Life in Maastricht

Hi Ire_a_m,

you don't mention what kind of accommodation you're looking for. A room with shared facilities (i.e. student housing) or an apartment, or a house?

For student housing, www.kamernet.nl is a good source. Otherwise, try www.directwonen.nl, www.rooftrack.nl, www.zuidlimburg.nl/huizen/huren.html

Don't know about prices in Belgium, but I spend around EUR 30 per week on groceries. Electricity gas costs me around EUR 50 per month (for 60m2, well insulated apartment), I pay EUR 45 per month for basic digital tv + landline (free calls within the Netherlands) high speed internet. Water is about EUR 12,50 per 3 months.

hope this helps!

I already lived in Belgium for a year and I've heard that food is cheaper in the Netherlands than in Belgium (don't know if this is still true nowadays)

Hi, i live in Begium and i regularily go to a Dutch supermarket over the border and i think i can compare some prices.
The prices of fresh fruits, vegetables and meat are about the same. Cheaper in NL are dairy products, coffee, toiletries, cleaning products.

gas, electricity, water, telephone, ineternet
I'm almost sure NL is cheaper with telephone and internet, and i wouldn't be surprised if they are also cheaper with the rest but i'm not sure about that.

Rental prices used to be cheaper in Belgium but have increased a lot recently, so that might be changing.

mid august is high season in maastricht. and nearby belgian limburg as well. i know nothing about difference in food prices between NL en BE, but have heard that in BE lots of housing is dependent on electricity for heating - which is rather costly. housing for a single person will not be too hard to find in maastricht, as it is a student town - but expect that housing not to be in the centre of town. in belgium you might find smth quite pleasant and affordable, but do understand that standards are not the same. the netherlands moreover, have a very good system of public transportation, alas, in belgium you do need a car most of the time.

but have heard that in BE lots of housing is dependent on electricity for heating

Who told you that? I haven't known anyone who heated his home on electricity. Gas is the most common especially in the towns and cities, and then fuel.
Electrical heating systems are sometimes installed in second homes or holiday rentals, like on the coast or in the Ardennes, because the installation is cheaper and such houses aren't heated permanently.

alas, in belgium you do need a car most of the time.

That very much depends on where in BE you live. Towns and cities and their agglomerations (which is almost everywhere in the northern part) are well served by public transportation. There are buses into rural parts too, but there they might not always stop in front of your door :)

http://www.delijn.be/index.htm for Flanders
http://www.infotec.be/ for Wallony
http://www.stib.be/ for Brussels

Edited by: artemis2

Thank you for the info!

I'm actually looking for a small appartment for two persons. I'll check the links to get an idea about what's available before going there in July.

I don't have a car, but as Maastricht is a rather small city and I'd like to get a bike I don't think I'll need it. Besides, when I lived in Belgium (Antwerp, but near Mortsel, not the city center) I thought the public transport was awesome. Buses and trams ran frequentlly and punctually and the monthly (or annual) pass for DeLijn would serve for every bus or tram running in Flanders ... However, I don't know how public transport works in Maastricht.

Also, thank u for the hints about expenses :)

artemis, i have a dear friend who unfortunately after a divorce, ended up having to rent a cheap appartment in a building where there was no gas connection. she heated and cooked on electricity and so did practically the whole neighbourhood, as she explained to me, as electricity was cheap when these hosues were built. she had, indeed, a bus stop around the corner. since she had to work as a cleaner at 6 different addresses, also out of town, she did need a car. when she came to visit me in holland, she was much surprised to see that our network of public transportation was far better. we both did a trip to the same address recently in france - and by thalys, from schiphol, i can be there in little over 3 hours. she had to go to brussels first which would take her more than 2 hours (...) and decided to go by car. which was a drive of less than 4 hours.

@5 it works like a dream in maastricht. you won't be disappointed. antwerp as well, as this is a city.

Mokummer, with all due respect...

she heated and cooked on electricity
But the same applies to many households here in the Netherlands, doesn't it? I need electricity too to get my CV-ketel started, otherwise I won't have any hot water and consequently my central heating doesn't work.

since she had to work as a cleaner at 6 different addresses, also out of town, she did need a car
Contrary to buses and trains, my car departs when I want to depart, so if I had to visit 6 different out-of-town addresses on one day, I wouldn't travel by public transport either; and that's me living right in the middle of the Randstad - believe me, there are several areas in the Netherlands where 1 bus per hour is considered something of a luxury.

we both did a trip to the same address recently in france - and by thalys, from schiphol, i can be there in little over 3 hours. she had to go to brussels first which would take her more than 2 hours
By the sound of it you are comparing apples and oranges - from your handle I take it you live very close to Schiphol; had you been living in, say, Zwolle or Alkmaar or Den Bosch, you'd have to travel over an hour too before you got to Amsterdam CS or Schiphol to take the Thalys.

To the OP: Maastricht is connected to the railway network and has several trains per hour to anywhere in the Netherlands - see [www.ns.nl] for timetables and fares. Every city worth its salt has an excellent network of public transport, and Maastricht isn't that big; if I were you I wouldn't bother with buses and just get a bicycle to get around as you are already planning to do.

Also, make sure you get an OV Chipkaart ([http://www.ov-chipkaart.nl/?taal=en]) for public transport.

You can also try funda.nl for apartments in Maastricht. It's like a meta-site for rental agencies.