Maastricht

Have you already visited Maastricht? If not you can put it on your list of Dutch towns to visit.
I was still a student when I was in Maastricht. This town is really popular among tourists as it is the ideal place for recreation as well as shopping. In Dutch Maastricht literally means "crossing at the Meuse''. Besides the parks, I absolutely love the promenades in the city. During a week I had plenty of time to explore the city, but even so I would go back if I had the occasion.

Here are some attractions hat I personally consider worth visiting.
In the top are the underground tours to the casemates and the Caves of St. Pieter, a major labyrinth with many tunnels (I think there are around 20.000). In the caves you will remark many ancient marks, some of which were left behind by artists. Each tour around the cave takes around an hour. You will have a guide who will show you all the important details.
Visiting the casemates is really exciting. However, you will need a guide to do this and to tell you all that is to know. For a tour you can arrange at the tourist information office.

Don't forget that the best way to discover Maastricht is on foot. In fact you can see the entire city center on foot and most of the time you will see many bicycles and very few cars. This way you can stop wherever you want. There is a city walk as well for tourists available at the tourist information office. This takes about 1.5 hours. If you wish you can have a guide as well, but it isn't necessary in my opinion.

In Maastricht you should go to as many restaurants as you can, don't forget that you are in one of the best culinary cities of Holland (it even has its own vineyard). If you have the budget visit as many restaurants as you can. You have where to choose from, if you want somehing more sophisticated you can go to a Michelin star restaurant.

Besides promenades, restaurants, city walks, bars and cafés Maastricht has a market as well, as any other Dutch city. Let me tell you that Dutch markets are fun, I love the fact that they are open air and that you can eat typical Dutch food there. On Saturdays there is always a flea and an antiques market. I'm not particularly a big fan of antiques, but I have to admit that I was nicely surprized by how many good things you can find at this market.

All in all, Maastricht is a city where you feel the vibe only when you're there. I would return for sure.Less