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Vijlen
Village in Limburg, Netherlands

Vijlen

Vijlen is a village in the South-East part of the Dutch province of Limburg.

Plan a trip to Vijlen→From Eindhoven

The village is constituted of a number of hamlets, among which Mamelis, Camerig, Harles and Cottessen. Including these hamlets, Vijlen has around 1,500 inhabitants and is part of the municipality of Vaals. Located at 200 meters above Normaal Amsterdams Peil, on top of the Vijlenerberg, it is the highest situated town in the Netherlands. The neo-Gothic and Catholic St. Martinus church, which is located in the center of the village, is known as the highest located church in the country.

Get in

Getting to Vijlen

The main way in by car is over the N281, which is connected to the E14/A76. This road is essentially the ancient Roman route from Maastricht to Aachen. Still today, it goes straight through town on to Aachen, and the two towns have basically become one big urban area, with no space in between.

  1. 01
    Vaals Bus Station
See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Border

    At this point the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany come together with their respective borders.

  2. 02
    Museum de Kopermolen

    This small museum is housed in a monumental building, build in 1736 as a Lutheran church.

  3. 03
    Museum Vaals

    The collection of this small museum comprises a somewhat odd combination of church statues and modern art.

  4. 04
    St. Catharinakapel, Oud-Lemiers 16. This

    Several historic sources mention the chapel.

  5. 05
    Sint-Catharina en Luciakerk

    This much larger church originates in 1895-1896 and sits along the main road.

Do

Things to do

The main activity in Vaals (as in most villages around), is exploring the surrounding natural areas. Around the village you'll find great landscapes (in part because of the high location of the village), lots of marked routes and a nice forest. Several shorter and longer walks start are colour marked, starting in or around Boscafé 't Hijgend Hert.

  1. 01
    Kartingbaan Vaals

    The only outdoor carting track in the province makes a good option for a small adrenaline rush.

  2. 02
    Vineyard St

    Martinus, Rott 21, info@wijngaardmartinus.nl.

Eat

Where to eat

In addition to the ones below, many hotels have restaurants that are frequented by non-guests also.

  1. 01
    Friture Delnoije
  2. 02
    Kasteel Bloemendal

    This beautiful small castle in the middle of town houses not only an upscale hotel, but also a restaurant.

  3. 03
    Brasserie Lodge 7

    The beautiful location of this modern place out of the town center makes it worth a visit.

  4. 04
    De Raadskelder

    Lovely restaurant setting in the ancient cellars of the town hall.

  5. 05
    Troje

    Greek restaurant with nice food and large portions.

How locals move

Getting around Vijlen the local way

  • Go nextNearby destinations include: Maastricht, the capital of the whole province of Limburg and one of the most beautiful historic cities in the country Gulpen, the main village in the municipality to which Partij-Wittem belongs Valkenburg, the main tourist destinations in South Limburg Vaals, right on the border with Germany Simpelveld The old German city of Aachen and the Belgian Liège aren't far either, and make great day trips.

From Wikivoyage: Partij-Wittem, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. That article was last edited 2020-12, so a service it names may have changed or stopped.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.