Valkenburg

The first time we had a daytrip to Valkenburg was somewhere Nov 2007.
That day was a cold rainy day, the whole town looks dead, so quite and don't get to see so many people out in the street.
Walking thru the city, I just fell in love with it, was kind of surprised to see the city in summer has such a lovely and warm welcome sensation.
So lively, there are lots of people from other parts of Holland visiting and also lots of tourist too.
I just love the over looking view from the Wilhelmina Tower, is so beautiful.
What a beautiful city!

Siege and conquest were characteristic of the history of Valkenburg. Each event is withheld, followed by subsequent restorations. This most definitely holds for the castle perched atop of a hill in the middle of the city, of which now only a ruin remains. In December 1672 it was destroyed, not to be rebuilt. Only two city gates (the Berkelpoort and the Grendelpoort) and a part of the citywalls survived destruction. Valkenburg is no longer a fortified city but retained its importance nevertheless.

Nowadays Valkenburg is especially known for its touristic character. There are several attractions within walking distance of the city centre. To mention a few:

• the Valkenburg Holland Casino,
• the Steenkolenmijn,
• the Thermae 2000,
• the former marl quarries (with charcoal drawings which sometimes even date back to the time of the Romans).
• the Sint-Gerlachus church in Houthem Sint-Gerlach. (The only religious building with fresco's (paintings on marl) in the Netherlands).

The present aim of Valkenburg is to move from mass-tourism for which it was famous during the seventies and eighties (with camping sites full of youths building their own constructions of beer crates) towards the attraction of the more elaborated tourist, who exhibits a more quiet and relaxed behaviour.

Valkenburg is situated in a beautiful part of the Netherlands which is perfectly suited for walks or (mountain) bike tours through the hilly terrain. Although the municipality Valkenburg aan de Geul only has about 18.000 inhabitants, it hosts about 1 million nights a year.

Valkenburg has the oldest still existing railway station building in the Netherlands.