The romantic little town of Valkenburg lies in the picturesque Geul valley, in the Limburg uplands, below the only hilltop castle in the Netherlands. It has long been a very popular holiday resort. A hundred years ago its main tourist attractions were its caves: it now also attracts visitors with its spa facilities in the
futuristic Thermae 2000, the largest spa establishment in the Netherlands after Nieuweschans in Groningen. Valkenburg also has the country's oldest functioning railroad station (1853).