Bells ring often in Maastricht. They mark the arrival of river boats mooring along the Meuse, just steps from the old centre. The capital of Limburg, squeezed between Belgium and Germany in the narrow southern tail of the Netherlands, claims Roman origins: Mosae Trajectum, "the crossing of the Meuse." Two thousand years later, people still pass through, but above all they linger, for few Dutch cities offer such a density of churches, squares and patios within such a walkable area.

St. Servatius Bridge, the Country's Elder

The natural first stop from the landing is the Sint Servaasbrug, a stone bridge with medieval arches, considered the oldest in the Netherlands. Crossing it on foot, among cyclists and strollers, immediately gives a sense of the place: on one side the lively Wyck district with its independent shops, on the other the old centre and its steeples. Barges and excursion boats pass on the water, a reminder that the Meuse was long the region's great trade route.

The Vrijthof and the Two Towers

Nearly every street leads to the Vrijthof, a vast square lined with cafés where locals settle in at the first ray of sunshine. Two buildings face each other there like old accomplices: the Basilica of St. Servatius, a Romanesque masterpiece housing the saint's tomb and a treasury of medieval goldsmithing, and St. John's Church, recognizable by its red tower, which you can climb for a view over the rooftops. The contrast of the two silhouettes, red and grey, sums up Maastricht: Catholic and rebellious, monumental and convivial. Nearby, the Basilica of Our Lady watches over its Marian chapel lit by hundreds of candles, one of the most moving places in the city.

A Bookstore in a Church

The city's most photographed curiosity is hidden in a former 13th-century Dominican church: the Boekhandel Dominicanen bookstore. Beneath the Gothic vaults, a multi-storey structure filled with books rises up toward the frescoes; you climb it as if it were a belfry, novel in hand. The café set up in the choir lets you extend the stop. Lovers of old stones will continue to the Helpoort, a 13th-century city gate, the oldest surviving in the country, and the ramparts running along the municipal park where sheep graze.

Beneath the Hill, a Labyrinth

On the southern edge of the centre, St. Pietersberg hill hides a network of tunnels dug by hand into the marl, quarried from the Middle Ages for building stone. Guided tours, lantern in hand, explore these cool passages where refugees and works of art found shelter during the wars. The 18th-century fort crowning the hill offers a bonus: a sweeping view over the Meuse valley.

Flavours of Limburg

Maastricht boasts, polls in hand, of being the culinary capital of the Netherlands. Without going as far as the Michelin-starred tables, the port call lets you taste:

• vlaai, the large Limburg fruit tart, served in every pastry shop;
• regional cheese and local beers, to enjoy on a patio;
• the colourful Wednesday and Friday markets on the town hall square.

The shopping streets around the Stokstraatkwartier, cobbled and lined with 17th- and 18th-century façades, rank among the most elegant in the Benelux: strolling there is a pleasure in itself, shop windows or not.

When it's time to cast off, the city offers itself one last time from the water: steeples, ramparts, full patios. Maastricht has neither Amsterdam's canals nor postcard windmills; it has something better, perhaps: a southern gentleness of life grafted onto two millennia of history. Pulling away, you understand why the Dutch themselves consider it their most exotic city.