Europe > Netherlands > Maastricht (MST)
The Car or no Car advice for Maastricht can be broken down into three similar questions - do you need a car in Maastricht ; is it worth it (based on costs), and ultimately - should you rent one? (a balance of the two).🚆 🚌⛴️ Do we need to rent a car in Maastricht ?
These scores are based on the quality of public transport and other travel options. If these are good enough to see the main points of interest, then you don’t need to rent a car.
💰💶💳 Is it worth hiring a car in Maastricht?
These scores reflect the practical factors that affect whether renting a car is convenient, good value, and stress-free.
Maastricht is one of the Netherlands’ most distinctive cities, sitting right on the borders with Belgium and Germany. Visitors often ask a very fair question early on: should you rent a car in Maastricht? As with many compact European cities, the answer depends strongly on whether you are staying local or planning to roam further afield.
Maastricht without a car 🚶♂️🚆
Maastricht’s historic centre is compact, elegant, and ideal for walking. The Vrijthof, the old city walls, the Maas riverfront, and the maze of streets around Onze Lieve Vrouweplein all sit close together. Cycling is also very popular, with flat terrain and excellent infrastructure.
The city’s railway station provides one of Maastricht’s biggest advantages. Trains run frequently to Eindhoven, Utrecht, and Amsterdam, making it perfectly feasible to arrive without a car. Cross-border rail connections are also excellent. You can reach Liège in Belgium in around 30 minutes and Aachen in Germany in under an hour. This makes Maastricht an unusually international base for a short break 🌍.
Local buses fill in the gaps well, but most visitors will rarely need them. For city sightseeing alone, public transport is more than sufficient.
When a rental car becomes useful 🚗🌄
A rental car starts to make sense once you look beyond the city. South Limburg’s rolling hills, vineyards, and villages feel very different from the rest of the Netherlands and are far easier to explore by car. The countryside around Valkenburg, Gulpen, and Vaals is scenic and less well served by rail.
A car is also useful for flexible cross-border trips into the Ardennes, the Eifel National Park, or deeper into Belgium. Roads are good, distances are short, and driving here is relaxed by European standards.
Conclusion: should you rent a car in Maastricht? ✅
For the city itself, no—Maastricht is walkable, bike-friendly, and superbly connected by train. For countryside exploration and cross-border day trips, yes—a rental car adds freedom and opens up one of the Netherlands’ most scenic regions 🚙✨.
