Maastricht

Man-made limestone galleries under the hill south of the city, cut for marl since Roman times, with charcoal drawings on the walls and the tunnels that hid Dutch national art during the war. North Caves and Zonneberg are separate tours of about seventy minutes each, guided only, and cold underground all year.

The main square, laid over Roman and Frankish burial ground, with the Basilica of Saint Servatius and the red tower of the Sint Janskerk along one side and the terraces facing them. In den Ouden Vogelstruys claims to have been pouring since 1730.

An eighteenth-century fortress on the hill above the caves, with underground passages of its own and the best view over the Meuse valley. About an hour, guided, and available on one combination ticket with the North Caves.

A thirteenth-century Dominican church turned bookshop, with a black steel stack rising the height of the nave and a cafe in the choir. Free to walk into, and the best twenty minutes in the city.

The oldest surviving city gate in the Netherlands, built around 1230, with a stretch of medieval wall running from it along the Jeker into the old student quarter.

Maastricht is the far end of the country, roughly two and a half hours by direct Intercity from Amsterdam and about two from Utrecht. Treat it as a stay rather than a day trip; nobody has ever regretted the second night.

The station is in Wyck on the east bank and the old town is across the water. Walk over the Sint Servaasbrug, parts of it thirteenth-century and the oldest bridge in the country, or the modern Hoge Brug for the view back.

Liege is about half an hour away by train and Aachen has a direct regional service. If you are carrying on into Europe rather than back to Amsterdam, this is the exit.

May to September, when the Vrijthof terraces are open and the Jekerkwartier is worth a whole evening.

January and February outside carnival week: the cheapest rooms of the year in a city that stays busy regardless.

Carnival, TEFAF in March, and the open-air concerts on the Vrijthof in July and August.

The Vrijthof and the Basilica of Saint Servatius, then across the square to the Sint Janskerk and its red tower.

Boekhandel Dominicanen, then the Jekerkwartier: the Helpoort, the wall, the mills on the Jeker and the old university buildings.

A long one. This is the Dutch city where lunch is a meal rather than a sandwich, and Wyck and the Jekerkwartier both do it properly.

Up the Sint Pietersberg for the caves and the fort, both guided and both worth booking before you arrive.

Over the bridge to Wyck for dinner, then back for a beer on the Vrijthof or something loud at the Muziekgieterij.

Fifteen minutes east by train: castle ruins on the hill, marl caves of its own, and Christmas markets held inside them from November.

Two foreign cities within the hour by train, Charlemagne's cathedral one way and a Belgian food city the other.