Vijlen

Vijlen is a village in South Limburg, the southernmost part of the Dutch province Limburg. The surrounding hamlets included, some 1500 people live here, although in summer the village also receives a large number of visitors. Mostly Dutch tourists find their way to this friendly village, which serves as a fine base to explore the region. It is known as the highest situated village in the Netherlands and is commended for the beautiful landscapes and forest areas around. It promotes itself as the only "mountain village" in the country, which of course is an exaggeration of its hill-top position, but is the basis for a number of activities for tourists and inhabitants alike.

Understand
The village of Vijlen comprises the hamlets Camerig, Harles, Rott, Melleschet and Cottessen. Vijlen as a whole is part of the municipality Vaals. If accommodation gets scarcer during the summer season, or if you like the countryside experience, these hamlets have a number of camp sites and holiday houses to offer. The main village of Vijlen is located on a hill, the Vijlenerberg, and therefor lies up to 200 m above Normaal Amsterdams Peil.

History
Burial mounds in the nearby Vijlener forest are proof of human settlement in this area at the time of the Linear Pottery Culture, some 3000–5000 years ago. Children's teeth were found in one of the mounds, which is therefor called the "children's grave". Since no valuable items were found at the site, but Roman pottery remains were, the Romans are believed to have plundered the graves long before their excavation in the 1920s and 30s. The modern day village is most likely Roman in origin, and the name Vijlen is presumably derived from "villa" or "villare", which would mean "farm villa" or "belonging to a farm villa" in Latin.

Around 1877, cement industry settled in the small village. A factory was built on top of the Vijlenerberg (the hill on which the village lies) and made a natural cement out of local limestone. A second factory was built in 1899, lower on the hill, but went bankrupt soon after. A new owner was able to get the new factory running again and made good profits during World War I, when cement became scarce. Both factories had underground tunnels, originally for underground mining purposes and later to connect open air quarries to the factory buildings. A long 2-m-high and no more than 1.7-m-wide tunnel under the Vijlenerberg connected the new factory to its quarry. In the 1920s, strong competition in the cement branch and the remote location, far from any railway, eventually caused the factories to close.

Get in
The main road leading to Vijlen is a side way of the N278 (between Maastricht and Vaals). When leaving the N278 it's about 1 km uphill to the centre of the village. Smaller regional roads connect the village to Mechelen and Vaals. Your fastest connection to the extensive Dutch and German highway system is via junction Knooppunt Bocholtz, wheren the N278 connects to the A76.

Bus line 59 runs right through the village on its way from Vaals to Mamelis and back. If you're coming from Heerlen or Simpelveld bus line 43 can take you as far as the hamlet of Mamelis or Vaals. From Maastricht and Aachen, Vijlen is reable by bus 350 which stops in Vaals and Mamelis, where a transfer to line 59 is possible. From Mamelis a 15 minutes walk uphill is also a option with a separated walking path next to the road.

The nearest train stations of use are in Heerlen or Maastricht or in Aachen (for German connections). From there you will have to take a bus. Taxis are available but very expensive, as Heerlen and Maastricht are both at least a 20 minute drive. Count on at least €60 for a taxi ride from Heerlen. Uber is active in the region but expect to have to wait for your driver to reach the more remotely located Vijlen.

For the odd chance you're flying in, Maastricht-Aachen airport is the closest one, with only discount carriers and limited destinations. For more international flights, try Dusseldorf, Cologne, Brussels, Eindhoven and of course Amsterdam Schiphol airport (which is some 2½ hr away by train).

Get around
The town is small, and you'll be fine on foot. Visiting one or two hamlets is still doable on foot. However, unless you like a firm walk, you'll need a car, bike or some other form of transport to get around to several of them. You can reserve an electric bike via Wandelcafé A gen Kirk and hotel/restaurant Vijlerhof. If you're staying in holiday park Reevallis, you can also rent a bike there. For cars, quads or vespas, head to Valkenburg or Maastricht. The region is a hillier than the rest of the Netherlands and biking on a normal bike can be a very physical activity. If untrained or uncertain of your biking-stamina, an electric bike would be advised.

Do

 * Of course, the main activity in Vijlen (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. In the small groceries store you can buy (€4) the "Spatzierkaart", a map with several hiking routes in the area.
 * Some of the local bars have joined forces to develop a so-called Kroegjesroute, or bar route. It's basically a number of walking routes, leading along some of the best viewpoints around ánd connecting all of the 12 participating establishments, some of which are in surrounding villages. Depending on your wishes, you can opt for a longer or shorter route, or take several in a row. Maps and routes are available in any of the participating cafés, but Fiets en wandelcafé 'A gen Kirk' (across the church) is the designated place to get more information on this or other hiking or biking routes, as it doubles as a tourist office info point.
 * The Vijlener forest is nice for a walk and the Linear pottery culture burial mounds there are visible. One of the mounds, the "children's grave", has been opened on one side. The information sign next to it is not in English, though.
 * The Koelmarkt is an annual summer fair, held around the end of July. It has a flee market, lots of stalls with all kinds of goods and food, but also music and fireworks at night.

Buy
The village has a small grocery store for all daily needs, as well as a bakery and a flower and gifts store. All those are located on the main road, around the church. In April and May there's also a temporary garden centre on the Mamelisserweg. The groceries place, advertised as "buurtwinkel" (neighbourhood store), sells postcards and some local specialities including beer, wine, apple juice and honey.

Eat
There are a few places to eat in this small village, but several of the restaurants are attached to hotels. Therefore, see the Sleep-section for more options.



Connect
Most hotels and larger lodging facilities have Wi-Fi available, but in some cases you will pay extra. Check in advance. For computer use you'll have to head to the local public library in Vaals.

The grocery store (buurtwinkel) next to the church sells mobile phone prepaid cards, postcards and stamps. There's a mailbox across the road from the store (the church side). The mail box has an orange colour. Mail has to be separated in 2 categories: postal codes within a local range and those outside of that local range. Sending your mail in the wrong section could get it severely delayed. For packages or other postal services you'll have to head to the more equipped post offices of Mechelen, Vaals or Gulpen.

Go next
Nearby destinations that are popular with tourists include:


 * Vaals
 * Epen
 * Gulpen
 * Maastricht
 * Simpelveld
 * Aachen (Germany)
 * Sippenaeken (Belgium)