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Practicalities
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The centre of Maastricht is on the west bank of the river. You're likely to arrive, however, on the east bank, in the district known as Wijk, home to the
train
and
bus stations
and many of the city's hotels. The
airport
is north of the city at Beek, served by bus #61 to Markt and the train station (every 30min; takes 20min). The
VVV
is in the centre at Kleine Straat 1, at the end of the main shopping street (Mon-Sat 9am-5/6pm; May-Oct also Sun 11am-3pm; tel 043/325 2121,
www.visitmaastricht.nl
); it has copies of
Uit In Maastricht
and a tourist guide which includes a decent map and a list of private rooms (?10-15/$16-24/€18-27). There are several good central
hotels
, including
La Cloche
, Bredestraat 41 (tel 043/321 2407,
www.lacloche.com
; ?20-25/$32-40/€36-45), and
Anno 1604
, Kattenstraat 11 (tel 043/325 0165; ?10-15/$16-24/€18-27). Hotels conveniently located for the station and the city include the two-star
De Poshoorn
, Stationstraat 47 (tel 043/321 7334; ?20-25/$32-40/€36-45) and the one-star
Le Guide
at no. 17a (tel 043/321 6176; ?15-20/$24-32/€27-36); the
Botel Maastricht
(tel 043/321 9023; ?15-20/$24-32/€27-36) is moored on the river on Maasboulevard, not far from the Helpoort, and does an excellent breakfast. For
camping
, the large and well-equipped
De Dousberg
site (tel 043/343 2171; April-Oct), is a ten-minute ride from the station on bus #11 (after 6.25pm, take bus #28 towards Pottenburg and ask the driver). The same bus also takes you to the
hostel
at Dousbergweg 4 (tel 043/346 6777; ?5-10/$8-16/€9-18), which has access to open-air and indoor swimming pools.
Eating
is never a problem in Maastricht. At the bottom end of the price scale, the street to head for is Koestraat, which runs off Cortenstraat to the south of Onze Lieve Vrouweplein. Here you'll find the excellent and cheap Indonesian
De Branding
at no. 5; the low-cost pizzeria
Alexandria
at no. 21; a good-value bakery around the corner; and the slightly upmarket
D'n Blind Genger
, no. 3, with a varied menu and a nice atmosphere. Also nearby, down towards the river on Graanmarkt,
Caribbean Embassy
is an
eetcafe
with reasonably priced Caribbean specialities and cheap snacks, and
Reitz
, Markt 75, is a Maastricht institution serving huge cones of thick Belgian-style
frites
. The
bars
on the east side of Vrijthof are packed in summer;
In den Ouden Vogelstruys
, on the corner of Platielstraat, is one of the nicest. Away from Vrijthof,
De Bobbel
, on Wolfstraat just off Onze Lieve Vrouweplein, is a bareboards bar, lively in the early evening;
Falstaff
, on St Amorsplein, down Platielstraat from Vrijthof, is younger and noisier, with good music and a wide range of beers. For
live music
all year round try
D'n Awwe Stiene
, Kesselskade 43 (Wed, Fri & Sat 10pm-5am; €6-16).
Internet
access is at the
Centre Ceramique
, five minutes from the station (tel 043/350 5600;
www.centreceramique.nl
), which also houses the European Centre of Journalism, a cafe and a reading-room. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Netherlands,
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