Maastricht travel informationIf you're planning to travel to Maastricht in the Netherlands, you'll need to know how to get there. This page details how you can travel to the city by plane, by car, and by public transportation. You'll also find out how to travel around town when you're there. Introduction Maastricht is approximately a 2.5 hour train ride from Amsterdam. The city is accessible by air, road and rail, but I would suggest you travel by train to get to the city. By Air: Maastricht Airport Maastricht has its own airport, just out of the city limits. The official name of the airport is "Maastricht-Aachen Airport" because this airport is also the closest the German city of Aachen. You can take one of the three to five regular daily flights from Amsterdam Airport to Maastricht, which take about 40-45 minutes to get to Maastricht. From the airport itself, you can take a bus to the central train station, which is about 20 minutes away. By Public Transportation (Train) By train, Maastricht is about 2,5 hours away from Amsterdam's central train station or about 3 hours when you depart from the train station at Amsterdam Airport. Traveling to Maastricht by train is by far the cheapest option of the ones listed on this page. From the central train station in Maastricht, there are many bus connections available to other parts of the city. The downtown area and shopping center is just a 10-minute walk away from the train station. As an added bonus, when you take this short walk, it will take you along one of the most beautiful historic avenues of Maastricht, Stationsstraat, which boasts impressive architectural splendor. Along the way, you will also cross the St. Servatius Bridge, one of the most famous bridges of Maastricht. By Car If you have a rental car, you can also drive to Maastricht yourself. The easiest and most direct route from Amsterdam is the highway A2, which leads directly from Amsterdam to Maastricht. However, I would advise against this method of travel, because it will take you through some of the busiest parts of the country. The A2 is one of Holland's main traffic arteries, and like so many others, this artery is very much clogged. Although the drive should be about 2.5 hours under favorable circumstances, you can expect it to take at least three hours, especially when you travel during rush hours (8-9:30am and 4-6:30pm). The main areas for congestion are around Amsterdam itself, as well as the cities of Utrecht, 's-Hertogenbosch, Eindhoven, and Maastricht, where traffic jams up to 8 miles at a time can snarl traffic for hours. Once you enter Maastricht, you'll notice that parking is somewhat limited and there might be some waiting time in front of the downtown parking garages (although you should be able to find a parking spot somewhere most of the time). Also, most parking in Maastricht is paid parking, which will set you back about €1.50 (approx. US$2) an hour. For all of these reasons, I would suggest you use public transportation to get to Maastricht. Like in most Dutch cities, most attractions and hotels are within easy walking distance of each other and you can probably enjoy your stay more without the hassle of a car to hold you back. Related articles about MaastrichtReturn to the Holland-Travel-Guide.com homepage |