Landgraaf

Landgraaf is a Dutch city in the south of the country, famous for hosting Pinkpop, said to be the longest running pop festival in the world. It's also home to one of the largest indoor ski pistes in Europe.

Understand
The town is home to some 38,000 people and part of the so-called Oostelijke Mijnstreek, or Eastern Mining Area. In the first half of the 20th century, two large coal mines were established in Schaesberg (then an individual town, now a neighbourhood of Landgraaf). Administratively, it works closely together with neighbouring municipalities such as Heerlen, Kerkrade and Simpelveld, in a collaboration called Parkstad Limburg.

Get in
Extensive project planning in still in progress in order to create a ring highway around some of the Parkstad municipalities including Landgraaf. As for now however, the provincial N299 is the main road in and out of town, connecting it directly to neighbouring towns Hoensbroek and Kerkrade. Several smaller roads connect to different parts of adjoining Heerlen and the Euregioweg connects Landgraaf to the 281 and further to the A76. As in all of the country, there are fine conditions for cycling in.

The town has a train station, which is served by regional trains of Arriva and the German Deutsche Bahn (DB). Arriva trains connect Langraaf to Kerkrade, Heerlen and Maastricht, while the DB trains connect to Heerlen, Alsdorf (Poststraße), Herzogenrath, Aachen (Hbf), Stolberg, Langerwehe and Düren. Only in summer, this German trains runs on to Heimbach as well. There's no manned office at the Landgraaf train station, but there are ticket machines for Arriva, DB and also for the Dutch NS (in case you need to travel further than the mentioned towns).

The heritage line Miljoenenlijn, which originates in Simpelveld, also passes Langraaf. It's possible to use this train service to get in, but it serves as an attraction rather than a way of transport, with higher prices, limited schedules and long travel times.

Bus connections are operated by Arriva and include a few frequent services to Heerlen, from where you'll find connections to all towns in the region. Line 25 stops at the indoor ski piste Snowworld. Line 29 passes Heerlen too, but then runs on to Kerkrade.

Get around
It's possible to walk your way around, but a car or bike can be useful here, as some of the major attractions, notably Snowworld and Monde Verde, are about 3 km from the train station. To get from the train station to Snowworld you can also catch bus 25, which leaves from the viaduct you'll see from the train station (about a 5-minute walk). During Pinkpop, just follow the crowds. There are no buses then.

Buy
Landgraaf has all the usual shops for a town its size, including supermarkets, book stores, fashion shop, toy stores etc. Many of them are concentrated in the i shopping centre between the Raadhuisplein and the Dorpsstraat. The Schaesberg neighbourhood has its own shopping centre.

There are several good quality bakeries in Landgraaf, selling (among other products) varieties of the local speciality: Limburgian vlaai. It is a pizza sized sweet pie which can be filled with f.e. apricots, cherries, apples. There are also varieties with whipped cream on it.



Eat
There are several small restaurants in town, including some lunch rooms in the shopping centre. The hotels mentioned in the Sleep-section below all have their own restaurants too, offering good alternatives for food.

Drink
There are several cafés at Snowworld, which you can also enter when you're not going to ski yourself. They have good views of the pistes, making it fun to hang around if your friends are inside, but also just to watch other people. There are also outdoor terraces, when the weather allows.

Otherwise, there's no serious night life in town, but there are some quaint cafés, if you're just looking for a beer.

Connect
The hotels offer Wi-Fi to their guests and it's also available in the cafés at Snowworld. For postal services, head to one of the following:



Go next
All of South Limburg is just a stone's throw away. Follow the heritage train track to Valkenburg, a domestic visitor's favourite or make your way to beautiful Maastricht. Head for the beautiful landscapes around Vaals, Vijlen and Epen or hop over the German border to historic student city Aachen.