I am visiting Aachen, Germany the end of the month because my son will be in the World Equestrian Games. I could not find a hotel in Aachen (all booked). I found Best Western Walrum in Valkenburg. Is this a good place to stay -- or does anyone have other suggestions. Also, is there a train often between Aachen and Valkenburg? Or maybe I should stay in Maastricht or Heerlen? Thanks for help -- have never been to Europe

Valkenburg is a small touristy town. Maastricht is more cosmopolitan and has some very good shopping!
Heerlen is the nearest to Aachen, but I have no idea what it looks like.

There are trains once every hour from Valkenburg to Aachen. All require a change in Heerlen and the total ride is just over an hour. Maastricht is about 10 min. further on the same train line.

I haven't stayed at the Walram myself. It's about a 15 min. walk from the train station. We recently stayed at Tummers in Valkenburg which is just opposite the train station. It wasn't bad but certainly not worth 4 stars. It is my experience that the star rating system in the NL - at least in this part of the NL - is not upto standards, i.e. a so-called 4* would be a 3* in Belgium/France.

Have you checked www.ratestogo.com ? That's a good website for last minute bookings.

Good luck!

As Myriam said, Valkenburg is a small touristy town, lots of bars and restaurants, there are caves you can visit. If you are only planning on using it as a base to go to Aachen, you might be better of in Heerlen if the train goes direct to Aachen from there. If you are planning to do some sightseeing, shopping, then Maastricht would be best; a very nice town to stay in.

Good luck to your son! Dutch dressage champion Anky van Grunsven is competing in Aachen too.

Heerlen is a fairly ordinary suburban town. We spent some time near there a few years ago. Nothing wrong with it, but you'd probably enjoy Maastricht or Valkenburg more.

Or stay in Koln; I believe rail connections with Aachen are good (check on bahn.de) and Koln is an interesting city.

Köln (Cologne) is a good suggestion. It's also about an hours train ride but it will be cheaper than traveling Germany/Holland (border crossings make train travel rather expensive).

Along that line, you could also consider Liege in Belgium. There are frequent trains from Liege to Aachen and you can ride the Thalys (takes less than an hour) for as little as 13.5€ (price includes reservation). Regular trains cost about 10€. The ride is less than an hour on many trains (only 40 minutes on the Thalys). Great food in Liege!