Zonneberg Caves

Maastricht

This gigantic network of quarry-tunnels date back centuries but are most intriguing for their occasional charcoal murals and the stories linked to their use in WWII as a virtual city for hiding the population during times of bombardment.

Check the website for tour times and meet the guide behind the Buitengoed Slavante cafe, arriving a little before the appointed time. Booking ahead online incurs a €1 extra fee but ensures your place should the visit be oversubscribed.

Tours are less frequent than to the North Caves but in reality both systems are part of the same extraordinary underground maze that once added up to 230km of tunnels (some 80km remain).

Contact

Address

Slavante 1

Suggest an edit to this attraction

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Aachener Dom
17.43 MILES
It’s impossible to overestimate the significance of Aachen’s magnificent cathedral. The burial place of Charlemagne, it’s where more than 30 German kings…
St Servaasbasiliek
1.66 MILES
Built above and around the shrine of St Servaas (Servatius), the first bishop of Maastricht, the basilica presents an architectural pastiche whose…
Blégny Mine
9.7 MILES
For one of the best industrial-experience tours you'll find anywhere, don a hard hat, jump in the cage lift and descend through a pitch-black moment into…
La Chocolaterie Darcis
17.59 MILES
Playing a 21st-century Willy Wonka, one of Belgium’s foremost chocolatiers has turned his modern factory into a superb interactive museum experience. Walk…
La Boverie
14.64 MILES
South of Liège's centre, this excellent gallery hosts many high-profile temporary exhibitions but always shows elements of its own fabulous art collection…
Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek
1.51 MILES
Dominating an intimate cafe-filled square, this millennium-old basilica-church is a fabulous example of Mosan architecture, made 'extra authentic' through…
Grand Curtius
13.25 MILES
Splendid Grand Curtius unites four disparate museum collections in the former mansion-warehouse of a 16th-century Liège arms dealer. The building's red…
Domschatzkammer
17.36 MILES
Aachen's cathedral treasury is a veritable mother lode of gold, silver and jewels. Of particular importance are the silver-and-gold bust of Charlemagne…

View more attractions

Nearby Maastricht attractions

1. Fort St Pieter

0.78 MILES

Set within a deep-cut dry moat, this hefty five-sided brick fort once formed the city's southern defence and is linked to a network of underground tunnels…

2. Maastricht Underground

0.78 MILES

Maastricht Underground runs spooky, amusing and fascinating tours into sections of the vast tunnel network beneath St-Pietersberg massif. Departures run…

3. Bonnefantenmuseum

1.2 MILES

Maastricht's star gallery has an excellent collection of early European painting and sculpture on the 1st floor, but is best known for contemporary art,…

4. NATO War Command

1.34 MILES

One of the least-known uses of the St Pietersberg quarry tunnels was as a once-top-secret NATO HQ to be used in times of nuclear conflict. The hospital…

5. Helpoort

1.36 MILES

This rough-cut-stone tower-gateway dating from 1229 dominates the most impressive of several fragmentary sections of medieval city wall. You can look…

6. D'Artagnan Statue

1.38 MILES

Of countless battles and sieges that have afflicted Maastricht, the best known was in 1673 when Louis XIV's French army took the city guided by master…

7. Centre Ceramique

1.43 MILES

Primarily a state-of-the-art library, this modern airy cube also has changing exhibitions in the spacious foyer area.

8. Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek

1.51 MILES

Dominating an intimate cafe-filled square, this millennium-old basilica-church is a fabulous example of Mosan architecture, made 'extra authentic' through…

View more attractions

placement: superzone
path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],

targeting:

{
  "url": "the-netherlands/the-southeast/maastricht/attractions/zonneberg-caves/a/poi-sig/1603130/360856",
  "destination": "Maastricht",
  "continent": "Europe",
  "country": "The-Netherlands",
  "city": "Maastricht",
  "position": "superzone"
}