Wandering adorable Valkenburg Aan De Geul

Often times my travels are derived from Pinterest boards, recommendations from fellow bloggers and Anthony Bourdain (love him). Geography obviously lends a hand in determining feasibility but typically I’ve been able to find a cheap bus or RyanAir flight to justify the transit.

Simple enough, en route to Amsterdam this summer my family and I needed a place to overnight to break up the drive. As joyous as it sounds to cruise on the Autobahn at 100mph, it’s incredibly exhausting and with the never-ending road construction resulting in the rerouting of lanes (typically reducing them to precisely the width of the car), after 4 hours or so I’m in need of a beer and break.

I began hunting through TripAdvisor to see what towns were on the border of Germany and the Netherlands but didn’t have much luck. I turned to the Holland tourism board and was delighted to find listings of the best villages in the country (HERE), including the “most picturesque”. Enter, charming Valkenburg aan de Geul!

Although our visit was a mere 20 hours, we adored this little town. Comprised of watermills, churches, and castles, the historical charm of the city is tangible.

We arrived just at dusk, strolled the bustling pedestrian-only Grotestraat Centrum and called it an early night.

After an interesting sleep (I accidentally booked us at a hotel with a communal bathroom) I rose early to take Stuart on a walk. Apparently this is my thing, early morning walks (like THIS one I did in Amsterdam). The little town was still fast asleep, it was so peaceful and perfect, especially compared to the hustle and bustle just hours prior.

Stuart and I wandered back to our ‘hotel’ (hostel?) and packed up for our remaining journey to Amsterdam. Despite it’s petite size, Valkenburg is well worth a visit, especially if you’re in the region.