BIKE ADVENTURES

Cycling 400 km through 3 countries: our first road trip on a tandem bike

A five-day adventure in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany

© All photos by Slava Shestopalov.

I first dreamed of a cycling vacation when I began doing over 100 km in a single ride. But a one-day trip is one thing; cycling for several days straight — especially with my wife, Oksanka — is another. This year, we finally made it happen. We chose to explore Limburg Province, the “tail” on the map of the Netherlands, bordered by Belgium on one side and Germany on the other.

One last check before our bike adventure. We knew it was going to be epic.

Oksanka and I are minimalists; we like to travel light but stay prepared. We tightly packed the front rack bag on our bike with all the heaviest stuff, took a compact backpack with puffy clothes, and finally, I wore a waist bag with essentials like my camera or bike tools. I also strapped a speaker to the bike frame so we could enjoy some music on those long stretches through the fields.

Our first minutes in Maastricht.

We took a train from The Hague to Maastricht, arriving in the evening just as the sun dipped toward the horizon. The landscape here felt much greener and hillier. Such a visible shift from Holland’s flatness! Since we rented a lovely room in a typical Dutch villa 10 km from Maastricht, we didn’t need a tent this time. Our “base” in the heart of Limburg let us choose a different direction each day and explore all the interesting spots of the region.

Lovely park road between Maastricht and the village where we were staying.

Naturally, after checking in and unpacking our bags, we started with Maastricht itself. We had never been to this city before but had heard about its medieval heritage. The first landmark I recognized from my prior reading was the 11th-century Basilica of Our Lady. It was beautifully lit against the deep blue sky, impressing me with its simple, massive forms so typical of the Romanesque style.

Colors are always so beautiful during the “blue hour.”

Maastricht hasn’t preserved most of its medieval fortifications, but there are a couple of gems that look especially mysterious when it’s getting dark. You can still find parts of the first medieval wall, built from 1229 onward to enclose the city area at the time, and a second wall from the late 15th century that also surrounded the suburbs. Hard to believe that a city as large as Maastricht today started so small: it was once just a 15-minute walk from end to end.

One of 16th-century rondels, tower-shaped extensions of the city wall.

The most striking piece of fortification is the Hell’s Gate (Helpoort). Built in the 13th century, it’s not only a cool local landmark but also the oldest city gate in the country. Even though it was already dark, the bright lights made every detail of its stone facade pop.

The majestic Helpoort’s silhouette emerges from the darkness.

It was late, and we needed to rest before the next full day of cycling. This was just the beginning of our adventure, as we had ridden only about 30 kilometers in total. However, I decided to take a different route to our Airbnb for a change of scene — and we found ourselves in a real jungle! I’m glad I brought extra bright bike lights, as the built-in light wasn’t powerful enough to ride in complete darkness. Here is a picture of that eerie road through thick greenery:

Riding through the wilderness at night.

It was well past midnight, and I don’t remember how we got to our place or fell asleep. (I should say this would happen to us more than once.)

The next morning, we woke up, grabbed breakfast, hopped on the bike, and headed east toward Valkenburg. I’d heard it was an old city with many nice spots, but we didn’t have a solid plan — just open to whatever came our way. And sure enough, halfway to Valkenburg, we came across something awesome, an Expressionist water tower of Schimmert (1927). It humbly stood at the road intersection, and the sun beautifully warmed up its brick facade. Oh, what a find!

The 38-metre-high water tower in the village of Schimmert, nicknamed the Giant of Schimmert.

But we still wanted to make it to Valkenburg by lunchtime, so I snapped a picture of the tower and jumped back on the bike. Meanwhile, Oksanka Googled the sights to check out, and we decided to start with the castle. We got there quickly, but it took me twice the effort because of the steep hills. No matter which way you approach Valkenburg, you always end up climbing that damn hill!

Valkenburg’s medieval fortifications and old church.

The tickets for the castle also included a guided tour of the Velvet Cave carved into the rock beneath it. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time we’d visited any caves, which made it all even more intriguing. The temperature inside turned out to be 10–15°C cooler than outside, and it felt so refreshing after heating up on those climbs.

The caves held centuries of history, with walls bearing the marks of hand-sawn marlstone blocks, a popular building material for churches, fortifications, and houses in the region. The Velvet Cave also served as a secret escape route from the castle, a hideout for locals and American troops during the Nazi occupation in World War II, and even had a chapel since the 18th century.

Oksanka and I were smart enough to bring along our powerful lights. It helped us see all the details of numerous charcoal murals on the cave walls.

After leaving the cave, we headed up to the castle. Valkenburg Castle is the only hilltop fortress in the entire country. And if you think about it, it makes sense — every other castle we’d seen so far sat on flat ground, usually surrounded by a moat.

The castle was destroyed several times due to its strategic location and rocky history. But the final blow actually came from the Dutch themselves — in 1672, after they’d fended off a French invasion, they ordered the castle’s demolition to keep it from being used by enemies again.

This is all that’s left of Valkenburg Castle.

If you think we called it a day, well, not even close.

We went to a pub, and after a couple of glasses of craft beer with sausage and cheese, we thought, “Why not visit Liège, Belgium? It’s only 40 km away.” It seemed like a brilliant idea, and with vacation vibes in full swing, coming back late didn’t faze us. The route looked flat, except for that notorious hill out of Valkenburg. So, we hopped on our bike, and I turned on my favorite rock playlist.

But before we hit the Belgium border, I spotted a massive stone tower on the horizon — the Gronsveld Mill, one of only four remaining tower mills in the Netherlands:

This 400-year-old mill has walls nearly 2 meters thick at the base.

The road ahead wasn’t particularly exciting; we were just enjoying the smells of plowed land and grain from the fields. This rural vibe is typical not just for the Netherlands but also for our native country, Ukraine.

Finally, the Dutch-Belgian border. There used to be a fort here, but now all you can see across the field is a Belgian trash sorting plant.

Riding in Belgium felt different from the Netherlands, even though these small countries are so close and share centuries of history. There weren’t as many dedicated bike lanes, and we often had to share the road with cars or figure out from unusual signage where we were allowed to ride. Otherwise, the scenery was beautiful, with most of our route following the Maas River.

Barges and boats drifted by here and there.

As we neared Liège, the scenery changed. Factories and plants began appearing more frequently along the riverbanks, but it wasn’t long before we spotted the first photo-worthy landmark. The King Albert I Memorial, in the distinctive Art Deco style, stood proudly on the tip of Monsin Island. King Albert is often nicknamed the “Soldier King” in reference to his role during World War I.

My first photo in Liège, Belgium.

Inspired by the Valkenburg Castle from just a few hours earlier, I decided we should check out the Liège Citadel first. In hindsight, that might not have been the best idea. We got lost a few times, and to make matters worse, the road was steep uphill the whole way, much harder to handle on a tandem bike.

I was swearing under my breath, but somehow we made it to the top, only to find… no beautiful castle. Instead, there were just some not-so-ancient bastions topped with a modern hospital building. But then, we spotted something incredible — a panoramic view of the city from over 100 meters high!

The view of Liège from Citadel Hill was stunning. I stitched this panorama together from several vertical shots.

It was a real emotional rollercoaster, so we took a few moments to just catch our breath and think about our next steps. Despite keeping the pedal assist mode on the lowest setting and relying on my strength as much as possible, I realized the bike’s battery was running low. Aside from exploring the rest of Liège, we still had to figure out how to ride all the way back to our Airbnb near Maastricht.

The unique Romanesque facade of St. Bartholomew’s Church (11th century) and people merrily sipping beer and cocktails at its base.

Fortunately, we had a charger; we only needed a power socket for an hour or two. However, finding an open bike parking this late seemed nearly impossible. I’m unsure if it was intuition or pure desperation, but we rolled down to the medieval Church of St. Bartholomew in the city center. There, we spotted a bar right in front of it, and I decided to ask the bartender if we could use a socket. To our luck, he happily agreed!

We ordered drinks, and while Oksanka relaxed with her cocktail near the church, I walked to snap a photo of one more medieval building that had been on my to-do list.

The church’s fortified tower against the starry sky.

St. Denis Church isn’t exactly the kind of landmark that draws visitors to Liège, but something about it attracted me. It stood in darkness, without anyone passing by. As I learned later, the church was damn ancient — founded in 987! Its tower, added around 1100, was blended with Liège’s medieval fortifications, hence its robust, minimalist design. You don’t come across such unusual churches every day, right?

St. Denis Church is on the list of “exceptional heritage” of the Walloon Region of Belgium.

Liège had so much left to explore, and we could’ve easily wandered around for hours. But by then, we had taken in enough for one day, and we still had a 40-kilometer ride back waiting for us.

Yachts and boats along the Maas River.

The ride back was serene, coasting through the still, windless night. Once we crossed into the Netherlands, we paused in a sleepy village, found a bench by the church, and sipped herbal tea from our thermos. A cozy bed was waiting for us not far ahead.

After we arrived, we slept like rocks all night, only waking up when the alarm went off. In the morning, we headed east. Our destination was Heerlen, where we planned to check out the Ancient Roman Museum and then explore Hoensbroek Castle.

One of numerous marlstone caves near Maastricht.

But going straight to Heerlen would have been too dull. So along the way, we stopped at the Groeve ‘t Rooth, a marlstone quarry, where we enjoyed a sweeping view of the hills and forest:

The beautiful scenery of the former Rooth marlstone quarry.

When we reached Heerlen, it didn’t give off an ancient vibe, unlike Valkenburg, which we had visited the day before. Heerlen felt like an everyday residential area, so I didn’t even take pictures. But behind a contemporary facade in the town center, there was an absolute gem: the Thermenmuseum, preserving the foundations of a 2-millennia-old Roman bathhouse.

The Roman bathhouse in Heerlen is considered the oldest known building in the Netherlands.

This bathhouse was built in 40 AD in the Roman settlement of Coriovallum, the precursor to modern Heerlen, and functioned until the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century. After centuries of oblivion, it was accidentally discovered only in 1940 when a local farmer found a column fragment while plowing grassland.

See these stacks of tiles? They once supported the floor, which had hollows underneath. Warm air from a fire flowed through these spaces, heating the sauna room from below.

The museum’s interactive exhibition showed how each room was used, how the water in basins was heated through hollow floors, and explained the bathing rituals of the time. Animated light projections directly onto the ruins brought these ancient stones to life. Yeah, Romans knew a thing or two about bathing!

Meanwhile, our adventure continued as we quickly rode to Hoensbroek Castle, hoping to arrive in time before it closed.

Hoensbroek Castle is a classic Dutch design: a red-brick building with corner towers, surrounded by a moat filled with water.

In its current form, the castle largely dates back to the 17–18th centuries, so it’s not medieval. But what really caught my interest was its oldest part — the tall round tower from 1360.

I captured this shot of the castle prison cell with a long exposure; otherwise, it would have been impossible to see anything in the near-total darkness.

The tower’s walls were so thick that they incorporated a spiral staircase inside! There was also a prison cell at the base with barely any light or air flowing through a tiny barred window.

Medieval tower: staircase in a 3-meter-thick wall and massive roof beams.

Maybe I’m a bit picky about castles, but aside from the medieval tower, nothing else truly grabbed me. So, we breezed through the remaining rooms and wrapped up just a few minutes before closing. We decided to take it easy that day, heading to Maastricht for a relaxing evening.

We arrived just in time for the “blue hour,” so I rushed to the central square to shoot the famous Gothic red tower of St. Jan’s Church and the Romanesque Basilica of St. Servatius.

The medieval treasure of Maastricht in the evening: St. Jan’s Church and St. Servatius Basilica.

St. Servatius Basilica holds the title of the oldest surviving church in the Netherlands, with its earliest parts dating back to 560 AD! The current building is likely the fourth version built on this site. It started as a modest chapel, and the grand Romanesque structure we see today was completed between 1000 and 1200.

So, I’ve just shown you the oldest church — now, get ready for the country’s oldest bridge, which bears the same name, St. Servatius Bridge.

Beautifully illuminated St. Servatius Bridge in the evening.

Stretching across the Maas River with seven stone arches, this fantastic bridge connects Maastricht from bank to bank. The Romans originally built a wooden bridge here in 50 AD, and the current stone one replaced it in the 13th century. Can you imagine, though, that it was the only bridge across the Maas until the 1930s?

And that was it for the day. With plans to visit Germany the next day, we knew we needed a good rest.

Unlike the sunny start to our cycling vacation, the morning weather was gloomy, though still warm. Our route took us through farmlands.

Freshly plowed fields covered with a light morning mist.

I stopped at a couple of farms to check out the roadside stands. Local farmers were selling homemade jams, honey, berries, and veggies. We picked up a pack of the sweetest cherry tomatoes, a couple of jars of cherry and pumpkin jams, and strawberries. We couldn’t resist, so we ate the tomatoes and strawberries right there on the spot.

Luckily, we had withdrawn some cash before riding to Germany, where people don’t like card payments as much as in the Netherlands.

Before visiting ancient Aachen, we made a stop at the Three Country Point on its western outskirts. we stopped at the Three Country Point on its western outskirts, where the borders of Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands meet. It’s a unique spot with a few outdoor cafes offering a mix of foods and drinks from all three countries; for example, you can get Belgian fries, German sausages, and Dutch beer.

Since I don’t trust passers-by to take decent pictures of my wife and me, I set a timer on the camera and shot this selfie with flags myself.

The Three Country Point is also the highest point in the Netherlands, standing a whopping 322 meters — pretty impressive, right? This is where you realize how actually flat this country is.

Endless greeenery around the Three Country Point’s observation tower.

We had a tasty lunch at the Three Country Point and were pleasantly surprised to find public power sockets for e-bikes. Naturally, we took full advantage and charged our bike to the max. A great reward for yet another round of uphill pedaling to the top!

We reached Aachen in no time and were greeted by its sunlit medieval Bridge Gate (Ponttor). This 14th-century landmark looked stunning, but the traffic was a hassle. I stood at the intersection for 20 minutes, waiting for the perfect shot without the chaos of cars and people. In the end, the motion-blurred red bus in the final photo added just the right amount of dynamism to an otherwise static scene:

The Ponttor is one of two remaining medieval gates of Aachen.

But we weren’t just here for the gate, beautiful as it was. Aachen is renowned as the capital of Charlemagne (748–814 AD), one of the most influential figures in medieval Europe. He began as the King of the Franks and went on to become the Emperor of the Carolingian Empire, thus greatly contributing to both German and French history.

Charlemagne was deeply revered by both his contemporaries and descendants. His body was preserved in a gilded shrine in Aachen Cathedral, while a part of his skull was enclosed in a gilded bust, and a bone from his arm was placed in a golden arm-shaped reliquary.

Charlemagne’s bust reliquary from the treasury and his gilded shrine in the cathedral’s choir.

But even with all that gold in the treasury, Charlemagne’s throne stole the show. Just four plain marble slabs — no gems, no carvings. But here’s the twist: these stones are believed to have come from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Can you imagine a more sacred seat than one connected to the holiest Christian site? Charlemagne really knew how to make a statement!

The throne looks worn, even though all emperors crowned here only sat on it for a total of half an hour. The real culprit? Unrestricted tourist access after World War II.

And I still haven’t shown you the Aachen Cathedral! Here’s a lovely evening picture with Oksanka standing by our bike in the foreground:

A classical view of the cathedral with the initial chapel of Charlemagne in the center.

The cathedral’s heart is Charlemagne’s octagonal royal chapel built in the Romanesque style, while the later additions, turning the chapel into a grand cathedral, followed the Gothic fashion.

Across from the cathedral, you’ll find Aachen’s stunning 14th-century Gothic town hall. These days, the steps at its base serve as a lively spot where people gather, sip drinks, and chat.

The gorgeous town hall of Aachen has beautiful evening illumination.

It took me a good half-hour to get all the shots I wanted without people in the foreground pulling focus from the architecture. Meanwhile, Oksanka was by our bike, figuring out a return route that wouldn’t retrace our previous path to Aachen.

Oksanka patiently waited while I darted around, hunting for the perfect angles and timing for photos.

She found us such an original route that we ended up walking the last stretch: although Google Maps considered it absolutely cyclable, it turned out to be a rugged forest path with ditches and boulders. And, of course, it was night by then — again! But no complaints here; it was the final puzzle piece to make the day’s adventure special.

Night forest a couple of kilometers from the village where were staying.

Our final day in the Limburg Region! But wait a minute: was it really only day five? It felt like a month with all the places we had explored…

Finally, we let ourselves relax and not go too far. After breakfast with our Airbnb hosts’ family and a warm goodbye, we headed to Maastricht for one last round of local sights. We went to St. Peter’s Fort, built in 1702 on the northern flank of the eponymous hill for defensive purposes.

St. Peter’s Fort and the view of Maastricht in the background.

And guess what? We ended up in caves again! This time, the North Caves, right under the fort. What’s unique about this place is that the first prehistoric Mosasaurus fossils were discovered here in 1764, giving the creature its name: “lizard of the Maas River.” The first fossil is now displayed in a museum in Haarlem, while the second specimen was looted during the French Revolutionary Wars.

A charcoal drawing of a mosasaurus in the North Caves of Maastricht.

I wasn’t quite ready for this amazing cycling vacation to end, so I convinced Oksanka to skip the train in Maastricht and ride a bit further to one last interesting spot. We headed north towards the town of Sittard, where we could also catch our train: 26 km was nothing compared to what we had covered in the previous days.

Beautiful bike road along the river north of Maastricht.

And the reason we went there was to see St. Salvius Church, which, bathed in the warm glow of the sunset, looked like a giant oven. The church’s oldest feature is the lower half of its northern wall, dating back to the late 10th century and built of the Maas River stones.

In the 1980s, renovations uncovered wall murals in the choir from around 1300, the oldest ever found in a Dutch village church.

This church resembled a collage of epochs and styles — Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance — all merged into one compact building. It felt like a perfect metaphor for our trip: five days, one tandem bike, minimum bags, yet our minds were packed with unforgettable memories.

A beautiful sunset on our last day in Limburg.

Needless to say, we got home late and slept like logs — dreamless, with our brains too overloaded to process anything more.

Our usual elevator selfie at the end of the adventure.