The place where World War II started for Belgium and Germany is absolutely worth the visit. The…read moreguided tour through Belgium's biggest fortress gives you a very good idea of the kind of fortress, but the individual history of the fortress makes the visit even more interesting. It's the place where the Germans used revolutionary weapons like "gliders" and the "shaped charge" for the very first time. The visit to the part of the fortress damaged by the shaped charge is one of the highlights. It's very interesting too to walk on the hill that has the fortress inside of it. The kind of day trip that deserves far more publicity than it gets for the moment!

We went on two runs with Raoul in the past week. The first was a tour of the historic city. We saw…read moreand learned about so many things on our run. And this morning we went on a longer trail run outside of Maastricht, over the border of Belgium. Wow. So beautiful. I highly recommend these runs, any runs with Raoul.

It was a beautiful day for a boat ride on the local river so we paid the €10 each and got onboard…read morethe very nice ship for the 50 minute tour up and down the river. The recorded information was in Dutch, German and English. We learned a lot of history and information about the area. This was very well done. There are many other tours you could take but this one fit our schedule. It runs almost every hour starting at 11am in Spring and a Summer.

If 'a river runs through it', there's a pretty good chance that someone offers cruises on that…read moreriver, and Maastricht is no exception. The main cruising company is Stiphout, who offer a good selection of cruises , ranging from a 20-minute trip up the river to the St. Pietersberg caves to longer trips to Liege or Vise. We took the cruise up to the caves, and found the boat well turned out, with the woodwork highly polished. There's a large, comfortable lounge, in which we had a beer, and in which meals can be served on some cruises. A commentary was given in Dutch, French and English, and the whole thing made for a pleasant experience, at a reasonable price. However, the 'Old Timer' bus tour of Maastricht , also operated by Stiphout was rather disappointing. The bus itself was interesting; either a traditional American school bus, or a very good replica. And, the route took in most of the sights. However, you don't get a very good view out of the bus, especially if you're in one of the aisle seats. The commentary is given only in Dutch. Now, if you don't speak that language, you're given a 'translation sheet' in your chosen language, but that means you spend a lot of time reading, and trying to marry up the sheet with the commentary with the aid of a map that goes with it, rather than looking around. But, the sheet is very informative, and the map a good one although even if you speak Dutch, you can't see much out of the bus. Maybe a 'hop on/hop off' service would be a better experience?

When you are planning to visit Maastricht then "City Sight Maastricht's - F(r)ee City Tour" is an…read moreactivity to go for! On Sunday the 6th of December, the founder of this company Ivo Hermans guided us around and through the center of Maastricht, during a 2 hours walk. The combination of his knowledge on - and affection for Maastricht offers you an excellent insight on the city's (recent) past. A voyage through History: from the Romans, with "stops" at Medieval times, The Spanish occupation and subsequently Dutch rebellion, The French occupation until the Treaty of Maastricht in the 20th Century, but also stories about nowadays life in this city is being told in a lively and humorous manner. Gastronomical, Social-Economical and Cultural aspects are other ingredients of this tour. Another fascinating detail is the way how Ivo shows that history still has his influences in (for example) Architecture and Environmental Planning. After the walk, when you return at your starting point, you will be reminded about the meaning of the name of this activity: The F(r)ee Tour. Not in a pushing manner the guide points at the customer's freedom to give a fee, including the amount. Of course, everybody has his/her own taste, but not everybody has an equal level of historical knowledge. As this is a hobby of my, I'm able to have some judgement mattering this subject and can assure you that he doesn't tell nonsense. Please be aware, Maastricht has a rich history and the 2 hours are high efficiently spend. A side-affect of the 2 hour walking is that you get familiar with the inner city, Afterwards, this - together with a good map will be a guarantee not to get lost when you go for a dinner and/or bar in the evening as long as you stay near or in the center. Putting everything together I want to recommend everybody to start a visit to Maastricht with joining this tour. To finish my review here: you will be surprised as well. For more details, visit: citysightsmaastricht.com (there's a link to their Facebook page too)

From the owner: F(r)ee Tours by City Sights Maastricht. Duration: 2 hours…read moreStart: Onze Lieve Vrouweplein, Maastricht in front of the church (Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek)

When you are planning to visit Maastricht then "City Sight Maastricht's - F(r)ee City Tour" is an…read moreactivity to go for! On Sunday the 6th of December, the founder of this company Ivo Hermans guided us around and through the center of Maastricht, during a 2 hours walk. The combination of his knowledge on - and affection for Maastricht offers you an excellent insight on the city's (recent) past. A voyage through History: from the Romans, with "stops" at Medieval times, The Spanish occupation and subsequently Dutch rebellion, The French occupation until the Treaty of Maastricht in the 20th Century, but also stories about nowadays life in this city is being told in a lively and humorous manner. Gastronomical, Social-Economical and Cultural aspects are other ingredients of this tour. Another fascinating detail is the way how Ivo shows that history still has his influences in (for example) Architecture and Environmental Planning. After the walk, when you return at your starting point, you will be reminded about the meaning of the name of this activity: The F(r)ee Tour. Not in a pushing manner the guide points at the customer's freedom to give a fee, including the amount. Of course, everybody has his/her own taste, but not everybody has an equal level of historical knowledge. As this is a hobby of my, I'm able to have some judgement mattering this subject and can assure you that he doesn't tell nonsense. Please be aware, Maastricht has a rich history and the 2 hours are high efficiently spend. A side-affect of the 2 hour walking is that you get familiar with the inner city, Afterwards, this - together with a good map will be a guarantee not to get lost when you go for a dinner and/or bar in the evening as long as you stay near or in the center. Putting everything together I want to recommend everybody to start a visit to Maastricht with joining this tour. To finish my review here: you will be surprised as well. For more details, visit: citysightsmaastricht.com (there's a link to their Facebook page too)

From the owner: City Sights Maastricht is raised by Ivo Hermans. He is Tour Guide in Maastricht since 1991, so he…read moreknows his city inside out! Let you guide by Ivo during one of the F(r)ee Tours or book a private tour for groups from 1 to 22 persons. We offer also culinairy, tapas, wine tours. The private tours can be given in the languages: Nederlands, English, Deutsch.

Highly, highly recommend taking the brewhouse tour! I booked it on TripAdvisor and it was an…read moreexcellent activity since I was traveling alone and didn't really speak German but still wanted to try some beers. The tour guide Elise was awesome, ordered beers for us and educated us on brewhouse culture, and our group gelled immediately. We went to a variety of brewhouses and I learned so much about beer and Cologne, even though I've been on many brewery tours before. Definitely check it out.

Had the best time! Not only a Kolsch brewery tour, but a Cologne history tour as well! Really a…read morefabulous time. Manny our guide was great!

This was our 2nd walking tour with Sandemans, and it did not disappoint. Tom, the guide, was…read moreknowledgeable, easy to hear and understand, and very entertaining. We plan to do this again when available in other cities.

A very positive experience today with my free walking tour. Sandemans does a very good job with…read moretheir tour guides and having done this in several cities (Edinburgh, Prague, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona), this is one of the best. My tour guide today was Maggie. Maggie is a Brussels native and very cheery. Clearly excited to show people her city, she was positive and outgoing. The tour lasted 2.5 hours, taking us past the highlights of the old city including the famous Mannekin Pis, the Galleries de la Reine, up the Mont des Arts and more. Only one downer in the tour, Maggie spent a good ten minutes addressing the atrocities of the Belgian Congo, a topic that she is clearly passionate about. And yes, the tour is free with the tour guide paid in tips. The solicitation was modest and not too much. Maggie also invited us to the beer tour that night which she would be running. A good time with Sandemans. I'll continue to use their tours in other European cities.

What better way to discover a city than stroll around without getting tired?…read moreThis is what you get with Once upon a time in Brussels! :) but instead of strolling you're actually more rolling ;) on your electric bike that is! Virginie brought this ingenious idea to Brussels nearly 2 years ago. Visiting a city by bicycle is one of the best ways of seeing the place, but with Brussels being so hilly, it wouldn't be a chilled afternoon out. This is where having electrical bicycles that give you that extra little push of help comes in very handy! :) Going around by bicycle you get to see a lot more than by foot and this way Virginie manages to take us to uncommon places a bit further than the city centre! Although, she knows to surprise you in the city centre too! :) yep, the tours of 'Once' are so well put together that they will enjoy and surprise both 1st timers in Brussels and born and bred Brusselairs! :) So, if you're hesitating how to visit Brussels, what to do, which tour is the best, don't look no further, you will find your joy with 'Once'! :D +Virginie is so nice and enthusiastic about her city, she will never hesitate to give you tips about other things to do during your stay once you finished the tour :) some notes to keep in mind: - If you get cold easily and it is not middle of summer and sunny outside, make sure you dress adequately and bring an extra layer, you never know it might come in handy ;) - if you like to be superactive and are looking for a tough physical activity, this is not it! In the end you don't cycle thaaat much, there are a lot of breaks where Virginie will explain you things about the history of Brussels and the surroundings (this is a guided tour in the end, not a bike ride). but you can of course not use the electrical assistance & then the tour will get physical ;)

Thoroughly enjoyed this biking experience. We were a group of four Americans and the only people on…read morethe tour. All different degrees of cycling experience, but everyone felt comfortable with the electric (we actually chose Once Upon a Time over the competitor because you really do need electric bikes in Brussels -- Amsterdam it is not.). Virginie was really friendly and spoke fluent English. Saw some great locations and appreciated her ability to both playfully criticize her city, but also exhibit so much pride for it. Scheduling our tour was fairly easy as she was okay with us paying cash the day of. Apparently bank transfers are a thing in Belgium, but that would have cost us $45 to do ahead of time, so she just trusted us instead. Ask her to take you to the Jean-Claude Van Damme statue.

Had the best time! Learned a ton about the culture. Experienced new things. Loved it all!read more