Valkenburg: celebrating Christmas in a cave

Valkenburg is a village in the southeastern Dutch province of Limburg. Valkenburg was a fortified town and so it kept its historical charm. It was my very first time in the Netherlands although Luxembourg and the Netherlands had much in common in the past.

Valkenburg is mostly famous around Christmas because of its caves. Every year, they built up a christmas market in their caves. The two most famous are the Gemeentegrot and the Fluweelengrot. They name it caves, but actually, they are mostly man made. Since I’m a Christmas addict, I had to visit those famous Christmas caves. But Valkenburg offers more than just the caves.

Gemeentegrot

It is a Christmas market like all the other ones, just in a cave. Basically, you walk through the cave and there are stands on both sides which sell all kind of things, mostly Christmas stuff. Honestly, I was really disappointed by the caves. I think I imagined something else.

Valkenburg Castle

The Valkenburg Castle was built in 1115. Nowadays, there are only ruins who are the result of several destructions of the castle. I’m really impressed by castle ruins, so I really enjoyed that tour through the ruins. Even though I’m a Christmas freak, the castle was more interesting than the caves.

Fluweelengrot

Last, we visited the „Fluweelengrot“, which was exactly the same as the Gemeentegrot.

 

As I already said, I was disappointed of the Christmas caves. It was just a normal Christmas market, just in a cave. They had nothing special and I really missed the wow-effect. Even though I didn’t like it very much, it was good for one time and I’m happy that I gained that experience.

Did you already saw those Christmas markets in the caves in Valkenburg?