Heavenly Holland: Marvellous Maastricht is so much more than a historical footnote

By VICTORIA GOOCH

Dutch masterpiece: Maastricht is one of the Netherlands' best-kept secrets


The mighty Maas waltzes effortlessly between the two sides of the Dutch city of Maastricht - both markedly different. Rising from the west bank is an old town of Renaissance houses crammed on to cobbled alleys built atop Roman ruins (giving weight to the claim that this is the Netherlands' oldest city).

To the east is the gleamingly hip Wyck-Ceramique area, where antique shops are complemented by contemporary designers. You can walk from one end of this diminutive city to the other in half an hour, taking in enough sights to make your heart sing.

Being twice as far from Amsterdam as it is from Brussels, the city, in the province of Limburg, feels more Continental than particularly Dutch. Limburg has only been a permanent part of the Netherlands since 1839. Out on a limb down in the far south of the country, it's resplendent with undulating hills, vineyards and sun.

Add in its multilingual population, proximity to the German and Belgian (both the Flemish and Walloon regions are within easy reach of the centre) borders and international institutes, including the University of the United Nations, and it's no wonder the European Union was born here in 1992 when the Maastricht Treaty was signed.

If you have time to spare, its location is perfect for country-hopping. You could start the day in Maastricht, follow the river south to the Belgian Ardenne, lunch in northern France, a digestif in Luxembourg, then wend your way back through western Germany. How sjiek (great), as they say here.

But if you're only here for a weekend, save it for another trip as the city itself will more than satisfy.

Maastricht is home to world-class galleries, fairs and festivals, and exquisite shopping streets filled with boutiques. It also has more pubs than there are days in the year - music to the ears of the 13,000 students here.

Speaking of music, a tune has it that 'Maastricht is the city for fun and for song', and nowhere is that better encapsulated than at Andre Rieu's annual summer concerts in the grand, leafy Vrijthof Square.


Table dance: The city is home to a lively cafe culture


Here, when the local-boy-turned-global-superstar performs with his orchestra under a twinkling sky, I'm told it's like the Last Night Of The Proms. Apparently, he brings out great emotion in his audience, especially when he plays in his hometown.

To me, it's this sense of deep pride among locals that makes the city so appealing. The former Roman settlement manages to preserve its history, while welcoming the modern. Almost every one of its 1,450 monuments and historic buildings - nearly as many as Amsterdam - has a current use.

Take my accommodation, the Kruisheren Hotel, a converted 15th-century monastery that makes spectacular use of the box-within-a-box idea, leaving its gothic interior intact while space-age lighting and modern art vie with the original frescoes and stained-glass windows.

Just off Grote Staat, one of the main shopping streets, is a similar renovation project. The once run-down Dominican church was previously used as a bike shed. It has now been transformed into what is surely one of the few bookshops in the world to draw a gasp of awe.

Over at the picturesque Onze Lieve Vrouweplein, plans to build a swimming pool in Hotel Derlon's basement uncovered Roman ruins, and guests can now gaze at the excavations from their breakfast tables.

Cross over the footbridge (you have the choice between a 13th century arch or the one built in the Nineties) and you'll find the rocket-like tower of Bonnefanten Museum, a cannonball's throw from remnants of the medieval city wall.

How best to get around? Being a Dutch city, two legs are good - but two wheels are better still. Just remember to park your bike in the racks: this is a tidy city.
Keep your eyes peeled for unexpected delights, from an open door revealing a tiny garden, an old waterwheel turning behind a bakery or a Renaissance home straddling the narrow Jeker river.

If you want to get out on the water, take a cruise to Mount St Pieter. The hill is riddled with labyrinths - one of which extends into Belgium - carved by miners quarrying marl, a soft limestone. Etched on the chalky walls are the scrawled signatures of the 17th-century block-breakers and those of Napoleon and Queen Wilhelmina. Rembrandt's The Night Watch and other treasures were hidden among more than 20,000 passages here during World War II, as were 6,000 locals sheltering from the air raids by their German neighbours.

A bakery and chapel are testament to how much the caves were used in wartime. This was the first Dutch city to fall, and also the first to be liberated - 66 years ago this year. The rest of the country had to wait another eight months.



Water feature: Maastricht is tucked away amid glorious scenery in the south of the Netherlands


After all this, you'll have worked up an appetite. And when a city of 120,000 people has six restaurants with Michelin stars, you know its residents take food seriously.

The resplendent 17th-century Chateau Neercanne on the edge of the city has fine terrace views of the magnificent Jeker valley. The wine 'cellar' is actually dug into its own marl caves; the signatures on the wall here include the heads of state from 1991's Euro summit as they negotiated the treaty.

For something even earthier, try the local dish zoervleis (beef in sweet-sour sauce) back in town at Cafe Sjiek. To wash it down, a drink at Rieu's favourite bar, De Bobbel. Or you could find a grand cafe on a leafy square, sip a locally-brewed Weichse, and soak up the multilingual cafe culture. How classically European.


Travel Facts
For more information on Maastricht, visit www.holland.com.
You can reach the city in around five hours by Eurostar (including a change at Brussels) from £89 return (08432 186 186, www.eurostar.com).
Rooms at the Kruisheren Hotel from £180pp (0031 43 329 20 20, www.chateauhotels.nl).


source: dailymail