Maastricht

Maastricht feels more Burgundian than Dutch: long lunches, café terraces spilling onto the Vrijthof square and a food culture closer to neighboring Belgium's than to Amsterdam's. Boekhandel Dominicanen, a bookshop fitted inside a former 13th-century Dominican church, is worth an hour even if you never buy a book, and it has a café among the stacks. Cross the Maas to the Wyck district for independent shops and quieter bars, and you have a weekend with almost nothing to plan.