Limburg is the most southern province of the Netherlands, encompassing the eastern part of the historical region of Limburg or Limbourg - the other part forms the namesake province of Belgium. Limburg is different from the rather flat rest of the Netherlands as it is remarkably hilly, it is also historically and presently predominantly Catholic (while the majority of the country is Protestant).

The capital of the Dutch Limburg is Maastricht, famous for its medieval old town and the namesake treaty signed there, which basically created the European Union.

Cities

Map of Limburg

Limburg stretches from south to north over three regions:

• North Limburg
  • Venlo
• Middle Limburg
  • Roermond
  • Weert
• South Limburg
  • Geleen
  • Heerlen
  • Kerkrade
  • Maastricht — capital of the province
  • Sittard
  • Valkenburg aan de Geul

Talk

Countryside in South Limburg

Most people (roughly 78%) in Limburg speak Limburgish in every day life, a regional language closely related to Dutch and German. Dutch is the official language used for practically all forms of official (and most unofficial) written communication. In the larger cities, Dutch is also the main colloquial language. The majority of the people furthermore speak English and German with various levels of fluency.

Get in

By plane

• Maastricht/Aachen Airport [1] is a regional airport located near Maastricht.
• Brussels Airport [2] can be reached in an hour from Mid- and South-Limburg.

By train

The Dutch railway serves Limburg with regional branches and intercity-branches to Amsterdam and The Hague. German railway links connect Heerlen to Aachen and Venlo to Mönchengladbach by local trains. Maastricht is connected to Liege in Belgium by local train.

Get around

Veolia Transport Nederland operates the local railway concession in Limburg, as well as the numerous regional and municipal bus lines within the province.

See

View from castle ruins in Valkenburg

• Museum Asselt [3]
• Old castles in Eijsden, Hoensbroek, Arcen and Valkenburg
• American War Cemetery in Margraten
• National Park "De Meinweg"[4] about 8 km southeast of Roermond
• Bonnefantenmuseum [5] in Maastricht, with works by Cranach and Brueghel as well as modern artists
• Museum De Locht [6] in Melderslo. A museum about life in north-Limburg in 1850-1950, with departments about mushroom- and asparagusculture.

Do

• South Limburg is very popular with hikers bikers. Be warned that the terrain is very hilly by Dutch standards.

Eat

A typical Limburg food is the Limburgse vlaai, which is a sweet pie which originally comes from Weert.

Drink

Limburg is famous in the Netherlands for its local beer. The known local brands of beer in limburg are:

• Alfa Beer (Schinnen)
• Brand Beer (Wijlre)
• Probatum (Horst)
• Mestreechs Blónt & Double Saison de Liège (Maastricht)
• Steinder Wit (Stein)
• Gulpener (Gulpen)
• Veldwachter & Rolduc abdij-bier (Beek)
• Hertog Jan (Arcen)
• Leeuwbier (Valkenburg)
• Lindeboom (Neer)
• Wieckse Witte, Vos & Maltezer (Maastricht)
• Zonnestraal & Avondrood(Sevenum)
• Christoffel (Roermond)

Go next

Limburg is at "the corner of Europe", with long borders with Belgium and Germany. You can use it as a starting point to exploring many different regions:

• Continue exploring Limburg into its Belgian part
• Stay in the Netherlands and head northwest to North Brabant or up north to Overijssel
• Go east to North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany
• Head south for the French-speaking Belgian province of Liege in Wallonia