Maastricht island

Maastricht island (30 km)

Source: Route 66

Due to canal construction the ancient city of Maastricht now lies on an island. You can ride around that island, mostly on paved bike paths and service roads with little or no traffic.

A good place to start is the town of Kanne. From Brussels take the E40 east to the E313. Go north on the E313 to exit 32, and turn east towards Maastricht. About 9 km east of exit 32 you cross the Albert canal. Turn right towards Kanne. The town is about 3 km. Drive through the center past several pubs/restaurants. As the road starts to curve left, go straight into a dead end and park at the end on the grass. You are a few feet from the canal. The work required to built the canal is obvious here - you ride mostly through a substantial cut.

You can ride either direction. This guide goes counterclockwise (anticlockwise), starting south from Kanne.

Just south of the starting point is a bridge. Soon you are in a cut, opposite the fort of Eben Emael. In about 2.5 km you reach the end of the island and make a sharp left to a lock and then north along the Lanaye canal. The old route of the Meuse is a little further east. You ride for 2 km along a dock area and then the pavement ends. This is about at the border between Belgium and the Netherlands, and the name of the canal changes to Juliana. Cross the road to the bike path on the west side of the road, past the cement plant. Across the canal you see a branch waterway (the Meuse joining the canal) and then the entrance to a large lake used for water sports. From here north through the center of Maastricht the Juliana is actually an improved Meuse.

Maastricht waterfront at night
Source: Tim Freh

Follow the path along the road until you pass a marina. At the next intersection you can turn right to the river. 6 km north of the lock you pass the old city wall. Half a km later you reachSint-Servaasbrug (Saint Servius bridge), originally built in the 13th century. (There was also a Roman bridge here.) Part of the bridge is a newer style (and in fact is a lift bridge), built to extend the bridge when the Meuse was widened and canalized here.

If you want to explore the center, it is best done on foot. Lock up your bike near the bridge (there is a paid, guarded bicycle park on the north side of the bridge) and walk west along the pedestrian streets.

Continuing north from the bridge, in about 100 m the bicycle path ends for 500 m. Ride along the road carefully until you approach a bridge across an old harbor and join a new bike path. The bridge is across the original south end of the Zuid Willemsvaart where it joined the Meuse. (There is another, wider connection a little further north.) You then curve west along the canal before turning back north on the east side of the canal.

Continue north on the bike path. One km after the new path starts, there is a marked bike lane crossing the road. You can cross, follow the side road down to and across an old bridge, and then turn right on the west bank of the old canal. However this route is very mixed - including one section of narrow track through some woods. It is better to continue straight on the bike lane.

The old canal in this area is a village - a variety of boats adapted for living. In 600 m you pass over a bridge over the entrance to a harbor. Just past that is a bridge over a lock - the new connection between the Zuid Willemsvaart (ZWV) and the Maas. Another km brings you to the border, in a section where the canal and Maas are very close together. Where you cross the border back into Belgium the bike lane ends. You have to ride along the road for about 300 m, to a bridge over the ZWV. Cross the bridge and immediately turn right on the service road, which eventually becomes a bike path. The next 3 km are very pleasant, including a chateau on your left. Then you reach the junction with the Kanaal Briegden - Neerharen and must make a U-turn to the left. After riding south for 600 m you can cross the canal at a lock.

The east bank of the Briegden - Neerharen south of this point is mixed - it is best to cross the bridge at the lock and continue on the west bank. On the west bank, go left around the lock buildings and continue south along the Kanaal Briegden - Neerharen. (Or you can go north along the Zuid Willemsvaart by turning right.)

You have about 2.5 km of fine ride (one km of quiet road and then bike path) to the next crossing point - a bicycle bridge at Lanaken. The towpath goes under the bridge. About 400 later you approach a lock (the first since you crossed the canal at Neerharen) and a bike route junction. (Just before the lock is an old disused rail bridge. It is not safe. On 10 May 2004 an agreement was signed between Belgium and the Netherlands to rebuild and reopen this rail line between Lanaken and Maastricht. Part of the project will be the development of an industrial park.) For the Albert Canal continue straight. For the island route, make a U-turn up and back to the bridge. Cross over and turn right (south) along the road. The road goes nowhere and has little traffic except for some to the warehouses.

You stay on the road for about 1 km - past the Briegden junction with the Albert canal and a sand and gravel port. Just past the port at the first break in the fence on the west side of the road a road takes you down to a nicely paved towpath.

You now have a fine ride through the Albert canal cut for 7.9 km back to your starting point in Kanne.

After stowing your bike, check out one of Kanne's fine pubs. (April 1999)