Showcase Saturday - Valkenburg - an old town in Limburg

Today, I'd like to take you with me to one of my favorite provinces in The Netherlands - Limburg. Have fun!

We tend to travel far away to get to know new cultures, gather new experiences and meet people. However, very often we have such beautiful things just across the corner but we simply don't see them.

Recently, I have spent a few days in Valkenburg which is located in the province of Limburg in The Netherlands, close to the hometown of my husband.

I fell in love with the hotel where I was staying. It was a combination of a castle with an art gallery. Look at it!

The hotel is surrounded by beautiful parks, a vineyard, herb garden, orchard, rose garden, and even a church! Hotel with its own church! It's because the hotel used to be a monastery that was built to accommodate pilgrims who had come to pay homage to hermit Gerlach of Houthem.

It's a complex which consists of many various buildings. The rooms are set in the former farmstead which gives the hotel a very special atmosphere. We were staying at the ground floor with the French window to the garden. This region is the only region in The Netherlands with hills. We were lucky to see them from our window. It was idyllic.

This beautiful baroque building is used as a luxury restaurant. We didn't go there as we were dining in the city.

Right now, there is an outside artwork exhibition around the complex. It's called KIV Outside and it takes place until 2020. The artworks are made by various artists from The Netherlands and abroad. The entrance is free, so make sure to visit it if you happen to be in the region.

The most impressive artwork is the colorful egg. We will have a closer look in a moment.

But first we will check the back side of the restaurant. It looks like Louise XIV would be living there...

And here is the egg!

Look at the detail! The artist must have spent a lot of time creating this beauty.

Let's check other sculptures as well.

An interesting bunny with a men face...

Is she an elf, a dragon or a butterfly? Who knows!

Hey, sexy lady!

This one too!

I think that they symbolize the monastery that used be here.

Looks like a busy medieval street.

And the last impression before going to the Valkenburg.

The old town was very busy and full of life. There were so many cute restaurants and pubs. This is what I like about The Netherlands - The Dutch find it important to spend time with their family and friends and they like to go out.

The Netherlands to me is the land of bicycles. There are so many of them! They even make the wooden ones 😊

Welcome to Valkenburg!

Valkenburg is located by the Geul, a small river in the province of Limburg, down in the south of the Netherlands and not far from Maastricht.

And here we are at the Nicolaasplein...

The Nicolaasplein is dominated by the Old Church also known as the Kerk van de H.H. Nicolaas en Barbara.

And this is where we say good bye to Valkenburg.

We didn't have much time to spend in the city but we decided that we will go there in the future again as there is a castle that we would like to see.

Thank you for visiting!

Cheers!