A weekend away together, it had been on my wishlist for ages and now the time had come. Lotte and I finally went to Christmas Town Valkenburg together last weekend. Originally, the four of us were going to explore Valkenburg this weekend, but Frank's work and Luc's unfitness made it a mother-daughter weekend. And how we enjoyed the Christmas atmosphere in this city. I would be happy to tell you more (read:everything) about it.
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I can really enjoy the Christmas atmosphere in these months and I have no problem at all immersing myself in this. Christmas Town Valkenburg has everything you need to completely wallow in the Christmas mood and we prepare ourselves nicely for Christmas in this way.
Our stay at Landal Kasteeldomein de Cauberg is also our starting point for the weekend. Driving through the gate of Kasteeldomein de Cauberg, Lotte and I immediately imagine ourselves in a kind of fairytale. The huge driveway with a view of one of the large apartment accommodations gives you the feeling that you are 'coming home' and the fairytale feeling is enhanced even more by the Christmas atmosphere.
De Cauberg is within walking distance of Christmas Town Valkenburg and is therefore the perfect base for us. You can retreat to your own apartment or house in peace and quiet if you've been on the road all day. If you opt for a luxurious accommodation, you can - just like Lotte and I - even relax in your own sauna and bubble bath!
Would you like to know more about this Landal park? Check their website.
I got the idea to go to Christmas Town Valkenburg because of the Christmas markets that are held there in the caves. I thought it would be nice to see you once. Now you would think that scouring Christmas markets might be a woman's thing, but we've seen more than enough men in the caves, so the Christmas town is a great outing for them too. This is completely natural if you alternate these Christmas markets with good food and drinks. And the latter can be done in a very cool way by walking through one of the Route d'Amuses.
In total there are 4 different walks that you can do. We did the green walk, a walk of 4 kilometers through the area of Christmas Town Valkenburg. In addition, you also have a yellow, blue and red walk. The walks are fully described in a beautiful folder in which you can also read a piece of the history of Valkenburg.
During the walk you will not only pass beautiful castles, old factories and the Christmas market caves, but you will also visit a number of catering places.
In these restaurants you can eat a tasty amuse-bouche against presentation of a voucher from the folder. Grab a drink and you'll be satiated enough to continue your walk through Valkenburg Christmas Town. Luckily they also serve some children's amuses if you ask. For example, in one of the restaurants I had a nice piece of ham with sweet and sour vegetables and Lotte poffertjes 😉 .
During our green walk we only ate 3 of the 4 amuse-bouches. Started at the Zoete Zoen on Landal Kasteeldomein de Cauberg (very handy, right next door), continued to the Daelhemer quarry and ended at Hotel Botterweck.
Entirely our own fault of course, because we 'strayed' halfway through. With the idea that we could still do the next part the next day, we gave ourselves the time to enjoy unhurriedly, chat, look around and shop. Unfortunately we didn't visit the Shimano Experience center the next day either, but the amuse-bouche is undoubtedly just as good as the rest!
Here you will find more information about the Route d'amuses
During the walk through Christmas Town Valkenburg we also visited the Christmas markets. There are two large Christmas markets in the caves. The Christmas market in the Municipal Cave and the Christmas market in the Velvet Cave. Both Christmas markets are usually very busy (especially on weekends). Keep in mind that there are queues to get in.
At the Gemeentegrot there was a huge queue of people waiting on Saturday. So it was dry, I think that will make a difference. But you are also advised that it is better to go to the caves at the end of the day because it is less crowded then.
There was also a decent queue at the Velvet Cave, but 'fortunately' that was only on the side 'without tickets † In the photo on the right you can see that there is no one behind us in the row for the 'online tickets †
Hint :did you not order tickets online for the cave, but is there so much difference in the queue? Then go in the row of 'online tickets ’ and order them at that time via your mobile. You will receive the confirmation immediately and can have your ticket scanned via your mobile. Saves you a lot of waiting time! By the way, we already had tickets with us 😉 , but three girls standing in front of us avoided all the waiting time that way.
It was also great shopping in the cave itself. Just pleasantly busy. You will of course find a lot of Christmas decorations there. From lights to all kinds of accessories and from clothing to craft supplies for scrapbooking. Yay! We did not go home empty-handed.
I have not counted the stalls, but it is a nice walk through the cave and there are cozy Christmas stalls everywhere. In addition, there is also catering in the cave and you can get delicious stroopwafels.
What you should pay attention to… if you like taking photos like me… there are some entrepreneurs who are not waiting for that. I got quite a snap from a lady who sold glassware. #oops #dangeadvertisingforjestall
Unfortunately we had to skip the Municipal Cave. Since we wanted to see a little more of Christmas Town Valkenburg, we only passed this cave in the dark 😉 . A nice picture, isn't it?
The Municipal Cave is the oldest and most visited underground Christmas market in Europe.
The Christmas markets in both caves can be visited from November 15 to December 29. The entrance for adults costs €7.50 per cave, and if you order tickets for both caves (to be visited on separate days), you will receive a small discount.
More information can be found here
You can of course also do your Christmas shopping in the center of Valkenburg itself, it is not called the Christmas city for nothing. The entire center is decorated with indoor and outdoor Christmas lights and every store seems to go along with it.
During the weekend you can expect a lot of crowds throughout the afternoon and evening. It did not disturb us, it is busy, but pleasantly busy. If you are looking for a place on one of the terraces, you will probably have to search. But there are a lot of terraces so that will be fine. All patio heaters are on and there is a blanket on every chair. So nothing too cold!
You can of course enjoy good food and a drink in many places in Christmas Town Valkenburg. We sat for dinner at Pommes, at the very front of the terrace because of course we also wanted to see the Parade.
Pommes is no ordinary chip shop but has a special concept. To start, you choose your type of freshly baked fries. Regular, or with all kinds of herbs. In addition, you choose a number of toppings, your sauces and a snack and your meal is complete. You could even call it overcomplete. I had two toppings myself -as the menu indicates- but actually I thought that was a bit much together with the fries and the snack. On the other hand, it is wonderful that you can choose from different flavors. In my case guacamole and Indonesian peanut sauce. Looks nice, doesn't it?
If you walk past the castle ruins towards the center, you will find the beautiful Berkelpoort on the left. During the Christmas season it is of course even more beautifully lit, but the photo I took of it left something to be desired 😉 , so you have to make do with the photo below.
Not only are all the shops decorated for Christmas, there is also a real Santa's Village. If you are going to walk the green route d'Amuse… you will find Santa's Village near Hotel Botterweck.
And if you think that this was it in the Christmas town of Valkenburg, then you are quite wrong. There are many more things to do!
As I mentioned above, there is also a Christmas Parade. Very nice especially for children, but adults are also amazed.
The parade lasts half an hour, but people are already waiting behind the fences and ribbons an hour in advance until the Christmas Parade in Kerststad Valkenburg passes by in all its glory. This one is so loved.
The Fairytales Parade is held twice a week (on Wednesdays and Saturdays) during the Christmas Town period.
In addition to the fact that there is a Christmas market in various caves, you can also see an extensive miniature display in the marl caves in Mergelrijk. And Lotte was hungry for that, it's not for nothing that she is so driven to set up our own Christmas village again 😉 .
We have therefore extensively examined the Christmas miniatures, but also the underground 30-meter long Biblical Christmas story. You are amazed!
You will also find many sculptures hewn from marl in Mergelrijk. From Rembrandt's Night Watch to Valkenburg train station. And as icing on the cake, you can then get to work making something out of Marl yourself.
Lotte set to work with a block of marl, a grater and a brush.
A little further in the cave you will also find a whole explanation of various dinosaurs, very nice for enthusiasts! All in all, you can easily spend your time here.
More information about Mergelrijk can be found on their website.
We would have loved to have done another round on the skating rink in Valkenburg and viewed the sand sculptures in Winterwonderland with the accompanying cable car trip to Schenkerij de Wilhelminatoren. Unfortunately we didn't get around to that anymore, but I'm considering going back again during the Christmas holidays!
Have I been able to make you enthusiastic with our experiences? That is not unjustified, because it was really great fun! If you want to know more about Christmas Town Valkenburg, be sure to visit their website for all the information.
Who of you has already visited Valkenburg Kerststad?
