Since we were staying South of Bonn, we decided to do a 1 hour drive north/west to Aachen, then neighboring Maastricht, only 20 min away. Once we arrived we parked at a an underground mall in town.

I met some interesting people at the Marktplatz. Of course, if you knew me, I started to have a conversation with everybody who had an ear. Most Dutch speak several languages, besides their own, German and English for sure.

Maastricht is undoubtedly a popular shopping destination in the Netherlands. In addition to the great markets, Maastricht is also a historic and cultural city with numerous cafés, galleries, boutiques and antique shops. The Binnenstad and Wyck districts offer some of the main shopping streets.

Maastricht will host the European Fine Art Fair in March, and in December you can visit a big and festive Christmas market here. If you want to travel to other cities, there are many options to choose from, including trains, buses, highways

Next stop was the Tourist office to take a self guided tour.

Maastricht is a University town with Middle age architecture and cobble stone streets. After an hour walk and admiring the architecture of a very old gothic church, Sint Janskerk, we finally sat down at an outdoor cafe to eat a snack.

On the drive home we stopped in Aachen and visited the amazing cathedral.

See pictures below

 

I highly recommend doing some research before going to the Netherlands. I would have missed some wonderful sights if I would not had my Rick Steves Book about Amsterdam and the Netherlands .They can be purchase right below: