As someone who has been living here my whole life, these type of videos give me so much new appreciation for living here. It's easy to take things for granted. Thanks for the awesome video!
Hello Steve, Greetings from the Netherlands. Indeed the fish was kibbeling. And the text on the church was "don't pass by without saying Ave Maria.". The reason why it was quiet is because most of this part of the country is on holiday and the students are often in there hometown.
Hey Steve, i'm from Maastricht ! I just want to thank you for this amazingly enjoyable walk around our city ! Usually all you see about the Netherlands are cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Den Hague and as you mentioned, that is were most people go to when they visit the country. To be honest, we like it that way :) Of course we get tourism but it is just the right amount, we wouldn't want to become as crowded as Amsterdam as we enjoy our quiet atmosphere. I'm glad you enjoyed the city, there is a lot of history here. d'Artagnan, one of the musketeers lost his life here while defending the city in 1673. When you walked passed the police station and had followed the road opposite to the bridge and towards the roundabout, you would have seen the memorial and statue in one of the parks. Anyway, loved the video and thank you for sharing !
Visited Maastricht in 2022 for André Rieu concert. Stayed an extra night in the city. A lovely place, with lovely people. Excellent beers and cheeses. We drove from England and stopped off for lunch in Eijsden the first place in the Netherlands to be liberated in WW2. Had a fantastic lunch of Rabbit with prunes. Love the Netherlands. Another great Marshy video!!
You're actually doing very well in your Dutch pronounciation Steve. Much better than many a person from Scotland who I have had the pleasure of working with and who had lived in the Netherlands for many years already! Nice video, love it!
As someone who's from maastricht, I never really knew what to show people if I would give them a tour of the city. I'm just so used to everything here that it all just feels normal to me while it is actually quite special. Very nice video!
I'm from Heerlen, but visit quite often to go shopping or to a nice restaurant. But then you are just walking straight to where you need to be, maybe with a little detour. In this 30 minute video I've seen quite a few beautiful hidden spots I didn't know where there. It goes to show you we need to pay more attention to the nice things that are right under our nose, instead of looking far away.
It’s because of your video that I visited Bratislava which was a gem of a place! Thanks for showing us the off the beaten path stunners that are within our grasp! The Amsterdam’s will always draw the crowds. But if avoiding the crowds while seeing the real beauty is what you are after, then Steve Marsh is your man!
People outside Amsterdam : Amsterdam is overrated if you want the real dutch experience you should go to ....... (fill in your favorite place). People inside Amsterdam : O lord please deliver us from mass tourism and drunk english bachelor parties in the red light district.
As a Maastrichtien tourguide I must say you did well finding some hidden gems in our city and telling about them. You caught one of my colleagues doing a vikingtour at 10:30 . The city is always nice and quiet in the morning, but once the stores open after 10, the center quickly fills woth a lot of guests, especially Germans and Belgiums. Especially in the weekends the city is absolutely packed with tourists and I was actually surprised you managed to find a hotel so near to the Vrijthof during the André Rieu concerts. Must be because it was a Wednesday and the concerts are thursday-sunday. I hope a lot of people will find their way to Maastricht and book a tour at the visitor center to experience all those beautiful places you showed a glimpse of. Me or one of my colleagues will guide you around and tell you some fun and interesting stories.
Living in Maastricht as a Dutch guy for many years now. You tend to get so used to the place you live in that you stop seeing much if its beauty. Thanks for making this video, it was a great refresher for me to start seeing all the beauty again.
I visited Maastricht a week ago - a lovely city, and very different from the rest of the Netherlands. I didn't expect much from the underground tunnel tour, because I'm usually all about Old town architecture or natural wonders, but it actually turned out to be my favourite part of the trip, I found it fascinating. Glad to see you enjoyed your time too!
I worked in Holland for a couple of years 1973-4 Learned to speak schoolboy dutch and lived in many places, mainly in the north but wherever I went I found the Dutch people to be among the most hospitable folk in the world. I never got to visit Maastricht b ut from what I can see I should haver visited it while I lived there. Your travelogue has bought back many fond memories of the Netherlands.
It is not Holland (provinces of North Holland and South Holland only) but the Netherlands (with the rest of the provinces included, like Overijsel, Drente, Utrecht, Zeeland, Gelderland, Friesland, Groningen, Northern Brabant and Limburg)…
Thanks for the walkaround in my old hometown. Loved it that you showed the fences of Andre Rieu, I made a lot of those pictures many years ago and I’m proud that he still uses a lot of them.
Watched a lot of your vids Steve and this was easily your best yet. How this city isn't on more people's radar is beyond me, absolutely stunning place. I'll definitely be visiting one day. Cheers!
My compliments for making this great impression of my beloved home town! I went over to Scotland this year for the - lost count - time. Had a great stay on Islay this time…
We cycled around many parts of the Netherlands last year. It is all beautiful kept lovely, respectful of itself, the people are great . One of my favourite places on earth ❤
We visited Laren, Assen and Groningen last year, so definitely off the tourist trail - beautiful, and returned home feeling in no doubt that the UK is no longer 1st world by comparison!! Great vid, keep the offbeat Europe content coming, it's building our bucket list!
Every Saturday I am impressed and awed by your video, the locations and the work you put in to show us these places. Thank you Steve, and happy birthday. Take care of yourself.
Thank you, Steve, for another walk through an amazingly lovely and interesting area of the world! The ease in which you get around and lose yourself (not literally, of course) in the history and beauty of your surroundings makes your videos so very enjoyable to watch, then watch again!
I am born and raised in Maastricht, and many generations of my family before me. Your video was an absolute pleasure to watch, you managed to uncover quite a lot of hidden gems in town (though certainly not all). Thanks for showing the world the beauty of this town in such an entertaining way. And yes, I have indeed drank and smoked quite a bit with my friends during my teenage years in that "wild park" you hiked through (they're overgrown caves actually). Great job for picking up that vibe!❤
Hi Steve. Like you, I know of Maastricht primarily because of the Euro Summit and Andre Rieu. In 1992, I was working in Germany at RAF Bruggen, very close to the Dutch border, and paid a visit to Maastricht, ironically at the same time as the next Euro summit was happening in my home town of Edinburgh. What a lovely city and your video certainly enhanced its reputation. Keep up the great work; your weekly releases are one of my viewing highlights every Saturday.
Always nice to see that one of my favorite RUclipsrs is visiting "my" country and speaking highly positiv about it! Thanks for yet another great video! I have one conceirn though: In your last couple of videos you seem to be tired a lot. Is everything okay?
Superb video Steve. Years ago I went round the NL with an NS rail rover (£30 5 days) as I like to explore the smaller places.I remember Maastricht crossing the river on the bridge from the station to a little square. The glass would be the returns, back then a crate of 24 large bottles of Heineken/Amstel was about £6 with money back on crate & bottles.I have always found the Dutch people to be so friendly & jovial, love them.
Thank you for another beautiful video from Luxembourg. You were lucky - Maastricht is usually packed on weekends. The Dutch invade our countryside (and Germany and Belgium) with their caravans. We retaliate by crowding Maastricht :)
From Maastricht, and can only confirm. Luxembourg is beautiful and hard to resist, I especially like the nature there, been camping there twice this year... and every year for a while now. Glad to have you visiting us too. Sharing is caring 😉!
Thank you for a great tour around my home town! I have just returned from a holiday in Scotland (Stirling, Edinburgh, Spean bridge) which was absolutely amazing! What a beautiful country, I will certainly go back! And to tie it all together: we went out on a boat ride on Loch Ness, and when we got to Urquhart Castle they blasted “highland Cathedral” through the speakers, by…. André Rieu 😂. You can’t escape the guy! 😅
@@Anonymous-ib8so How cool! I did a hike around Achnacarry and came across some signs and some remains of a training-landingcraft. The training Centre was in use between 1942 and 1946, so was your father trained and active during WWII as a commando? Did he participate in the war on the west-front?
Your Dutch is much better than my Scottish, haha. I'm a Dutchie living in Friesland, the Northern part of the Netherlands. We got to explore Maastricht last summer for the first time and fell in love. I feel like most cities here don't start to come alive before 10/11 am. This is the first video of yours that I've found, but will definitely subscribe. You're got a lovely energy. If you haven't already I recommend you go explore Utrecht and/or Groningen next time you come to our country. Cheers!
What a great vlog! We live in the NL and love you are doing such a positive vlog. Valkenburg is great too, my 2 boys love the toboggan tide there. So many great places to visit here, which are very different than amsterdam. Thank you again ❤
What a wonderful adventure, once again! You find the most fascinating places and bring them alive - the bridges, river, squares, neighborhoods, parks, architecture, and food (!!) were great to see. You certainly did the hard yards for us in that heat. 😅
Fantastic video Steve, what an atmosphere there must have been that night. I agree with your comment about the lack of rubbish, the Netherlands must be by far the cleanest country in Europe. It reminded me of visits to Amsterdam, walking round in the early mornings and seeing more street cleaners and road sweepers than people. I never knew till I visited that they even flush through the canals to keep the water fresh!
It is always very humbling to hear all of these positive things about your country. I visited Scotland years ago and still daydream about it. It is my number 1 retirement destination!
With your Scottish commentary my town seems quite exotic to me all of the sudden... and you point at details I never paid attention to. Thank you for your appreciation.
Good stuff as usual. Looks a lovely city... Also I'm watching this in a hotel in Vienna, having arrived by train and ferry from Stockholm, inspired by your video on that route
Yet another nice look at a corner of the world that many of us have never seen and may never see in person. Well done. Next time, you might have any Dutch cats met speak into a translator. 😅 Thanks again, Steve for not interrupting the flow of your tour with mid-roll ads, at your own cost. It does make for a more pleasant experience. For what it's worth, I do make a point of watching the others. I hope it helps. I hope you and Alicja have a great weekend.
Such a great video, never ever been to Maastricht in my whole life, and being a Dutchie I think it's about time, after looking at all you showed us!!! Thanks Steve
Yep, genuinely think it is, same for Groningen which is the Northern equivalent in the Netherlands. It is an absolutely lovely place to spend a few days. Not only that, you're right in the middle of lots of other interesting 'medium-sized' cities in that part of the world. Koln, Liege (Luik), Hasselt, Luxemburg and Antwerp are all worth visiting.
Further in the video so a few more: Mornings in cities tend to be quieter, people meet in the centre for drinks, coffees etc. and that is in the afternoon/evening usually. The fish you had is a real treat: Kibbeling, cod pieces in deep fried and well seasoned batter. The bookstore is one of the most famous in Europe. And your Dutch pronunciation is very good for a Scot ;)
Great video Steve. We went to see Andre Rieu in 2019 (for my 50th) in Maastricht and it truly was a fairytale experience. We stayed in a hotel near the old bridge and it really is a lovely little city. Thanks for a great watch 👍
A couple of years from now people will sigh: "It used to be such a quiet place, until a bloke from the UK came and made a video in which he stated: 10:12 "Don't go to Amsterdam, come here!"
A bookstore in this day and age, and a thriving one at that. Wonderful! I don't often say I like books because I prefer reading on the screen, but I miss the language and content of the books I used to read as a kid. It was almost like they came from another world!
Maastricht, such a nice place. It's an amazing wee place to walk around. Vlaai is definitely the greatest Dutch thing I've had. I love the cobbled streets in Maastricht, really give it a great atmosphere. I always feel it has something Edinburgh about it just a lot quieter. I feel the most visitors to Maastricht are the Dutch themselves, it really is like being in a different country even for the Dutch. My wife said your pronunciation was actually very good, I think it's the Scottish language, it is very close to Dutch as in the same sounds. That fish...... kibbeling. Pieces of white fish deep fried, judging by the colour you had a good one. Great vlog as usual.
@@evelknievel2000 of course, it's a great place to visit. If it was a wee bit closer to Delfzijl i would visit a lot more. Suppose I'm lucky to live close to the happiest city in Europe...... Groningen.
thankyou so much for sharing this with us . i feel so lucky that through your eyes/camera i can see lots of places i would never get to. this place was lovely and so quiet not many folk about. The atmosphere was nice when folk watched the football game
Hi Steve, thanks so much for sharing this vlog, such a beautiful place. I had not really heard of Maastricht until we started watching Andre Rieu. To be honest Steve I think it’s much better when it is quieter, you can see so much more without the constant pushing of people. ❤xx
It is called 'kibbeling', small pieces of white fish, mostly cod, spiced for flavour and in a thin crispy coating. Goes with a dip sauce, remoulade, ravigotte, or (like Steve) garlic.
Dutchy here. I live in a village just 15 minutes removed from Maastricht. We like to go shopping in Maastricht. In the area it's also nice to walk. In Limburg, the province where Maastricht is located has a lot of villages and city's like Maastricht. Maastricht is also more a city for the students just like Utrecht or Eindhoven. In the summer everyone goes back home. And when it's hot outside we don't go shopping in the hot city, we go swim in the Maasplassen. So that's why it's so quiet. Trust me, it's not always this quiet. In the winter you get the 'winterwonderland' in Maastricht and it's flooded with people day in and day out.
Steve you said it in your video i was thinking the same thing i watch all your video,s and every where you go abroad it amazes me the lack of litter everywhere is spotless a lesson to be learned for our country i wish.
Thanks Steve for another brilliant video of somewhere that we probably wouldn't consider until you show us otherwise & absolutely blown away with lovely it looked ( and glad you mentioned about how clean these European destinations are ( we could certainly learn a thing or two in how to be litter free👍
Absolutely beautiful city spotless and a great deal quieter than Amsterdam, would visit it in a heartbeat. Thanks again for introducing me to another place on my bucket list.
Hi Steve, thank you for your great video! As a Dutch person I really appreciate you giving some love to our lesser known cities and towns. There is more to see here than Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague. If you enjoyed Maastricht I think you would probably also enjoy Groningen, Den Bosch (‘s hertogenbosch), Breda and Nijmegen. These cities are a bit spread around the country but they are gorgeous and have an interesting history.
Another great video Steve, thanks again for taking us with you, what was the total steps for that day...that river cruise ship looked interesting.....look forward to the next adventure.....
my brother in law was at one of the Rieu 's concerts, his kids took him for his 91st birthday. Listing to the Klokken luiden, wonderful, Limburg vlaai ! Steve your Dutch is great ! Enjoyed this one immensely 🎉
Have visited Maastricht (or Messtreecht in the local dialect) many, many times over the years - partly for the Andre Rieu concerts on the Vrijthof (you should take Alicja, it's one great party) and partly as a stop-over on the way home from Germany. The bad news for you is that on the nights of the concerts, the cafes and restaurants on the Vrijthof are ticket with reservation only - you may have noticed the big TV screens facing the tables so that patrons can view what is happening on stage. Even though it is becoming better known, it is still very much underrated and a beautiful city. The caves below Sint Peters fort were used as air raid shelters in the war and the chateau where Andre Rieu lives is just below the fort on the bank of the Maas. The surrounding countryside is to be experienced with Aachen and Liege within easy reach by bus and train.
Hey Steve, big fan for ages you've inspired me to visit The Netherlands, my family on my dad's side are from there (I'm from England) and I know little about the country but this video has sparked a keen interest in exploring something other than Amsterdam 🙂
I used to visit Maastricht twice a year due to my former employees having a training base there. The nightlife was amazing for such a small city. Amazing food and great people also. So much to see and do during the day also.
Hi Steve, here in the Netherlands we divide the country into three parts during the summer holidays. North, middle and South. Every year these 3 switch so every region will have the first week every 3 years. This is to prevent the whole country going on holiday which could impact the stores, hotels and restaurants. Btw, your pronunciation is spot on!
Some fun facts about Maastricht. - de Helpoort is the oldest city gate in Netherlands. - Maastricht (city view and architecture wise) is the least Dutch looking city you will find in Netherlands. - Maastricht is (by some scholars but its still debatable) the oldest city in Netherland. It goes even far back as the Romans. - Maastricht is the only place in NL where you can find caves, roman remains and big city walls in bigger quantities. - its very well preserved in terms of architecture and its a very known student town. - Maastricht is also called the Bourgondic city of Netherlands More will come soon.
There's more places with caves than Maastricht. I can bike from Valkenburg to Maastricht underground via caves.. Funniest fact about Maastricht has to be the bears. The bear pit is still there and had bears in it till somewhere in the 80's. But the city bought the first two bears in 1920 to attract more tourists to the city. The plan was to earn the money back spend on the bears by breeding them and sell the offspring to zoo's. This didn't work though because they bought two male bears lol.
@@wowcarnage I always loved to go see the bears when i was a kid. It took almost half a century but they finally had some success with breeding in the 60's and three cubs were born. The older bears were moved to a zoo in the 80's because the enclosure was too small for five fully grown bears, but the three bears that were born in the pit remained there until two of them passed away in '91 and '92. The last remaining bear was moved to a zoo in 1993 where he also passed away a few years later. In hindsight it's a good thing they are gone, the pit wasn't a very nice place for the bears. Now there is an artwork of a dead giraffe and several extinct animal species in the pit. A statue of the last bear sitting on a bench in a sad pose is near the pit.
What a beautiful place. I think I would have spent all afternoon in that bookshop. Btw, when you peeked through the iron grate in the door at the fortification, all I could think about was : imagine if someone was peeking back through! 😅
How nice to visit my hometown via somebody else’s eyes. I somehow never manage to be there - abroad now - when it’s this quiet, so feeling slightly envious of your experience! Thank you for your content.
I was there last year on our way home from a short vacation in Limburg (Vaals). Did a quick sightseeing tour that day. We also had the pie in the same place :) And I believe the watermill is in operation because when we were there it was active. As a Dutchie I wanted to show my slovenian future wife more of the Netherlands. Now she wants to live in Limburg, while I'm more of an Overijssel/Gelderland kind of person. Limburg has that catholic vibe with hilly nature, which reminded her of her home country, Slovenia. Thanks for showcasing the city and I hope you had a lovely time, Steve.
@@witlof5492 Eh...kinda. I mean I grew up in 'De achterhoek' so I can definately understand the eastern (saxon) dialect, but Limburg is a tough one. Same with Groningen. Being from the middle east, the outer edges of the country definately make it harder to understand, I suppose.
Lovely place and all that greenery making it so beautiful- can't believe it's hot but being summer it's definitely a choker . I could almost smell that delicious fish deep fried . Maastricht is definitely a wonderful walkable interesting town , beers and all . Thanks Steeve !
What a fab place to be. I generally don't like the city, but this one was impressive. Actually, in a lot of places it reminded me of parts of Kent strangely...Canterbury, Rochester, Faversham areas. You have such a knack of taking us with you & feeling like we are walking alongside you. Love the way you film things x J x
Thank you for the video. Absolutely loved it. I used to study in Aachen, which is not far away. So Maastricht was always my go to place for a nice weekend
Maastricht certainly looks a far cry from touristy Amsterdam! You still have a similar historic vibe, probably more so, but much more peaceful and without a tourist trap in sight. Amazing what gems you find in the Netherlands when you venture outside of Holland.
Nice video Steve :) But, why didn't you ask what they had for sale at the fish stand, everyone speaks english in the Netherlands! Maastricht was so quiet because you were there on a wednesday during school holidays, normally there's more students about. Come back on a saturday morning and the shopping streets and terraces will be packed by 12 noon. Maastricht is so much nicer than Amsterdam, an absolute gem! But, it seems that you wandered around, but also like you had some inspiration from somewhere ;) If you had done a bit of research, you can see all your POI's in a circular walk which would have been much easier. Anyway keep up the good work! Cheers from a Dutch subscriber.
❤I admire all you do but this video is truly great and enlightening, tremendous well done stay safe. Hope you got the fruit pie recipe would be my slice of heaven! Rod
As someone who has been living here my whole life, these type of videos give me so much new appreciation for living here. It's easy to take things for granted. Thanks for the awesome video!
I fully agree!
Same gives a different perception there were things I never even noticed but probably cause I already live here for 22 years
My thoughts exactly! My old place got a cameo too ;)
Hello Steve, Greetings from the Netherlands. Indeed the fish was kibbeling. And the text on the church was "don't pass by without saying Ave Maria.". The reason why it was quiet is because most of this part of the country is on holiday and the students are often in there hometown.
plus he went on a monday. The shops open later on a monday
Hey Steve, i'm from Maastricht ! I just want to thank you for this amazingly enjoyable walk around our city ! Usually all you see about the Netherlands are cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Den Hague and as you mentioned, that is were most people go to when they visit the country. To be honest, we like it that way :) Of course we get tourism but it is just the right amount, we wouldn't want to become as crowded as Amsterdam as we enjoy our quiet atmosphere. I'm glad you enjoyed the city, there is a lot of history here. d'Artagnan, one of the musketeers lost his life here while defending the city in 1673. When you walked passed the police station and had followed the road opposite to the bridge and towards the roundabout, you would have seen the memorial and statue in one of the parks. Anyway, loved the video and thank you for sharing !
Sinds ik in Limburg woon heb ik Maastricht echt ontdekt, wow wat een prachtige stad zeg.
Ik heb er nu zelfs familie wonen. 😊
@@BabzV We zijn er ook trots op :) Fijn dat je het naar je zin hebt !
The more I learn about The Netherlands the more impressed I am, it's definitely an amazing place. Thanks for sharing.
What a enjoyable tour via your video x
Hallelujah! At last we have someone on RUclips who can use "underrated" properly! Good on you Steve. 👍
Visited Maastricht in 2022 for André Rieu concert. Stayed an extra night in the city. A lovely place, with lovely people. Excellent beers and cheeses. We drove from England and stopped off for lunch in
Eijsden the first place in the Netherlands to be liberated in WW2. Had a fantastic lunch of Rabbit with prunes.
Love the Netherlands.
Another great Marshy video!!
Sounds like a great trip. It's just a pity that you had to endure an Andre Rieu concert though.
@@ericthemauve
Now then !!! He's alright !!
Eijsden, beautiful, but not the first place in the Netherlands to be liberated, that was Mesch, a good 10 miles to the east.
@@brvdmt2636
I stand corrected !!
@@ericthemauve LOL!
You're actually doing very well in your Dutch pronounciation Steve. Much better than many a person from Scotland who I have had the pleasure of working with and who had lived in the Netherlands for many years already! Nice video, love it!
Came here to say exactly that 👍
Yes, it wasn't difficult to understand him. I think Dutch spoken with a Scottish accent sounds interesting.
As someone who's from maastricht, I never really knew what to show people if I would give them a tour of the city. I'm just so used to everything here that it all just feels normal to me while it is actually quite special. Very nice video!
I'm from Heerlen, but visit quite often to go shopping or to a nice restaurant. But then you are just walking straight to where you need to be, maybe with a little detour. In this 30 minute video I've seen quite a few beautiful hidden spots I didn't know where there. It goes to show you we need to pay more attention to the nice things that are right under our nose, instead of looking far away.
It’s because of your video that I visited Bratislava which was a gem of a place! Thanks for showing us the off the beaten path stunners that are within our grasp! The Amsterdam’s will always draw the crowds. But if avoiding the crowds while seeing the real beauty is what you are after, then Steve Marsh is your man!
People outside Amsterdam : Amsterdam is overrated if you want the real dutch experience you should go to ....... (fill in your favorite place). People inside Amsterdam : O lord please deliver us from mass tourism and drunk english bachelor parties in the red light district.
You should see Maastricht at Carnival time - boy they know how to party!! 🎉
As a Maastrichtien tourguide I must say you did well finding some hidden gems in our city and telling about them. You caught one of my colleagues doing a vikingtour at 10:30 . The city is always nice and quiet in the morning, but once the stores open after 10, the center quickly fills woth a lot of guests, especially Germans and Belgiums. Especially in the weekends the city is absolutely packed with tourists and I was actually surprised you managed to find a hotel so near to the Vrijthof during the André Rieu concerts. Must be because it was a Wednesday and the concerts are thursday-sunday.
I hope a lot of people will find their way to Maastricht and book a tour at the visitor center to experience all those beautiful places you showed a glimpse of. Me or one of my colleagues will guide you around and tell you some fun and interesting stories.
What a great video Steve. That bookstore blows my mind. Know where I am going next time I am in the Netherlands. Thanks for showing us!!
Living in Maastricht as a Dutch guy for many years now. You tend to get so used to the place you live in that you stop seeing much if its beauty. Thanks for making this video, it was a great refresher for me to start seeing all the beauty again.
I visited Maastricht a week ago - a lovely city, and very different from the rest of the Netherlands. I didn't expect much from the underground tunnel tour, because I'm usually all about Old town architecture or natural wonders, but it actually turned out to be my favourite part of the trip, I found it fascinating.
Glad to see you enjoyed your time too!
I worked in Holland for a couple of years 1973-4 Learned to speak schoolboy dutch and lived in many places, mainly in the north but wherever I went I found the Dutch people to be among the most hospitable folk in the world. I never got to visit Maastricht b ut from what I can see I should haver visited it while I lived there. Your travelogue has bought back many fond memories of the Netherlands.
It is not Holland (provinces of North Holland and South Holland only) but the Netherlands (with the rest of the provinces included, like Overijsel, Drente, Utrecht, Zeeland, Gelderland, Friesland, Groningen, Northern Brabant and Limburg)…
Thanks for the walkaround in my old hometown.
Loved it that you showed the fences of Andre Rieu, I made a lot of those pictures many years ago and I’m proud that he still uses a lot of them.
Another cracking vodeo Steve...Many many thanks for all your work..
Watched a lot of your vids Steve and this was easily your best yet. How this city isn't on more people's radar is beyond me, absolutely stunning place. I'll definitely be visiting one day. Cheers!
I wonder how he got there? Maybe Eindhoven Airport then a short train ride. From Schiphol it takes at least three hours.
My compliments for making this great impression of my beloved home town! I went over to Scotland this year for the - lost count - time. Had a great stay on Islay this time…
Is the most magnificent bookstore I've ever seen.....a sight for sore eyes.....
We cycled around many parts of the Netherlands last year. It is all beautiful kept lovely, respectful of itself, the people are great . One of my favourite places on earth ❤
We visited Laren, Assen and Groningen last year, so definitely off the tourist trail - beautiful, and returned home feeling in no doubt that the UK is no longer 1st world by comparison!! Great vid, keep the offbeat Europe content coming, it's building our bucket list!
Every Saturday I am impressed and awed by your video, the locations and the work you put in to show us these places. Thank you Steve, and happy birthday. Take care of yourself.
Thank you, Steve, for another walk through an amazingly lovely and interesting area of the world! The ease in which you get around and lose yourself (not literally, of course) in the history and beauty of your surroundings makes your videos so very enjoyable to watch, then watch again!
I am born and raised in Maastricht, and many generations of my family before me. Your video was an absolute pleasure to watch, you managed to uncover quite a lot of hidden gems in town (though certainly not all). Thanks for showing the world the beauty of this town in such an entertaining way. And yes, I have indeed drank and smoked quite a bit with my friends during my teenage years in that "wild park" you hiked through (they're overgrown caves actually). Great job for picking up that vibe!❤
Hi Steve. Like you, I know of Maastricht primarily because of the Euro Summit and Andre Rieu. In 1992, I was working in Germany at RAF Bruggen, very close to the Dutch border, and paid a visit to Maastricht, ironically at the same time as the next Euro summit was happening in my home town of Edinburgh.
What a lovely city and your video certainly enhanced its reputation.
Keep up the great work; your weekly releases are one of my viewing highlights every Saturday.
Always nice to see that one of my favorite RUclipsrs is visiting "my" country and speaking highly positiv about it! Thanks for yet another great video! I have one conceirn though: In your last couple of videos you seem to be tired a lot. Is everything okay?
Superb video Steve. Years ago I went round the NL with an NS rail rover (£30 5 days) as I like to explore the smaller places.I remember Maastricht crossing the river on the bridge from the station to a little square. The glass would be the returns, back then a crate of 24 large bottles of Heineken/Amstel was about £6 with money back on crate & bottles.I have always found the Dutch people to be so friendly & jovial, love them.
Thank you for another beautiful video from Luxembourg. You were lucky - Maastricht is usually packed on weekends. The Dutch invade our countryside (and Germany and Belgium) with their caravans. We retaliate by crowding Maastricht :)
😂
From Maastricht, and can only confirm. Luxembourg is beautiful and hard to resist, I especially like the nature there, been camping there twice this year... and every year for a while now. Glad to have you visiting us too. Sharing is caring 😉!
Another brilliant video - oh, by the way; Happy birthday 🎉❤
Thank you for a great tour around my home town! I have just returned from a holiday in Scotland (Stirling, Edinburgh, Spean bridge) which was absolutely amazing! What a beautiful country, I will certainly go back! And to tie it all together: we went out on a boat ride on Loch Ness, and when we got to Urquhart Castle they blasted “highland Cathedral” through the speakers, by…. André Rieu 😂. You can’t escape the guy! 😅
Lovely to hear you mention Spean Bridge. My fathercwas a Royal Marines Commando and was trained around there at Achnacarry. Hope the spelling is right
@@Anonymous-ib8so How cool! I did a hike around Achnacarry and came across some signs and some remains of a training-landingcraft. The training Centre was in use between 1942 and 1946, so was your father trained and active during WWII as a commando? Did he participate in the war on the west-front?
Your Dutch is much better than my Scottish, haha. I'm a Dutchie living in Friesland, the Northern part of the Netherlands. We got to explore Maastricht last summer for the first time and fell in love. I feel like most cities here don't start to come alive before 10/11 am. This is the first video of yours that I've found, but will definitely subscribe. You're got a lovely energy. If you haven't already I recommend you go explore Utrecht and/or Groningen next time you come to our country. Cheers!
What a great vlog! We live in the NL and love you are doing such a positive vlog.
Valkenburg is great too, my 2 boys love the toboggan tide there.
So many great places to visit here, which are very different than amsterdam.
Thank you again ❤
I love Valkenburg!😊
Great video, Steve. You bring your usual gentle charm to an enlightening video about a beautiful town. I will be visiting! Thanks.
I have been to Maastricht at least 20 times, but I must say, watching this video Steve made in Maastricht, showed places I have never seen before. THX
What a wonderful adventure, once again! You find the most fascinating places and bring them alive - the bridges, river, squares, neighborhoods, parks, architecture, and food (!!) were great to see. You certainly did the hard yards for us in that heat. 😅
Fantastic video Steve, what an atmosphere there must have been that night. I agree with your comment about the lack of rubbish, the Netherlands must be by far the cleanest country in Europe. It reminded me of visits to Amsterdam, walking round in the early mornings and seeing more street cleaners and road sweepers than people. I never knew till I visited that they even flush through the canals to keep the water fresh!
It shows too, when you cross the border into Belgium you really notice how dirty everything is!
Message from a Dutch Subscriber: I am at the airport about to go to Scotland for two weeks :'D
Have a good time!
Enjoy .
Enjoy Bonnie Scotland 🏴
😂😂😂😂
It is always very humbling to hear all of these positive things about your country. I visited Scotland years ago and still daydream about it. It is my number 1 retirement destination!
With your Scottish commentary my town seems quite exotic to me all of the sudden... and you point at details I never paid attention to. Thank you for your appreciation.
Good stuff as usual. Looks a lovely city... Also I'm watching this in a hotel in Vienna, having arrived by train and ferry from Stockholm, inspired by your video on that route
Used to stop over here often in my childhood, you left me wanting to rediscover that city all over again!
Yet another nice look at a corner of the world that many of us have never seen and may never see in person. Well done. Next time, you might have any Dutch cats met speak into a translator. 😅 Thanks again, Steve for not interrupting the flow of your tour with mid-roll ads, at your own cost. It does make for a more pleasant experience. For what it's worth, I do make a point of watching the others. I hope it helps. I hope you and Alicja have a great weekend.
Such a great video, never ever been to Maastricht in my whole life, and being a Dutchie I think it's about time, after looking at all you showed us!!!
Thanks Steve
Yep, genuinely think it is, same for Groningen which is the Northern equivalent in the Netherlands. It is an absolutely lovely place to spend a few days. Not only that, you're right in the middle of lots of other interesting 'medium-sized' cities in that part of the world. Koln, Liege (Luik), Hasselt, Luxemburg and Antwerp are all worth visiting.
Further in the video so a few more: Mornings in cities tend to be quieter, people meet in the centre for drinks, coffees etc. and that is in the afternoon/evening usually. The fish you had is a real treat: Kibbeling, cod pieces in deep fried and well seasoned batter. The bookstore is one of the most famous in Europe. And your Dutch pronunciation is very good for a Scot ;)
Oh my, that bookshop! Thanks for taking us along Steve.
Great video Steve. We went to see Andre Rieu in 2019 (for my 50th) in Maastricht and it truly was a fairytale experience. We stayed in a hotel near the old bridge and it really is a lovely little city.
Thanks for a great watch 👍
A couple of years from now people will sigh: "It used to be such a quiet place, until a bloke from the UK came and made a video in which he stated: 10:12 "Don't go to Amsterdam, come here!"
Its still nice to live here and i wanna keep it that way.
So please stay dont come here, its an awfull city :)
A bookstore in this day and age, and a thriving one at that. Wonderful! I don't often say I like books because I prefer reading on the screen, but I miss the language and content of the books I used to read as a kid. It was almost like they came from another world!
Bookstores do pretty well in the Netherlands. We have a few in Breda as well that are always busy!
Maastricht, such a nice place. It's an amazing wee place to walk around. Vlaai is definitely the greatest Dutch thing I've had.
I love the cobbled streets in Maastricht, really give it a great atmosphere. I always feel it has something Edinburgh about it just a lot quieter.
I feel the most visitors to Maastricht are the Dutch themselves, it really is like being in a different country even for the Dutch.
My wife said your pronunciation was actually very good, I think it's the Scottish language, it is very close to Dutch as in the same sounds.
That fish...... kibbeling. Pieces of white fish deep fried, judging by the colour you had a good one.
Great vlog as usual.
Most visitors in our city actually come from Germany and Belgium. Especially on sunday when the German shops are closed, but the shops here are open.
@@evelknievel2000 of course, it's a great place to visit. If it was a wee bit closer to Delfzijl i would visit a lot more.
Suppose I'm lucky to live close to the happiest city in Europe...... Groningen.
thankyou so much for sharing this with us . i feel so lucky that through your eyes/camera i can see lots of places i would never get to. this place was lovely and so quiet not many folk about. The atmosphere was nice when folk watched the football game
Hi Steve, thanks so much for sharing this vlog, such a beautiful place. I had not really heard of Maastricht until we started watching Andre Rieu. To be honest Steve I think it’s much better when it is quieter, you can see so much more without the constant pushing of people. ❤xx
Another brilliant and beautiful place Steve, thanks for taking us with you.
Your videos just get better and better at evey new city you go to ...Great work even in the heat if the day and that fish looked wonderful 😊😊😊
It is called 'kibbeling', small pieces of white fish, mostly cod, spiced for flavour and in a thin crispy coating. Goes with a dip sauce, remoulade, ravigotte, or (like Steve) garlic.
What a beautiful place. Thanks for showing us places we would probably never see. Fab video as always.
I am going to the nertherlands in two weeks so looking forward to places like this! Thanks Steve
Dutchy here. I live in a village just 15 minutes removed from Maastricht. We like to go shopping in Maastricht. In the area it's also nice to walk. In Limburg, the province where Maastricht is located has a lot of villages and city's like Maastricht. Maastricht is also more a city for the students just like Utrecht or Eindhoven. In the summer everyone goes back home. And when it's hot outside we don't go shopping in the hot city, we go swim in the Maasplassen. So that's why it's so quiet. Trust me, it's not always this quiet. In the winter you get the 'winterwonderland' in Maastricht and it's flooded with people day in and day out.
Steve you said it in your video i was thinking the same thing i watch all your video,s and every where you go abroad it amazes me the lack of litter everywhere is spotless a lesson to be learned for our country i wish.
Thanks Steve for another brilliant video of somewhere that we probably wouldn't consider until you show us otherwise & absolutely blown away with lovely it looked ( and glad you mentioned about how clean these European destinations are ( we could certainly learn a thing or two in how to be litter free👍
Absolutely beautiful city spotless and a great deal quieter than Amsterdam, would visit it in a heartbeat.
Thanks again for introducing me to another place on my bucket list.
Another excellent video thanks Steve. I always enjoy your adventures.
Hi Steve, thank you for your great video! As a Dutch person I really appreciate you giving some love to our lesser known cities and towns. There is more to see here than Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague. If you enjoyed Maastricht I think you would probably also enjoy Groningen, Den Bosch (‘s hertogenbosch), Breda and Nijmegen. These cities are a bit spread around the country but they are gorgeous and have an interesting history.
Brilliant video blog. Really got a feel for the city. Thanks for that Steve! 😀
Another great video Steve, thanks again for taking us with you, what was the total steps for that day...that river cruise ship looked interesting.....look forward to the next adventure.....
Just browsing through you tube and I get accross your video. Greetings from Maastricht. Love my beautiful city ❤❤❤❤.
Hi Steve, baie dankie vir die wonderlike vlog soos gewoonlik.
Greetings from Vancouver 😇👌👍
Ik vind Afrikaans altijd zo leuk om te lezen :)
@@KCML82 Vancouver maar Afrikaans. Zal ie de taal verkeerd hebben? Afrikaans is fun.
@@Ascathon Well, said hi from Vncouver, but the message seemed Afrikaans to me.
Dutch myself. just love languages
my brother in law was at one of the Rieu 's concerts, his kids took him for his 91st birthday. Listing to the Klokken luiden, wonderful, Limburg vlaai ! Steve your Dutch is great ! Enjoyed this one immensely 🎉
I think I would spend all day in that amazing book store!
What a lovely looking city and surprisingly reasonable prices too! Somewhere we wouldn't have even thought of until now! 👍
Have visited Maastricht (or Messtreecht in the local dialect) many, many times over the years - partly for the Andre Rieu concerts on the Vrijthof (you should take Alicja, it's one great party) and partly as a stop-over on the way home from Germany. The bad news for you is that on the nights of the concerts, the cafes and restaurants on the Vrijthof are ticket with reservation only - you may have noticed the big TV screens facing the tables so that patrons can view what is happening on stage. Even though it is becoming better known, it is still very much underrated and a beautiful city. The caves below Sint Peters fort were used as air raid shelters in the war and the chateau where Andre Rieu lives is just below the fort on the bank of the Maas. The surrounding countryside is to be experienced with Aachen and Liege within easy reach by bus and train.
Hey Steve, big fan for ages you've inspired me to visit The Netherlands, my family on my dad's side are from there (I'm from England) and I know little about the country but this video has sparked a keen interest in exploring something other than Amsterdam 🙂
And as a seasoned Dutchie I can say that you would be very welcome.
You should definitely come and explore your Dutch roots.
Wees welkom! :)
I used to visit Maastricht twice a year due to my former employees having a training base there. The nightlife was amazing for such a small city. Amazing food and great people also. So much to see and do during the day also.
This channel is great. Thanks, Steve. 🙂👍
Hi Steve, here in the Netherlands we divide the country into three parts during the summer holidays. North, middle and South. Every year these 3 switch so every region will have the first week every 3 years. This is to prevent the whole country going on holiday which could impact the stores, hotels and restaurants.
Btw, your pronunciation is spot on!
Yes it is! I was in Maastricht a few days ago and I was shocked by how green the whole place was
Whe have many rain here :)
Great video Steve. You are so right about the litter , the place looked spotless.
Some fun facts about Maastricht.
- de Helpoort is the oldest city gate in Netherlands.
- Maastricht (city view and architecture wise) is the least Dutch looking city you will find in Netherlands.
- Maastricht is (by some scholars but its still debatable) the oldest city in Netherland. It goes even far back as the Romans.
- Maastricht is the only place in NL where you can find caves, roman remains and big city walls in bigger quantities.
- its very well preserved in terms of architecture and its a very known student town.
- Maastricht is also called the Bourgondic city of Netherlands
More will come soon.
There's more places with caves than Maastricht. I can bike from Valkenburg to Maastricht underground via caves..
Funniest fact about Maastricht has to be the bears. The bear pit is still there and had bears in it till somewhere in the 80's. But the city bought the first two bears in 1920 to attract more tourists to the city. The plan was to earn the money back spend on the bears by breeding them and sell the offspring to zoo's. This didn't work though because they bought two male bears lol.
In De Oude Vogelstruis is the oldest pub in the Netherlands.
I would argue that a city like Almere is even more un-Dutch, but on the opposite end of the spectrum.
@@wowcarnage I always loved to go see the bears when i was a kid. It took almost half a century but they finally had some success with breeding in the 60's and three cubs were born. The older bears were moved to a zoo in the 80's because the enclosure was too small for five fully grown bears, but the three bears that were born in the pit remained there until two of them passed away in '91 and '92. The last remaining bear was moved to a zoo in 1993 where he also passed away a few years later. In hindsight it's a good thing they are gone, the pit wasn't a very nice place for the bears. Now there is an artwork of a dead giraffe and several extinct animal species in the pit. A statue of the last bear sitting on a bench in a sad pose is near the pit.
This has always been on list of places to visit. Hopefully one day.🤞
What a beautiful place. I think I would have spent all afternoon in that bookshop. Btw, when you peeked through the iron grate in the door at the fortification, all I could think about was : imagine if someone was peeking back through! 😅
How nice to visit my hometown via somebody else’s eyes. I somehow never manage to be there - abroad now - when it’s this quiet, so feeling slightly envious of your experience! Thank you for your content.
I was there last year on our way home from a short vacation in Limburg (Vaals). Did a quick sightseeing tour that day. We also had the pie in the same place :) And I believe the watermill is in operation because when we were there it was active. As a Dutchie I wanted to show my slovenian future wife more of the Netherlands. Now she wants to live in Limburg, while I'm more of an Overijssel/Gelderland kind of person. Limburg has that catholic vibe with hilly nature, which reminded her of her home country, Slovenia. Thanks for showcasing the city and I hope you had a lovely time, Steve.
Could you understand the Limburg dialect?!
@@witlof5492 Eh...kinda. I mean I grew up in 'De achterhoek' so I can definately understand the eastern (saxon) dialect, but Limburg is a tough one. Same with Groningen. Being from the middle east, the outer edges of the country definately make it harder to understand, I suppose.
Absolutely Super Video Steve!
Thanks so much..
Looks like a great place. ❤
Thanks for the great video and every video that you share with us, keep up the fantastic work. You are the man!!!!!
Thanks for taking us along on your visit to Maastricht, Steve. Great trip report as always! And fun to see you exploring my country.
Loved the video also happy birthday Steve have a great day 😊
Lovely place and all that greenery making it so beautiful- can't believe it's hot but being summer it's definitely a choker . I could almost smell that delicious fish deep fried . Maastricht is definitely a wonderful walkable interesting town , beers and all . Thanks Steeve !
Visited Maastricht last december. Great Christmas market. Didn't realise it's such a big city. Good memories.
That was a wonderful tour of a very lovely city - as you said, much better than
Amsterdam. Thank you Steve for sharing.
Loved that Steve. ...what an enchanting place❤
What a fab place to be. I generally don't like the city, but this one was impressive. Actually, in a lot of places it reminded me of parts of Kent strangely...Canterbury, Rochester, Faversham areas. You have such a knack of taking us with you & feeling like we are walking alongside you. Love the way you film things x J x
Another smashing video. Thank you Steve!!
Lovely walk around a lovely town. You are so fortunate to get to explore areas most folks don’t get to go. Cheers, and ATB!
Thank you for the video. Absolutely loved it. I used to study in Aachen, which is not far away. So Maastricht was always my go to place for a nice weekend
Maastricht certainly looks a far cry from touristy Amsterdam! You still have a similar historic vibe, probably more so, but much more peaceful and without a tourist trap in sight. Amazing what gems you find in the Netherlands when you venture outside of Holland.
André Rieu is absolutely massive over here in Ireland. Regularly sells out huge concerts and cinema showings of his live shows.
He is massive in large parts of the world.
Wow, I had no idea Maastricht was so beautiful.
Hi Scott!
Much better than the former coal mining regions of England i guess
Yes! It is beautiful! When spring starts every year I feel I am on a holiday in my own city ❤ Beautiful country side too.
a lot and a lot of students here
@@johndoe6817 yes, the INKOM (introduction week of the new students) is starting and all other students are coming back again.
Nice video Steve :) But, why didn't you ask what they had for sale at the fish stand, everyone speaks english in the Netherlands! Maastricht was so quiet because you were there on a wednesday during school holidays, normally there's more students about. Come back on a saturday morning and the shopping streets and terraces will be packed by 12 noon. Maastricht is so much nicer than Amsterdam, an absolute gem! But, it seems that you wandered around, but also like you had some inspiration from somewhere ;) If you had done a bit of research, you can see all your POI's in a circular walk which would have been much easier. Anyway keep up the good work! Cheers from a Dutch subscriber.
July and August are effectively public holidays in Belgium, and I think it might be similar across the border. Everyone is on holiday
Thank you so much for the tour Steve 😊❤
❤I admire all you do but this video is truly great and enlightening, tremendous well done stay safe. Hope you got the fruit pie recipe would be my slice of heaven! Rod
It’s a beautiful city
Great video Steve