I will in the BENELUX Region in July. Will be anchored in Maastricht because of spouse's work.
Any suggestions for day trips and info on Maastricht would be be appreciated.

Thanks

That sounds exciting. It is an area of Netherlands that we did not visit but I have been long interested in exploring the region.

When we lived in Holland, we took a map and a train schedule and used a technique similar to the Slow Travel Concentric Circle philosophy. We would look to see what cities we could get to within 1-2 hours by train. If you will have a car, you can use a similar philosophy.

I would start with what to see within Maastricht. Wikitravel has a great page on Maastricht. It also includes good information about travel connections which can give you ideas for day trips. Also here is the Holland Tourism pages on Maastricht and Maastricht VVV pages. These will give you an idea of things to do and see in the city. You might also look at the tourism sites for the local region - Limburg.

Maastricht is located closer to Belgium sites than the major sites in Holland. It is borders on the Flemish French speaking section of Belgium - Wallonia. Leige and Brussels are with in a 2 hour train ride and would definitely be worth a day trip. Here is the Wallonia - Brussels website. There is a new Magritte Museum opening in Brussels. Aachen Germany is also close by. The Wallonia area is known for its small beer brewers. For outdoor exploration, the Ardennes have lots of opportunities although I think you need a car to reach some of the areas. If you are into history, the area was also the site of the WWII Battle of the Bulge.

For overnight trips, there are many sites within a 3 hour train trip - Amsterdam, Koln, Brugges, Luxembourg, areas of France.

You are going to have a wonderful time. I would love to hear more on where you decide to go and your experiences. Please tell us more after your trip.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Marta,

quote:

It is borders on the Flemish speaking section of Belgium - Wallonia.

I'm sure that Marta meant to say that Wallonia is the French speaking section of Belgium.

I don't know what kinds of things interest you, but Liège is only about 1/2 hour away from Maastricht by train. I just spent some time there visiting a friend, and it has some very interesting things. It's not a typical tourist destination--it's a former industrial center recovering from its post-industrial decline--but if a certain combination of vibrancy and grittiness doesn't put you off, it would be a super-simple daytrip. Chief among them is the newly opened Grand Curtius Museum, housed partly in an old mansion, with excellent displays including historic glass, historic armaments (which are much better than they sound--knives with beautifully carved handles, guns with engraving, etc.), and medieval art. On Sunday mornings, a huge and lively food and general merchandise market, La Batte, stretches for miles on the quais along the Meuse river in the center of town.

In a somewhat different vein, but also very close to Maastricht, the schatzkammer (treasury) at the Dom in Aachen has some truly astounding reliquaries and other religious objects.

As Marta said, Maastricht is an excellent location to see parts of several countries, so I'm sure you'll find plenty to do.

Ooops... Thanks for the correction KT. I'll go change it now.

Thanks for your help. Several web sites I was not aware of. Leige sounds like I would like it. I like just to wander old towns and take photographs. Like the outdoors, but, do not think driving will be a part of this trip. So, the public transport will be getting used heavily. Are you aware of of Benelux area pass that would be available?

Again, Thamk you all.

John

There is a Benelux Pass. Rick Steves has information on his site. He feels it is not worthwhile because the distances are not that far in the Benelux.

The Holland Trail system has many types of ticketing several with discounts. It is less expensive to purchase weekend tickets. There is a monthly pass - Maandnetabonnement and I think it is good on ICE International trains (not Thalys). I used one when I lived for 6 weeks in Leiden since I was commuting daily to Den Haag so it was worth the expense (347€).

The bus system is also very good. It is nationalized. The system runs on zones and you can purchase a strip of tickets Strippenkaarten. They come in various numbers including 15 or 45. You punch or have stamped by the driver the number of zones you are traveling. They can also be shared so a whole family can travel using one large strippenkaarten. This is a great site to use for travel planning (includes all methods; train, bus, walk) - 9292ov.