Eindhoven

The museum fills the small factory where Philips began making light bulbs in 1891. The front room keeps the factory floor and early lamps; newer galleries follow the firm into radios and medical kit. Being near the station, it fills a wait between trains.

The old district of Philips plants and laboratories, now offices, homes and shops. The Klokgebouw and its clock tower serve as an event hall and the heart of Design Week. Big murals and graffiti cover the walls, which slows a walk through its lanes.

A museum of modern art, opened in 1936 on a gift from the cigar maker Van Abbe, unusually rich in Lissitzky. A grey tower-like extension stands behind the old brick building, and visits move between the two. The riverside exit leads straight onto a footpath.

A flying-saucer building put up by Philips in 1966 for the firm's 75th anniversary. Once a science exhibition, it is now a conference venue, so getting in is hard on days with no event. From the park around it the concrete disc seems to hover off the ground.

A circular cycle bridge floats over a large junction, hung on cables from one tall central pylon. Cars wait for the lights below while bikes go round above without stopping. After dark the underside lights up and the ring looks like a disc.

Said to be the longest street of bars in the country. On weekend nights the terraces take over the whole street, and many in the crowd are students. By day most of it is shuttered, and it is hard to believe it is the same place.

A neo-Gothic church by Cuypers, who also drew the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Central; its two spires show all over town. The towers differ in shape, puzzling first-timers who check their photos. The square in front becomes a stage on market and festival days.

Home of PSV, a club that began as a team for Philips workers, a short stroll out of the centre. On days without a match guided tours reach the dressing room and the pitch side. Match tickets sell early, so buy them in advance.

Nine days in October when old factories, schools and shops across the city become exhibition spaces. The Design Academy graduation show is the most crowded stop, so arrive at opening time to queue less. Rooms in town get much pricier that week.

For a week in November light works are projected on buildings in the centre, linked by a set walking route. You need no ticket, just follow the route; crowds build right after dark and stay until late. It is a one-way route and walking it backwards is hard.

Out in the Genneper Parken, this open-air museum has rebuilt Iron Age farmhouses and a medieval village. People in period dress light fires, bake bread and work iron. Far from the factory-town image, it suits half a day with children.

A museum of the trucks and cars built by DAF, the city's truck maker. From 1958 it sold small cars with the stepless Variomatic gearbox, and those cars stand in rows. One display cuts a car in half to show the transmission inside.

The village where Van Gogh lived with his parents from 1883 to 1885 and painted The Potato Eaters. The village museum, Vincentre, maps a walk linking the church and parsonage he painted. Buses run from Eindhoven.

A droplet-shaped glass building put up in 2010 on the 18 September square. The Italian architect Fuksas designed it, and the square hides a bicycle garage below. At night its inner lights turn the whole square aglow.