Christmas market in the Gemeentegrot

Valkenburg calls itself Kerststad, Christmas town, and its best-known market is underground. The Gemeentegrot, a former marl quarry under the Cauberg hill, holds what the organisers call Europe's largest underground Christmas market: stalls with decorations, gifts and winter food along lit passages cut into the soft yellow stone. This year it has an entirely new décor.

The cave stays at a cool, steady temperature, so bring a jacket. Allow one to one and a half hours. The Gemeentegrot is wheelchair accessible; dogs are not allowed.

Tickets are sold online in time slots and cost less from Monday to Thursday; weekends get very busy, so a weekday visit is more relaxed. The other cave market, in the Fluweelengrot, and the rest of Kerststad Valkenburg, including a Christmas parade, are a short walk away. Valkenburg has its own station on the line from Maastricht.