Free time is the aspect of life without borders in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. From Europe’s largest indoor-skiing centre, cycling through water or trees to stunning, fully re-shaped landscapes, everyday life can be an adventure. Gastronomy, shopping, public transport, and especially languages bring so much diversity to a relatively small area.
Guide to spend your free time
Freizeitguide features many leisure activities in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. The publication is only available in German, but the symbols on the map can make navigation very easy.
Vacation in the heart of Europe
The holiday vibe of vacation is not far away not far, when cultures, and languages and landscapes change within a short distanceas quickly.
Free time and holidays blend into each other, when your afternoon walk means you end up in a country you had not even been to before. Of course there are also classical holiday destinations in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. Hotels, restaurants, attractions, theme parks and highlights found their way into the Vacation In The Heart of Europe website, with detailed information in four languages.
Also find highlights such as the Euregio-Mueumspass for 27 museums across Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in our section on musea.
For active free time, this website has a dedicated section on sports & clubs, and euregional initiatives in sports and music.
Highlights
Crossing borders without batting an eyelid has become engrained in the culture of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. Experiencing ‘Euregionality’ is also part of many leisure activities. We have picked out a few activities that stand out because of their cross-border character and listed them for you:
"Montagne" de Bueren in Liège
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More Euregional "Mountain"-Challenges
- Drielandenpunt (with beautiful video on how to climb it) has the best view across the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. Peaking at 322.7m (with additional Aussichtstürme on top), it is the best place to survey Vaals/Aachen/Plombières/former mini-state of “Neutral-Moresnet”.
- Signal de Botrange the highest mountain in Belgium at 694m.
- Sophienhöhe is the world’s largest artificial hill. Lignite mining created the spoil heap of 300 metres (!), a mountain range of its own, including various hiking paths and view points.
- Tagebau Hambach is the lowest surface point in Europe, lying 293 meters below sea level. Abovementioned Sophienhöhe peaks 593 metres closeby.
- Lousberg at 264m in Aachen. Legend has that the devil created it out of frustration after he was tricked during the erection of the Aachener Dom. Devil or the adjacent confectionery industries might also tempt you with the smell of chocolate on the west flank of Lousberg.
- Sint-Pietersberg in Maastricht stands at 171m.
- Wilhelminaberg in Landgraaf has the longest staircase in the Netherlands, 225m.
- Montagne de Bueren in Liège has the longest inner-city staircase with 374 steps and 67m difference (see video on top).
Hiking and biking
The fact that you can reach places very different from one another is what makes hiking and biking exciting. A little trip can turn into a journey to a new country packed with a variety of not-yet-discovered places.
Charlemagne Grensregio/Grenzregion developed the tri-lingual portal of Grenzrouten (in Dutch, French and German) for proper hiking without borders. Also available as smartphone app, it guides you through forests, valleys and unique hedge regions. You can follow the signs on trees and poles, or download the free smartphone app with routes and suggestions by Grünmetropole. Hohes Venn (BE/DE) Heuvelland Zuid-Limburg (NL) and Rursee (DE) are certainly among the favourites.
On two wheels throug three countries
The Euregio Meuse-Rhine offers unique cycling experiences, such as Cycling through Water and Cycling through the Trees. Not only crossing water but also borders, on the Vennbahnradweg you can cycle a whole day up to Luxemburg without even looking at a map. The territory is officially Belgian but crosses Germany in some sections. Learn more about the ‘spaghetti-shaped’ border that the Vennbahn-constitutes.
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To make full use of the euregional free time activities, you might find our sections on cities and places, public transport, language learning and volunteering particularly helpful.
