euroscoop Olympiaplein 2, Tel: (31-) 013 581 28 20 ( from 1pm and later)
Mail: info@euroscoop.nl
Euroscoop is a large cinema in the south of Tilburg, with twelve halls of cinema with many Hollywood movies, has large seats, pauses and automatical ticket sale.
* Pathé Pieter Vreedeplein 174, Tel: 0900 1458 (€ 0,55 cpm) http://www.pathe.nl
Pathé is also a large cinema, but is in the city center, in opposition to Euroscoop. It has 7 halls, large seats, no pauses and online reservation.
In many times in the past, Tilburg was neglected, and still becomes. Even it is the sixth city, you'll on holiday in the Netherlands probably never hear anything about Tilburg, while same-sized cities like Groningen and even the featureless city of Almere will be mentioned much more. First Tilburg was ignored and banned due to the catholic background, in latter days, like the last decades, it is unknown why, what makes the people feel treated badly and being ignored and neglected all the time.
Tilburg is connected to the rest of the country by a twice an hour Intercity service, bound to both Eindhoven - Venlo and Breda - Rotterdam - The Hague.
A second intercity goes twice an hour from Flushing-Middelburg-Bergen op Zoom-Breda to Tilburg and goes further 's-Hertogenbosch-Nijmegen-Arnhem-Zwolle. Trains in the Netherlands usually drive from 5.30/6.00 AM up to 12AM.
Intercity trains will drive in the night on friday and saturday nights from and to Eindhoven, 's-Hertogenbosch and Breda/Rotterdam/The Hague from 12AM to 4AM.
Tilburg is connected by highway from Breda (with Belgium, Rotterdam-The Hague) and Eindhoven (Limburg, Ardennes, Rhine-Ruhr). To Waalwijk, it goes partially on a highway, It's also directly connected with 's Hertogenbosch but strangely enough not by a highway but through a standard motorway with a lot of traffic lights and speed-controls.
Tilburg is also very well connected to Belgian cities like Antwerp and Brussels.
An exception for the buses from Waalwijk, the Efteling, Oosterhout and Turnhout, buses are useless. Tilburg is the largest Dutch city without Eurolines connection! This makes the trains to Breda and Eindhoven useful to go to another destination of Eurolines.
* Efteling with 169 or 137
* Oosterhout with 127
* Turnhout with 450 (De Lijn)
* Waalwijk with 137
No timescheduled ferries come along the Wilhelminakanaal, but if you've got your private owned boat, you can reach it from Eindhoven and the Meuse on the Wilhelminakanaal.
Tilburg is a really cheap city to get some food. A lot of bars have cheap deals during the week, aimed at luring in students. Look around at the korte heuvel or at the heuvelplein for some good deals. In general it's possible to have a decent meal including drinks for under €20 a person in most places.
Most bars employ students as bar and service personnel. Be prepared for some badly trained personnel and below average service.
If you really want to have a cheap dinner the following places will fill your tummy for less than €10 including a -drink.
* De frietboetiek De Heuvelstraat 3. Legendary snackbar at the beginning of the main shopping street Tilburg. Famous for their homemade sauces and french fries. Get some deepfried snacks "out of the wall" and have some frietje oorlog: french fries with mayonaise, peanutsauce, and (heavilly debated) onions.
* Happy italy [url=http://www.happyitaly.nl]Heuvelstraat]126 italian fastfood restaurant. They have pizza's that are way better then all the pizza/shoarma/kebab places you can find in the city and also serve decent pastas for low prices.
* Mini-wok [http://www.mini-wok.nl/[/url]Stadhuisplein 320Tilburg has several take-away wok restaurants. Yammies being the best, mini-wok being the cheapest. It's cheap, really fast and relatively healthy food.
Havanna's [url=http://www.havana-tilburg.nl/]Heuvel]22. Really decent meals for a decent price. Also has some nice cocktails. The spicy tenderloin pieces with twisterfries and the vegetarian enchillada's are especially nice. Unfortunately The place is infamous for their bad service. main course €10 - €17
* Cafe Berlijn [url=http://www.berlijncafe.nl[/url]Korvelseweg]169. A friendly and cosy bar owned and run by locals, outside of the main city centre. The small menu changes regularly. Quality food and a relaxed environment. Also has a decent selection of beers. For main course there's always two meat, one fish and one vegetarian dish. Don't leave without having one of their awesome cakes for dessert! main course €10 - €17
* Het elfde gebod[url=http://www.hetelfdegebod.eu/[/url]paleisring]23. Worth visiting just for it's interior. The place is filled with catholic sculptures of maria and other holy characters.Always packed with locals coming for dinner and well known for their really good food for a decent price. Has a long tradition of winning the 'public's price' in Tilburgs restaurant competition. Main course €10 - €20
* Gember & Sereh [url=http://www.gemberensereh.nl/[/url]korte]heuvel 3. By far the best Indonesian restaurant in the city (Tilburg, as every other Dutch city has several). Main course €14 - €20
* The Grass company (coffeeshop)[http://www.thegrasscompany.nl/vestiging/spoorlaan[/url]spoorlaan 360 arguably the coolest and most relaxed place to smoke a joint in the Netherlands. A cosy, fun place with decent personnel and actually quite a good menu. Expect big portions, because.. well, people might have the munchies. Also has nice smoothies,coffee and mocktails. "Main course €14 - €20"
*Mexican restaurant right in the centre of Tilburg. Very friendly staff good food (nachos, burritos, etc) and best margaritas in town. Peaceful garden at the back of the restaurant
The following restaurants are a bit more expensive for Tilburg standards but are still quite affordable
* Sarban Afghan restaurant[url=http://www.sarban.nl]Besterdring]2 This is something special. An Afghan restaurant with a passionate owner who will personally tell you everything about the dishes you're being served. Real Good and traditional food and a special experience overall. Take the surprise menu! 3 course menu €27.50
* Shinzo lounge [url=http://www.shinzolounge.nl/[/url]Piushaven]17 Tilburg has a lot of all you can eat sushi restaurants. The quality varies greatly. In our opinion this one is the best. It also has the best atmosphere. "sushi Koi" is also quite good but has bad acoustics. " All you can eat menu €25.50"
* La cabana [http://lacabanatilburg.nl/[/url]Academielaan 73 By far the best tapas restaurant in the city. Awkwardly located in the middle of an residential area. Expect to spend about 20 to 25 euros a person on food.
Despite being the sixth city in the Netherlands, Tilburg hosts none of the (around 90) Michelinsta and one of the top 100 "Lekker gids" restaurants. That being said these are considered the best gourmet/haute cuisine restaurants in Tilburg.
* Kok Verhoeven [url=http://www.kokverhoeven.nl]NS]Plein 32 €24 - €30 for a main course Known for it's excellent seafood.
* Taste! [url=http://www.taste-tilburg.nl[/url][Heuvelpoort]300[/url] Located in the hearth of the city, part of the mercure hotel. Rated 8.4 by knoopjelos.nl €24.50 for a one course meal up to €74.50 for a ten course meal
* Hofstede de Blaak [www.hofstededeblaak.nl]Dussenpad 1located in one of the suburbs of the city. According to Gaultmillau the best restaurant in Tilburg. Mentioned in the Michelinguide, but didn't receive a star. main course €24.50 - €33
* Le Bistro [url=http://www.lebistro.nl]]Juliana van Stolbergstraat 6 The most trendy restaurant in Tilburg.
* Trattoria L'Olivo [url=http://www.lolivo.nl[/url]]Heuvel 41 A small restaurant in the city centre with an "undiscovered" feeling.
* Auberge du Bonheur [url=http://www.bonheurhorecagroep.nl/[/url]]Bredaseweg 441 Located in the suburbs, in a very green area. Definetly the most beautiful restaurant in Tilburg. Also a hotel.
* De Burgerij [http://www.deburgerij.nl/[/url] Noordstraat 87 In a quiet area in the city centre. Very good variety of French food, as wel as some dutch "stamppotjes". Known for it's oyster events every thursday. For reservations call +31 13 822 0989 (advised, because it's often full).
* De Houtloods. New restaurant in the Spoorzone, western part.
When there is a festival or other big events, there is a pop-campsite.
Bastion Hotel, Kempenbaan 2, Tel: (0031-)013 5441999 situated next to the highway, near Hilvarenbeek and the Beekse Bergen.
* Bed and Breakfast Tilburg "Gust van Dijk", Tivolistraat 22, Tel: (0031-) 013 544 4495 situated in a cosy neighborhood south of the Interpolis Tower.
* City Hotel Tilburg, Heuvelring 126, Tel: (0031-)013 535 1355 situated in the city center, in the shopping district.
* Hotel Brasserij Grand Central, Spoorlaan 422, Tel: (0031-)013 543 6234 situated in the opposite of the central train station.
* Ibis Hotel, Dr. Hub Van Doorneweg 105, Tel: (0031-)013 4636465 situated next to the highway, near Goirle.
* Mercure Hotel, Heuvelpoort 300, Tel: (0031-)013 5354675 situated in the city center, in the shopping district.
* De Postelse Hoeve, Dr. Deelenlaan 10, Tel: (0031-)013 463 6335 situated north west, next to the road to the Efteling.
Auberge du Bonheur, Bredaseweg 441, Tel: (0031-) 013 468 6942 situated near the forests of the Kaaistoep.
* Het Wapen van Tilburg, Spoorlaan 362, Tel: (0031-)013 542 2692 situated in the city center, near the shopping district as well as near the central train station.
In the Netherlands generally, mobile internet via your mobile phone may cost no more than EUR.3,50/Mb, and from july 1 2012 the law allows no more than EUR.0,90/Mb
Internet and Wifi locations:
At the central library on 10, Koningsplein (King's Sq), there's internet, with payment.
At the McDonald's, free WiFi at four locations: Piusplein 75, Zuid at Mina Krusemanweg 4, West/Reeshof at Aphroditestraat, and (December 2011) at the Kreitenmolenstraat, close to Udenhout and Oisterwijk.
The uppermost floor of the V&D offers paid WiFi, at Heuvelstraat 33, at the La Place
Since the modernizing of the post system, no post office will (ever) serve Tilburg (anymore). To send post, you have either to do it via small points in supermarkets, unmanned, which are faster than the previous offices, and mostly open for longer hours too, since the shops where they are also keep open until 6, 8, 9 or even 10PM on some days and on some specific sundays too. To find a location, you can go to a web site of PostNL: [http://www.postkantoor.nl/handig/postkantoor-vinden/]. Type in: Tilburg and click at Postkantoor van PostNL.