Simpelveld

Known mostly for the Miljoenenlijn steam train, which originates here, Simpelveld is a small city in the South Limburg region, in the Dutch province Limburg. Also, in 1930 the so-called "Sarcophagus of Simpelveld" was discovered here.

Understand
The town's roots go back thousands of years, known through archaeological finds of the Linear Band Ware culture in the area. In Roman times, it was a settlement on the road from Maastricht to Aachen. The famous sand stone sarcophagus, dated back to 100-200 AD, that was discovered in 1930 most likely belonged to one of Simpelveld's rich female inhabitants, who rather likely lived in a nearby villa roughly located at the beginning of the modern-day Sint Remigiusstraat. As rich as Simpelveld's Roman history seems to have been, the remnants of this time are sadly hardly visible during a visit, and a notable amount of Roman findings from the nearby land are on display in nearby Heerlen as well as Leiden.

The fact that this small town had two different monasteries gained it the local title of "kloesterstedsje", or "monastery town". The second monastery still stands, but since 2018 functions as a museum dedicated to Simpelveld's historical past. The village has an active local community and serves as a centre for daily shopping for neighbouring villages. It receives a fair number of Dutch tourists in summer, who use the town as a base for a visit to the whole of the South Limburg region. The town's direct vicinity is typically South Limburgish, lending itself well to walking and cycling, featuring rather sloped terrain for Dutch standards, as well as hollow ways cut into the rural loess grounds.

By car
Simpelveld is easily accessible through the E314/A76, which connects the town directly to Aachen and Geleen, and gives it a highway connection to Maastricht via the A79. To Heerlen, the N281 is the main connection. Coming from the north of the Netherlands, simply first head in the direction of either Eindhoven or Nijmegen, from where you can follow the A2 and A73 respectively, heading south.

By train
Although the village has a train station, that is now only used for the touristic Miljoenenlijn and has no regular connection to the Dutch railway system. The steam train operated by ZLSM comes from either Kerkrade or Valkenburg. It doesn't have a routine schedule but this is a recommended route if you want to see some of the spectacular views of the hillsides of Maastricht-Hill Country and it would get you to Simpelveld, if coming from one of its few other stations. Sadly, it isn't possible to board a ZLSM train at Kerkrade and use it to get to Simpelveld, so using the train you can either get as close to Simpelveld as Heerlen or Maastricht, from where you will have to rely on buses.

By bus
From Heerlen, either bus 20 or 26 to Kerkrade or bus 21 to Aachen will serve you well, taking about half an hour to 45 minutes to get you from the Heerlen main station to Simpelveld. From Maastricht, take bus 350 towards Vaals and Aachen, getting off in Gulpen, and transferring onto bus 47 heading for Parkstad Stadion. This journey will take about an hour to complete.

By plane
The nearest airport is Maastricht-Aachen Airport, with some international destinations.

Get around
As Simpelveld is a small place, you'll be mostly able to make your way on foot in the center. However, to explore the outskirts or nearby villages, a bike or car is a good option.

See
The town has a few national heritage sites. There are some old farms and a number of religious sites.

Buy
For a real shopping spree you should head to nearby Heerlen or (better yet) to Maastricht, Sittard or Aachen. However, Simpelveld has all the basic shops you would need during your stay, including grocery stores, clothing shops, household goods and stores for cosmetic and personal hygiene items. The town's shops are a combination of modern Dutch chain stores and old-fashioned family-run village shops, some of which have been here for decades.

You'll find most of the shops on and around the Markt, the newly built Kloosterplein, the Kloosterstraat, and the Dorpsstraat (Village street). The Plus supermarket on the Kloosterplein is open M-Sa 08:30-21:00 and Su 10:00-18:00. Het Oude Schoolhuis on the corner of the Markt and Dorpsstraat sells some nice antiques. There's a weekly market on Friday mornings, mostly with fruits, vegetables and other food items.

Eat
For a village of its size, Simpelveld has a good number of places to eat, although several are cheap fries & snacks places. On Mondays and on evenings after 21:30 you might find yourself hard-pressed to get anything else, since most places are closed then. If you're in one of the many chalets, self-cateringen is a good alternative. Nearby Bocholtz has a number of other places and it's easy enough to get to Heerlen, Vaals or Gulpen if you can't find anything you like.

Drink
For a night out with better bars and clubs, many locals turn to nearby Heerlen. Nevertheless, there are a few places where you can go to hang out and have a beer and on the outskirts of town you'll even find a dance club.

Connect
Most places to stay have free WiFi, but if it is offered, don't count on it to be stable or fast. It's easier if you use mobile internet, as the coverage is alright.



Go next
Hopping on the steam train will get you to even more tourist minded places like Gulpen and Valkenburg, but other South Limburg destination are easy to reach as well. Head to beautiful Maastricht for fine sights and food, go indoor skiing in Landgraaf or explore the border area of Vaals. From there, consider quickly jumping over to the impressive German city of Aachen, all just minutes away from Simpelveld.