Tilburg Audio Tours

Tilburg spent the 19th and early 20th centuries as the beating heart of the Dutch textile industry, its mills lining the Mark River and clothing much of the country. When that industry collapsed in the 1960s, the city faced the kind of hollowing-out that ruins lesser places. Instead, Tilburg converted. The old Wolwassen mill on the Goirkestraat became the TextielMuseum, a working museum where you can watch industrial looms at work while examining the history of Dutch fashion and design. King Willem II of the Netherlands died in Tilburg in 1849, lending the city a footnote of royal history most visitors never know about.

Today Tilburg runs on creative energy and student life, home to Tilburg University and a design culture anchored by the Fontys Academie voor Beeldende Kunst.

The 013 venue has been a cornerstone of Dutch alternative music since the 1990s, hosting acts that would later fill arenas. Carnival season transforms the city into one of the loudest and most committed celebrations in the Netherlands -- Tilburg takes its Carnival as seriously as any city in Brabant, which is saying something.