The hill country
The hills of South Limburg exist because the Meuse cut down through limestone over millions of years. What is left are plateaus with steep slopes between them, divided by stream valleys. For cyclists that means climbing: the Cauberg at Valkenburg and the Keutenberg are familiar from the spring classics.
The south gives you hills and timber-framed villages, the north space and water. Half an hour of driving separates them.
Beneath Valkenburg and Maastricht run marl caves: hundreds of kilometres of tunnels cut by hand since Roman times. Parts are open with a guide. The temperature inside stays at ten degrees year-round, so bring a jacket even in August.
The Meuse and the north
From Maastricht the Meuse runs north through the whole province. At Arcen are the castle gardens, fifteen hectares laid out around a seventeenth-century house. The Maasduinen alongside form a long strip of drift sand and pools, and Toverland at Sevenum is the largest theme park in the province.
Tip
Pick your park by what you want to do rather than by the middle. The three-country point, Thermae 2000 and the marl caves are in the south; the Maasduinen, Arcen castle gardens and Toverland are in the north. A park halfway means half an hour to either.
Maastricht and the villages
Maastricht is the oldest city in the Netherlands, with Roman remains under the paving and a bookshop inside a thirteenth-century church. Valkenburg has a ruined castle and Christmas markets held inside the caves in December. Thorn is known as the white village, its houses limewashed for centuries.
Who Limburg suits
- Road cyclists and walkers: the only real gradients in the country
- Anyone after wellness: Thermae 2000 and many parks with their own facilities
- Families: Toverland, the caves and the castle gardens are all within reach
- Combining a day in Belgium or Germany with a Dutch stay
When to go
Spring is best in the hills, when the slope woods come into leaf and the orchards flower. Summer is warm: Limburg is the warmest province in the country. Autumn colours the woodland, and December brings the Christmas markets at Valkenburg.
