Tag Archives: Valkenburg

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!

A Day in Valkenburg

July 12, 2025Hiking, The Netherlands, TravelValkenburg, wall artkarenfranza

July 9 – Returning to Valkenburg gave us a sweet sense of deja vu – this is the town where we holed up for eleven days while recovering from COVID way back in 2023. We stayed longer in this town than just about anywhere we’ve ever been. We walked every corner of Valkenburg while regaining our strength.

Here is where we learned to love Albert Heijn supermarkets – Jim has carried his Albert Heijn discount card in his wallet for two years, and was so happy to use it again!

So we didn’t feel the need to explore this lovely town, filled with sidewalk cafes and bustling with tourists. For us it felt like coming home.

We stopped by the Marx Motel, just to make sure it was still there

I couldn’t stop myself from snapping away at the old wall ads on every street

I see they still haven’t refurbished all the wall art

…and the mosaic bench in front of the library

It was a lovely trip down Memory Lane, and yes, we did visit the Albert Heijn. We are feeling nostalgic – our Pieterpad hike ends tomorrow.

Pieterpad: Sittard to Valkenburg

July 11, 2025Hiking, The Netherlands, TravelSittard, Valkenburg, wall art, wood carved animalskarenfranza

July 8 – We had an early breakfast and hit the road for our penultimate hiking day. The weather continues cool and cloudy. 15.5 miles planned.

Navigating out of the city – here’s our trail sign

We were immediately climbing a shady, quiet road that featured the stations of the cross on both sides

And then it was back out to the farm fields. Who knew Holland grew so much wheat?

Now, here’s a crop we haven’t seen – cabbages!

Oh my goodness – an animal carved out of a fallen tree trunk. What do you think it is? A boar? A badger?

And here’s another – a large chipmunk, or perhaps a small bear?

I guess you figured out that I love sunflowers

That church spire means we’re passing the town of Puth – we won’t actually go through it, but it lets us know we’ve gone 4 miles

We walked beside a busy highway for a while

A larger than Harvey sized rabbit in a field of potatoes. Thanks to whoever took the time to carve these along the roadside for our amusement!

The little mayor welcomed us back to Valkenburg

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.

An odd place for a baby, above a doorway

A pretty church? Nope – it’s a restaurant!

The day was perfect for hiking – cool and breezy. Maastricht is about eight miles away.

After leaving town, we walked along the River Guel

Keeping an eye out for Pieterpad markers

This trail is also part of the Camino de Santiago – it was great to see the familiar sign of the shell!

We walked through an upscale town with thatched roof houses – go figure!

The coffee shop had an impressive collection of old hiking boots – who would discard their boots before the end of the trail?

We met lots of hikers and bikers, but theses were the only horses we saw today

And just like that, we were in Maastricht, the biggest city we’ve seen since Amsterdam. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow!

Still in Valkenburg, Netherlands

October 6, 2023The Netherlands, Travelcastle ruins, St. Servatius, Valkenburg, velvet caveskarenfranza

Oct 4 – I think this is the longest we’ve ever stayed in one town! As pretty as it is, we’re running out of things to see. We originally dismissed the idea of paying 15€ apiece to tour the ruins of the castle on the hill, as we could see most of it from the street. By today, however, that option was looking pretty interesting, so here we go!

Now we’ll see them up close and personal!

I mentioned in a previous post that the original wooden castle only lasted for eight years in the 1100s. Stone versions were subsequently built up and knocked right down until the 1400s, when the ruins were allowed to remain ruins. Not much history to tell.

Part of a tile floor unearthed for us to see

Nice views of the town below – the metal weathervane depicts St. Servatius with his foot on the neck of a dragon

Close up of the St. Servatius weathervane

From this angle, you can imagine the bucolic view the original inhabitants saw

For the price of admission, we also got to tour the sandstone tunnels dug under the castle in about the 14th century.

A stonecutter removing bricks from the tunnel

The tunnels provided bricks for the rebuilding of the castle, and also provided a way for the castle inhabitants to escape unseen. Although the tour was only in Dutch, we enjoyed seeing the artwork carved into the soft stone.

Our tour guide illuminated the artwork with a flashlight

What the castle looked like in better days

This is the story of two brothers in love with the same princess. When she chose to marry one, the other one, of course, killed her.

A jawbone of a prehistoric reptile was found in the sandstone. This is what the creature may have looked like! The actual jawbone was taken by the French, and is in a museum in Paris.

In September 1944, the Americans liberated Maastricht and Valkenburg from the Nazis, and used these tunnels.

The G.I.s left their signatures in the soft stone, and a local artist drew their silhouettes below.

In the 18th century, a subterranean chapel was carved out of the sandstone.

St. Servatius, the patron saint of Maastricht, lived in the fourth century.

So, what do you think? As always, we learned something today, well worth the price of admission!

More from Valkenburg, Netherlands

October 4, 2023The Netherlands, Travelflowers, Hiking, horses, Pieterpad, Valkenburgkarenfranza

Oct 2 – Another perfect sunny day, and we must be feeling better, as our plan for the day is hiking. We were originally supposed to walk into Valkenburg from the Pieterpad, so our plan for today is to find that trail!

The red and white Pieterpad marker in town

A mother is biking the trail with her adult son

We walked through a pretty park on our way back to town

A great day!

Valkenburg, Netherlands

October 2, 2023The Netherlands, TravelGoat parade, Indian motorcycle, Valkenburg, wall artkarenfranza

Sept 29 – So we are here in our cozy apartment. We walk out in the sunshine every day, and Jim has found a walking park and trail that is very pleasant. It has been pointed out to me that this is what other people do on vacation – it’s called r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g. What a concept!

The restaurants in town are busy, but so far we have been content with our little kitchen and Jim’s homemade soup.

A crowded shopping street with lots of cafés

Jim’s yummy potato and mushroom soup, and some odd Dutch pork and cheese sausages called “tree trunks”

There is an Indian motorcycle shop here:

The ruins of Valkenburg Castle sit atop the only hill in town. Originally built of wood in 1115 and destroyed in 1122, the sign tells us it was the only castle built on a hill in the whole country! Not many hills here…

Oct 1 – Are you ready for some real excitement? Today is the Valkenburg Goat Parade, which, if we understand things correctly, ushers in the first keg of bok beer of the new season.

I was concerned about finding a good spot to watch the festivities, but no worries – the five marching bands went up one street and down the next, and we had plenty of opportunities to see them. But where were the goats? And where was the beer?

Here is a plaque in the main square, apologizing for the hundreds of “goat riders” subjected to torture and execution in the 1700s. These were marauders who were believed to have consorted with the devil, enabling them to ride across the sky on flying goats. We did not see any goats today, flying or otherwise. Nor any beer. Oh well!

Would you like to see some more wall art? Valkenburg has plenty!

A good day!

Groesbeek to Valkenburg, Netherlands

September 28, 2023The Netherlands, TravelGroesbeek, Marx Motel, Valkenburg, wall artkarenfranza

Sept 25 – This was to be our week of hiking on the Pieterpad – the Netherlands trail that starts in Pieterburen in the north, and extends to Mt. St. Pieter in the south. The weather is perfect – sunny, cool and breezy, with blue skies and zero rain in the forecast all week. Best laid plans…

View out the window of our B&B in Groesbeek

As Jim began to feel worse and tested positive, we asked Boris to drive past our hiking origin point, and take us right to our accommodation for the evening in Groesbeek. One look told us that if we couldn’t hike out from here, we were pretty well stuck – no traffic for hitchhiking, and definitely no public transit. Jim even looked for a taxi service, but there was none. We are only booked here for one night, and I knew I, for one, would not be ready to hike in the morning.

We talked about our options, and decided, with heavy hearts, to cancel our reservations along the trail for the next week. We asked Boris to come back tomorrow and drive us south to Valkenburg, where a quick online search found us a studio apartment with a kitchen, near a grocery store, so we can hunker down until we feel 100%. That’s our plan B.

This morning’s sunrise was pretty spectacular

Sept 26 – We both slept well in the absolute quiet of the countryside. Boris showed up right on time, and two hours later, we are in Valkenburg. One week of walking = two hours of driving. Thank you Boris – we literally could not have done this without you!

So now we are at the Marx Motel. Karl? Groucho? Who can say?

We have an efficiency apartment with a balcony and a kitchenette stocked with everything we should need. Here we can rest and recover.

Valkenburg is a pretty, tourist town. There are many things to see here, but we only walked the three minutes from our apartment to the excellent grocery store. We bought some chicken soup – sure to help us feel better!