Maastricht: St. Servaas bridge
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We had calculated the distance for today's journey as 97 km which was at the limit of our normal ability. As we often find, it turned out to be about 20 km more, but we managed to complete it.
From Lier we used the Nete canal to the junction with the Albert Canal, negotiating the junction with the help of Dan Gamber's excellent instructions. Following canals and rivers sounds like an easy plan, but the choice of banks is important because the path is often interrupted by other channels or by industrial sites and Dan's details made it a lot easier. When we joined the Albert canal we noticed a sign (for boats) giving the distance to the end of the canal as 117 km. We had already done 12 km so we feared that we would have to cover 129 km to reach Maastricht. In fact the canal terminates a little beyond Maastricht at Liege so we ended up doing 117 km.
The journey along the Albert Canal was very monotonous, maintaining a steady 20 km/hour on the flat towpath alongside the wide and straight channel for many kilometres, punctuated by the sight of many big barges carrying freight on the much-used commercial waterway. The path was sheltered by specially-planted trees and shrubs punctuated with many chemical and other industrial plants. Dan Gamber's instructions for choice of banks may be obsolete here; we followed his instruction to cross to the south bank near Hasselt but the track came to an end at a new industrial estate that we were forced to cycle through, returning to the north bank near a huge Ford factory after many wrong turnings. The path on the north bank appeared to be a better option.
The paths on both sides of the Albert were full of groups of weekend cyclists who generally passed us without greeting - perhaps because of the great density cyclists in the low countries.
Dan Gamber's guide is to the Belgian waterways, so he gives few details for the final section of our route into Maastricht. We chose to follow the Albert Canal as far Lanaken just north of Maastricht. Signage to the city centre from there was patchy. After crossing the canal and another navigable channel we took a cycle track alongside the main highway to Maastricht.
We were initially confused by the the many no-entry signs in the suburbs before realising that 'cycles excepted' is often taken as read in Holland! Continuing through the paved streets in the centre, thronging with tourists, we eventually found our way to the door of our hostess Ellen at her lovely Country in the City bed and breakfast house in the heart of the old section to the east of the huge river that bisects Maastricht.
Today's distance: 117 km, weather: excellent warm and dry, supper eaten outside, accommodation: Country in the City B & B €85.
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Maastricht: St. Servaas bridge |