Breda is a quiet student town in the south of the Netherlands, halfway between Rotterdam and Antwerp. It has the warmth of a southern city without the crowds -- locals like to call it the most northern city of Southern Europe. There is something to that. The cafe terraces around the Grote Markt fill up fast, the people are friendly, and the pace is unhurried.
The old centre tells the story of the town's past. The Grote Kerk dominates the skyline with its 97-metre tower, built over 125 years in Brabantine Gothic style. The castle, now home to the Royal Military Academy, goes back to the 12th century. And the Spanjaardsgat watergate is where a peat barge once smuggled soldiers inside the walls to recapture the city from the Spanish -- the Dutch version of the Trojan Horse.
Every Tuesday morning the weekly market sets up on the Grote Markt, as it has since 1321. The town has good museums, a lively bar scene fuelled by its student population, and some of the best festivals in Brabant, including a renowned jazz festival in May and the world's only Redhead Day in September.