Dec 24, 2015

Kerstmarkt in Valkenburg

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Unfortunately it got a bit silent on my blog those past months, so I’m trying to get started again with this holiday-themed post.


Living close to the Dutch border, I thought it would be great to actually go and see a Christmas market over in the Netherlands.
So my sister and I decided to visit Valkenburg, where they have Christmas markets in caves. Sounds pretty interesting, doesn’t it?

After like an 1-hour-long drive from where I live we made it to Valkenburg aan de Geul, located in the Dutch province Limburg. Luckily we were able to find a car park easily, and we were even luckier as we got a parking ticket for free by some Dutch people that were leaving.


The town of Valkenburg is pretty cute, in the center there are lots of small bars, shops and restaurants, creating a really warm and cozy atmosphere. As it was Saturday night, it was pretty crowded though unfortunately.


After taking a stroll throughout town we ended up at one of the caves: the Fluweelengrot (Velvet Cave). (The other one, the Gemeentegrot, was too crowded, so we decided not to go inside.)


The Fluweelengrot is located beneath the ruins of a castle from the Middle Ages, used as secret passageways back then. Since 18 years now, from November through December every year, it hosts a popular Christmas market. As you stroll through the underground corridors, alongside lots of small shops selling all kinds of Christmas-related stuff and more, you get to see beautiful decorations as well as paintings and sculptures.




In contrast to German Christmas markets, there are just very few food stands and stands where you can get mulled wine and the like, on the outside as well as the inside of the cave. Which is interesting cause I think in Germany those are like the most important and popular stands.


Another popular event in the Netherland’s “Christmas city” is the Christmas Parade, which takes place twice a week in November and December. The day we’ve been visiting Valkenburg was the last day of the parade.



As we didn’t check the route beforehand, we didn’t really know where to go so that we have a nice view on the parade. So we ended up in a really crowded place and couldn’t see much of it. 
As we were about to find our way back after the parade, we came across a place which was a lot less crowded where the parade was just about to start. So we watched it for a second time, this time actually seeing all the dancers and floats.
So if you ever want to visit Valkenburg and see its Christmas Parade: make sure to check the route online and see where the best place to watch it is.


Throughout the parade, they played the same song over and over, which got a bit annoying after some time, but it was a nice song and overall the parade was really beautiful.

Here are some small videos of the parade to get a better impression of it: 


I hope you liked this little post about the Dutch Christmas city :)
For more information about Christmas in Valkenburg, visit:
http://www.kerststadvalkenburg.nl/en/

Merry Christmas to everyone!! 

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