Places Around Maastricht: Fietspecialist "Aon De Stasie"

Type of Place: Bike Rental
Location: Maastricht Train Station
Website
 
There are a number of places in Maastricht to rent a bike, but the one we’ve used the most is the Fietspecialist “Aon De Stasie”. The number one reason? Location. This rental shop is located just to the right the train station. It is also reasonably priced, which is important when you need bikes for a day or two for visitors.

Aon De Stasie rents a variety of bikes, from no-gear city bikes to electric-assisted options. I recommend you get at least a 3-gear rental. Unlike a lot of Holland, Limburg is pretty hilly and you’ll kill yourself if you try and bike all over the place without gears. Rentals for a 3-gear bike start at 7,50 per day with a 50 euro cash deposit. As with most rental places, the bikes can sometimes be hit and miss so I recommend testing your ride thoroughly before heading anywhere remote. Most of our rentals have been fine, but my father-in-law’s handlebars came loose the last time we rented bikes and he took a tumble because of it.

Aon De Stasie also offers bike repair, sells equipment, and offers protected bike stalls for when you need to leave your bike someplace safe for a while. They are open Monday to Friday from 5:15 AM to 1:15 AM. Saturday they open at 6 AM and Sunday they open at 7:15 AM. They only accept cash.

Bike Rentals are:

- City Bike (no gears): 7,50/day with 50 euro deposit

- 3-Gear Bikes (not listed on their price sheet): 7,50/day with 50 euro deposit

- Luxury/Hybrid Bike (24 gears): 10/day with 100 euro deposit. (No idea what makes them Lux)

- Electric Bikes: 35/day with 200 euro deposit

Places Around Maastricht: Henriette's Launderette Wassalon

Type of Place: Laundrymat/Wassalon
Location: Sint Pieterstraat 70, 6211 JP Maastricht
 
 
Henriette’s may only be a laundry-mat, but as the only one that I’ve found in Maastricht so far, it deserves a mention. Most people it seems do their laundry in house and students probably have access to shared units in their dorms. Me, I have a little combined washer/dryer unit, but its been on the fritz lately and I was driven to seek out a paid option. After much Googling and a visit to a couple of rental agencies in my area, Henriette’s was my only option. Its a good 20 minutes walk away from my apartment, but I suppose it could be worse.
 
Henriette’s is a small shop with about four washers plus a double sized washer and four or five dryers. The woman working there (Henriette herself perhaps?) was very helpful. For your 5 euros, you also get detergent to wash the clothes in. In fact you cannot use your own detergent. The shop is clean, but there were not many people in and out of there. I was the only one doing my own wash I think. All of the machines were going, so I believe most people who use the launderette are just dropping off their clothing. There was also a cute dog in the shop, but it stayed well out of the way.
 
Henriette’s Launderette charges about 5 euros per wash (4-6 kilos) and 1 euro for 20 minutes of drying. The wash/dry/fold option is 12,50 per load. The dryers are very fast and I found that 20 minutes was enough for most of my clothes. The shop is only open on weekdays from noon until 6 pm. There is also a dry cleaning service, but you can find dry cleaners all over the city.

Kringloop Winkels in Maastricht

I’ve mentioned Kringloopwinkels (second-hand stores) before on this blog, so I thought I’d share the ones I’ve visited. While you can also find plenty of second-hand clothing stores in Maastricht, these three were able to provide me with most of the extra kitchenware, storage, and office supplies I needed.

Kringloop Zuid: The “official” second-hand store in Maastricht, the Kringloop Zuid is on the outskirts of the city, but makes up for the distance with its warehouse sized space and low prices. They have a large selection of furniture (including lots of solid wood) as well as the best deals I’ve seen on simple kitchen utensils. Of course the cost depends on the item, so you mileage (kilometer-eage?) will vary. They also have lamps, lighting fixtures, books (mostly in Dutch), clothing, and more.

Kringloop Zuid will deliver to the ground floor for 15 euros per trip.

Mattie’s Kringloop: Mattie’s is a smaller, but jam-packed kringloop located in the city. The prices are not always as low as the Kringloop Zuid, but it often has interesting things such as office supplies, sewing things, strange paper, and nice glassware. They have less furniture, but a decent size collection of clothing, kitchenware, music, books, and nearly anything else you could want. In my experience, the staff was very friendly and the two people I spoke with had very good English.

Mattie’s also offers a frequent shopper card (when you get enough stamps, you get 2.50 euro off your next purchase) and each month a different type of item is 50% off. They even have an English section on their website.

Mattie’s will deliver for 12 euros or less per trip within Maastricht. They deliver to Meerssen, Bunde and Eijsen as well for 18 euros.

Regin’s Kringloop: Of the three kringloops listed here, I’ve spent the least amount of time in Regin’s and have not actually purchased anything from them. The reason is simple: they don’t use price tags. My desire to engage someone in a price discussion was low the day I visited so that was enough to stop me.

Regin’s collection is similar in size to Mattie’s, although the store has more space to move around in. Notably they have a lot of tea and coffee pot sets and lots of very “Dutch” things (think, Delft & Delft-like pottery and wooden clogs). They also had some furniture, clothes, and other kitchenware.

Regin’s delivers for 11 euros with some restrictions (such as ground floor for heavy items).

Good to Know
All three locations will take housewares, furniture, and clothing off your hands if you call or otherwise make an appointment in advance. You may need to bring the items to the ground floor and the goods will need to be in resellable condition. That decision is made by the pick-up drivers. We tried to give two love seats to Kringloop Zuid, but they refused them because the fabric was worn and one had a small tear. Fortunately, like Bostonians, people in Maastricht love to nab the furniture you leave out on the street.

Shopping around and comparing used prices to new is still worth it. While second-hand items are almost always cheaper than their new counterparts (and reuse is certainly eco-friendly), other circumstances may make new items worth it. For example, we purchased some furniture at Ikea because it was cheaper (although flimsier) and easier to move (flat-packed) than similar pieces at the kringloops.

On the other hand, second-hand goods are just that and you should take care to inspect them very carefully. I purchased a large cabinet at the Kringloop Zuid only to discover it was partially infested with mold after it was delivered. I was able to save the bulk of the cabinet (I didn’t feel like trying to return it), but it was an important lesson learned. Mistakes are made from time to time, so its always a good idea to be vigilant.

Places Around Maastricht: Brusselse Poort

Type of Place: Shopping Center/Mall
Location: Postbus 2900, 6201 NA Maastricht Map
Website (Dutch only)

Always busy with locals, the Brusselse Poort is a small oasis for the busy expat already stressed out by other aspects of moving to a new country. The center includes most of your basic shopping needs including two grocery stores, several clothing shops, homegoods, a bike shop, and more. There are also a variety of restaurants and cafes and a Praxis (similar to a smallish Home Depot) nearby for your tool needs.

The Brusselse Poort is open roughly Monday to Wednesday & Friday to Saturday from 8:00 to 20:00, Thursday from 8:00 to 21:00, and is closed on Sunday. Of course the individual stores are free to have different hours. In particular, while the grocery stores are frequently open until 20:00, other shops only stay open until 17:00 or 18:00 (Thursdays are usually later).

For a full list of shops, you can check out the Brusslse Poort’s website above.

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