Venlo

Photo © Herr Bert

Travel Guide Europe Netherlands Limburg Venlo

Introduction

Venlo, the guards of Tajiri

Venlo is a city in the north of the Dutch province of Limburg. The old centre lies on the east side of the river Meuse (Maas). Besides the town of Venlo itself, there are other towns and villages that belong to the territory: Blerick (on the westside of the river), Tegelen and Belfeld (south of Venlo), and since January 1, 2010, the towns of Arcen, Lomm and Velden, to the north also are a part of Venlo. The city itself has around 35.000 inhabitans.

Venlo has a tradition as a logistical port. Railways, roads, and the river, make Venlo a perfect gateway for all trade leaving the Netherlands towards Germany.

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Neighbourhoods

Venlo
Blerick
Hout-Blerick
Tegelen
Steijl
Belfeld
Arcen
Lomm
Velden

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Sights and Activities

Venlo - Stadhuis

Limburgs Museum

Venlo is the location of the Limburgs Museum (museum of Limburg). This museum tells the (recent) history of Limburg, but also has a lot of special exhibitions. It is located near to the trainstation. A new addition of the museum will be opened in 2012.

Museum van Bommel van Dam

Museum van Bommel van Dam is located next to the Limburgs Museum, this is a modern arts museum, with a very good collection, and good exhibitions.

Stadhuis

The Stadhuis (Town Hall) of Venlo was built in 1736, this beautiful town hall is located at the market square in the old part of the town. On the square you will find many cafés and restaurants.

Tajiri Statues

The bridge that connects Venlo and Blerick is guarded by the four statues by Shinkichi Tajiri, who lived in the nearby town of Baarlo, until his death in march 2009. These are not the only sculptures of Tajiri you can find in Venlo or the surrounding towns. Throughout the north of Limburg, you can find a lot of his work. His knots made out of metal are famous in this area. The bridge also has illuminated panels, that keeps changing the panoramic figures they project.

Kasteeltuinen Arcen

Ten kilometers north of Venlo, lies the little town of Arcen. The main attraction of this town are the Kasteeltuinen (Castle gardens) that surround the castle. In the gardens there is also a little zoo. The gardens are open from April until late October/Early November.

Klein Zwitserland

Going to Klein Zwitserland In Tegelen is a nice way to spend (part of) the day, when you have kids. It's a big nature playground, with all kinds of attractions, swimming pools, and other ways to keep them entertained.

Missie Museum

Steijl, Missiemuseum

In Steijl a small town just south of Venlo, but part of the municipality of Venlo stands the Missie Museum (Mission Museum). This museum has a collection that has not changed since 1931, making it a very special museum. During their time abroad the priests brought back many items back to Steijl to give the people in this town a broader understanding of the people and the cultures of distant countries. Besides this (old) collection there are temporary exhibitions telling you more about the work of the missionaries. For opening hours check here

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Events and Festivals

Carnaval

Just like in the rest of Limburg, Carnaval is a big thing in Venlo. The carnaval is held on Saturday with a huge gathering and perfomances on numerous stages. The festivities continue until the next tuesday. The big parade takes place on monday.

Zomerparkfeest

The Zomerparkfeest is a big festival with a lot of music in the park near the station. It is held from Thursday to Sunday, on the last weekend of the school holidays. As these dates are always changing, please check the website. Perfomances include not only music, but also street theater, workshops and films.

Arcen, Kasteeltuinen entrance

ZOKS Festival

The ZOKS-festival normally takes place during the last weekend of June, the smaller ZOKS-festival takes place in Blerick. This is a free festival that focuses mainly on rock and blues music. It might be smaller than the Zomerparkfeesten, but the atmosphere is better. On Saturday the early afternoon is reserved for the kids, with activities for them.

Stereo Sunday

Stereo Sunday is new festival is took place for the first time in 2010. Stereo Sunday is a 2 day long free dance and electronic festival taking place at the Kazerne in Blerick. This festival fills the gap left by the FreeFunk Festival, which took place for the last time in 2009. As there are discussions about the grounds at which festival is held, the 2014 event will take place in the city, probably in the Julianapark.

Cycling

The north of Limburg is a perfect place to do some cycling. There are a lot of routes that you can follow, or you can choose to make up your own route. Venlo is a good starting point. The local Tourist information can provide you will many suggestions for routes.

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Weather

Compared to the Dutch average summer temperatures are a couple of degrees higher with average daytime temperatures around 23 °C. but it can be hot at certain times when a heatwave strikes and temperatures can be 35 °C. The weather during days with these extremely high temperatures is not stable, and thunderstorms will follow. In winters, temperatures below 0 °C occur more often than in the western part of the Netherlands.

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Getting There

By Plane

The nearest airports are Airport Weeze, Eindhoven and Düsseldorf International Airport. There are also airports in Maastricht and Cologne which are not that far away.

By Train

Venlo is about two hours by train from Amsterdam, half an hour from Eindhoven, and about one hour from Nijmegen. There are also connections to German cities like Duisburg, Cologne and Düsseldorf. Some of them require a stopover in Vierssen. Besides the central station in Venlo, you can also get off the train in Blerick and Tegelen.

By Car

Coming from the north you can get to Venlo using the A73 highway. From the south (Maastricht, Roermond) you can also follow the A73, which has been completed in early 2008. Coming from the west you can use the A67. If you are coming from Germany, you can get to Venlo via the A61 (Koblenz, Cologne) or over the A40 (Duisburg).

By Bus

Maashopper

There are regional buses, and some regional busses coming from Germany. However, trains are a better option for international travel.

By Boat

There are no commercial boat services to Venlo. There is however a boat connecting Venlo (or rather Blerick) with some of the surrounding towns along the Meuse, called the Maashopper. There is plenty of room for bikes onboard, and therefor a good way to return from a biketrip. This boat only makes trips from May until September. (for the current shedule check the website.)

If you come to Venlo with your own boat, there are a number of limited places, where you can dock your vessel.

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Getting Around

By Public Transport

There are city busses serving various parts of the town. Besides the city busses there are regional buslines serving routes to the neighbouring towns. Check the website of Veolia for details and schedules.

By Car

Venlo isn't that big, but you need to pay for parking if you want to get to the city center during working hours, or on Saturday. This also apply on Sunday if the shops are open on that day.

By Bike

As is the case in the rest of the Netherlands cycling is a good way to get around. Only the shopping centers are off limits to bicycles.

By Foot

Venlo itself is pretty small, so you can get around by foot easily.

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Drink

The Parade and the Markt are the places to go for a drink. Here you will find some good cafés, like the Yellow Submarine and Café Central. A little bit hidden away, you will find a small but relaxed café were you can also eat something, called Hemingway (Heilige Geeststraat a sidestreet of the main shopping street).

A more alternative crowd is drawn by Kafee de Splinter, on the Dominicanenstraat. Here you are also able to see live bands.

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Sleep

Upscale

You can use the form below to search for availability (Travellerspoint receives a commission for bookings made through the form)

Booking.com

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Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafés are not as widespread as you would expect, but you can easily find one in the popular cities. Most hostels, hotels and camp sites have several computers, so you can keep connected with folk at home. Here is a list of internet cafés that could come in handy for travellers. Otherwise, most libraries have lots of computers and prices are around the €2-3 per hour range, although sometimes it can be even more expensive.

Wireless internet access using wifi is becoming more popular and is usually available at most hotels and increasingly at train stations. Also in trains (at least in most first class wagons, but also more and more in second class) and some buses you can use wifi. Finally, places like McDonald's and Starbucks have free wifi, and smaller individual business like cafés and restaurants are on the rise too offering these services. More often than not, these service tend to be free of charge, though there might be a limited time you can use the internet.

Phone

Post

The rate for sending a postcard or letter up to 20 grams within the Netherlands is €0.64 (2014). Since 2010 there are stamps available for domestic post which no longer include the value in €. Instead, there are stamps available with either a '1' or a '2' as a substitute for value. The '1' can be used for letters and postcards up to 20 grams, while 20-50 grams require you to use the '2'-valued stamps (or two '1'-valued stamps of course).

Sending items to other EU countries and the rest of the world (there is one price since 2014) will cost €1.05. Stamps are sold at post offices, supermarkets and smaller shops/kiosks; often the place where you buy your postcards can also supply you with stamps.

Sending parcels abroad is more costly. A standard-sized parcel between up to 2 kilograms will cost you €9 for destinations within the EU and €18 (both without Track & Trace) to the rest of the world. Prices with Track & Trace start at €13 and €24.30 respectively. Parcel service is available from major post offices only; standard-size boxes are on sale there as well. For sending parcels, it might be just as competitive and fast to use a company like TNT, UPS or DHL.

If you need to receive mail while moving around, you can have it sent poste restante (to be called for) to a post office of your choice, where it will be kept for a month. If you come to claim it, bring a valid ID, and make sure to have told the sender that the name on the envelope must be an exact match with that in your passport. For addresses of post offices, as well as more information, consult the TNT website.

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