Tag Archives: Maastricht

Pieterpad: Valkenburg to Maastricht

July 13, 2025Travel, Hiking, The NetherlandsValkenburg, Pieterpad, Maastricht, Mt. St. Pieter, André Rieu, Hotel Les Charmeskarenfranza

July 10 – All good things must come to an end. Today is our last hiking day. 12.75 miles planned.

This sign in the stairway of our hotel summed up our Netherlands hiking experience. Not only is there never an elevator, each hotel assumes that because we are hikers we won’t mind walking up to the top floor!

Heading into the suburbs before Maastricht, which go on a long way

The Dutch are so meticulous – have you ever seen such a perfectly trimmed weeping willow?

Crossing the bridge over the river Meuse

Many people stop to offer a prayer to the Virgin here

Passing out the other side of the city on the way to Mt. St. Pieter

Elevation! There’s Maastricht down below

Ta da! We are at the end of the Pieterpad! Another couple who had just completed took our picture.

Back to the city, we checked into Hotel Les Charmes, a delightful place where all the tables are made of old suitcases

The streets were super crowded this evening, and traffic was blocked to facilitate the free concert by hometown hero violinist André Rieu. We were told that he is the most famous violinist in the world.

Snaking through the crowd, we managed to find our restaurant. As a reward for a job well done, we treated ourselves to a spicy Singapore pho dinner, filled with seafood. Yum! We did it!

Maastricht – the end of the Pieterpad

October 11, 2023The Netherlands, TravelMaastricht, Mount Sint Pieter, Pieterpadkarenfranza

Oct 9 – This morning we put our boots on, and walked off to find the southern terminus of the Pieterpad. Even though we didn’t do all the hiking we originally planned, we thought we should climb the last hill.

This is a working river, with lots of barge traffic

We got to the foot of Mount Sint Pieter, and started up.

Jim is always happy to be ascending, even if the hill is not very steep

Before too long, we reached the summit, and looked around. No signs of the beginning or the end of anything. There were some trail markers, but the Pieterpad was not among them. What to do?

We trudged back down the hill, asking Google where we went wrong. No answers. At the foot of the hill was a café. We asked the proprietress, and she pointed across a very industrial-looking area. There was a path, so we followed it.

If you look really hard, you can see a set of steps in the center, at the far side of this picture. Can you see them?

We wondered what sort of mining went on here.

That is not a natural cave – something is mined here

After all the metal steps was a last set of stone steps to the top. Wait for me, Jim!

Ta da! Not a picturesque view, but we made it!

Sure enough, there was a monument where you could immortalize an image of yourself either starting or ending the Pieterpad. Someday we may return and hike the rest!

There was an old fort ruin up here too, but we had seen enough for one day.

We had a lovely café lunch – as the sign mentions, dogs are welcome everywhere here.

And so ended our Pieterpad and Netherlands adventure. Tomorrow, on to Belgium!

Maastricht, Netherlands

October 10, 2023The Netherlands, TravelBasilica of Saint Servatius, Maastricht, Maastricht bookstorekarenfranza

Oct 8 – As our hike from Valkenburg continued, we left the farmlands, walked through the suburbs…

…over a pedestrian bridge and about an hour into the center of the city of Maastricht. We maneuvered down a very crowded shopping street with upscale stores and lots of restaurants.

There were things to see, but my pack was getting heavier by the minute, so Jim took us right to our B and B, Chez Helene.

Our street – have all the trees been trimmed to the same size and shape?

The funny thing about this country is that the small hotels we tend to frequent all call themselves B and Bs, but most do not serve breakfast. So what is the other B? We may never know. This one was even curiouser, as the advertised en suite did not actually have a separate bathroom. The toilet was right in the bedroom, with no door of any sort. Travelers can get used to anything, I guess!

So, after a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast from the nearby supermarket (coffee, hard boiled eggs, plain yogurt and fruit, and more coffee), we set off to see Maastricht.

We knew from our time in Valkenburg that the Basilica of St. Servatius was here.

It’s Maastricht’s most famous bookstore! With a whole floor of English books…

…and a dynamite classic vinyl collection. Is $50 a good price for an LP? I have no idea.

Might this be a church? No! It’s the bus stop!

Yes! It’s the Basilica of St. Servatius!

…containing some of the remains of the Saint, who died here back in the year 384.

Doesn’t this baby look like he’s up to no good?

…that shows that St. Servatius was related to Jesus and his cousins John (the Baptist) and James (the Less)

Then we had a lovely café lunch and walked around town.

The Dutch are very serious about keeping their shrubbery trimmed.

A very nice day!

On to Maastricht

October 8, 2023The Netherlands, TravelCows, Hiking, horses, Maastricht, Pieterpad, Valkenburg, wall artkarenfranza

Oct 7 – Today we bid adieu to Valkenburg, shouldered our packs and got on the Pieterpad for the hike to Maastricht. Although I’ve shown you plenty of wall art, here is some more as we walked out of town.