Gulpen Travel Guide

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The Gulpener Brewery has it's own taproom across the road from the brewery itself. This looks like quite a lively place with good eats, live music and of course the beers.

Unfortunately on the Monday evening I stopped off in the town it was shut, but no worries as the product was available at Herberg de Zwartz Ruider (The Inn of the Black Rider) bar on the market square.

Fortunately this IS open on a Monday (although it does close on Tuesdays - so maybe they have an arrangement with the Gulpener Bierhuis??) and its terrace is an ideal place to enjoy the local product along with the local people themselves.

I've no idea who the "Black Rider" is but there's an interesting piece of sculpture at the front.

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On a July Monday evening the riverside terrace of the Hotel and Brasserie de Kroon seemed to be the place to be here in Gulpen, given that most of the town's population were here. Not surprising really as the place was catching the evening's sunshine and with another of the town's water features gently providing a soothing backdrop as it trickled over its parapet into the river.

My delicious young server apologised profusely that they didn't have an English menu and offered to translate for me. I was in no rush and so ordered a beer asked to be left with the menu to see if I could work out what was what and that I'd give her a shout if I needed a translation.

Favorite Dish: As it was I didn't need her translation services as the first thing that caught my eye was the "Uiensoep, Gegratineerd met Kaas". Coincidentally that had been the subject of conversation the previous evening in what is now my favourite Dutch bar, Take One in Maastricht - I'd noticed that the Onion Soup seemed a staple on most restaurant menues in Maastricht and my drinking companion of the evening explained that it originated here in Limburg and that the French merely stole the recipe.

So that was my decision made and delish it was too. A lathering of sweetly melted onions in a tasty meaty broth with the cheese-gratinated crouton still bubbling when it arrived at my table. A couple of slices of chewy crusty bread and a little garnish of peppery rocket salad turned it into a meal in its own right.

A second beer brought the final bill to just over 8 Euros which made for a bargain light supper accompanied by the pleasantly laid-back Limburgian ambience.

Gulpen is on the main road between Maastricht and Aachen, about halfway between the two. The Veolia #50 bus stops off at the town's small bus station which is pretty much central. This service runs every 15 minutes during the day (less frequent in the evenings) and is about 30 minutes from Maastricht.

I was using my South Limburg day ticket and so don't know what the fare would be but I suppose if you were visiting from Maastricht then the dagkaart would probably be your best option anyway.

I did notice at least one other bus service but didn't catch where it was going but I assume there are local services to the outlying areas.

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I wasn't here for shopping but I did notice this new-looking mall in the town centre, just off the Marktplein and with the river flowing past.

It looks to have a fairly comprehensive set of stores including a supermaket but seemed closed on the Monday evening I was there.

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There's not many places in the Netherlands where you get a chance to do this but Gulpen is one of them. Just make sure your brakes work before you career off downhill as there is a pedestrian crossing at the bottom of this one!

The area is ideal for cyclists if you enjoy a more strenuous workout than most Dutch places present and you'll find a cycle maps of the area posted out at the fitness and swimming pool centre, copies of which are available from the VVV Office.

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A short walk west of the town, not far off the main road, is what appears to be the town's resevoir which is yet another of its water features complete with cascading fountains and some oddbod artwork.

Here I noticed this heron patiently waiting for its supper. I had a look in the water myself but there didn't seem to be any fish. The heron eventually came to that conclusion too and off it flew.

Off I flew too to search out my own supper firstly at the Black Rider and then the Brasserie de Kroon.

Favorite thing: Although Gulpen isn't really on the tourist trail (although it is definitely worth stopping off at for lunch/supper or whatever) it does have a VVV Tourist Office and souvenir shop.

This is situated at Dorpsstraat 27, just off the Marktplein, and is open Mondays to Saturdays from about 9 am until 4.30.

Here you can get the usual advice and guidance, freebie walking and cycle maps and can buy local guideboooks, gifts and souvenirs.

For the website click VVV Gulpen but note that the map seems to have displaced the office to somewhere south of the town.