So you’ve started cycling in Maastricht, the environment and your health will thank you! But with this mode of transport comes some questions about technicalities, such as bike parking and the proper storage of your two-wheeled friend. We have several public bike storage facilities available for you in Maastricht.
Sheltered parking
Four of the public storage facilities in Maastricht are sheltered and, therefore, that little bit more secure. One of these is located underneath the Central Station. You can enter this one from in front of the train station at the Stationsstraat. The other sheltered public bike storage is located underneath the Vrijthof square and you can enter it from next to the McDonald’s. Another one is at the Markt, near Peter’s Irish Pub and the last one is located at the Kesselskade near the river at the Old Bridge also known as the Sint Servaasbrug. You can keep your bike at these locations for up to 14 days, after that, they will be removed.
All of them are under surveillance except the one at Vrijthof, and all of them are also free of charge except for the bike storage at the Central Station. It is free of charge for the first 24 hours, and after that, it costs €1.35 for a normal bike and €1.80 for a larger or electrical bike every 24 hours that your bike is kept there (or €80 yearly). Here you need to use your OV-Chipcard to check in and check out. Alternatively, you can use your student card to check in and out if you’re parking your bike for less than 24 hours.
Unsheltered parking
Behind the railway station, you can find a large unsheltered storage facility. Parking your bike here is free of charge for up to 14 days.
The inner city of Maastricht is a no-parking zone. If you park your bike outside of the provided bicycle racks, your bike could be taken away by the municipality. Therefore, make sure to leave your bike at a public bicycle rack or one of the free secure bike parking facilities. This also helps prevent your bike from being stolen. Maastrichtbereikbaar.nl has a clear overview of all the bike parking facilities in Maastricht. It is also very important that you only use designated parking places. This is to ensure that people with disabilities are able to use the sidewalk properly and to prevent any accidents from happening.
Bike parking advice
You can also check out the map below for an overview of both bicycle sheds in the city with surveillance (in blue) and without surveillance (in pink and yellow). In the areas marked in light green, you can only park your bike in the designated bicycle racks. The green dot is the depot (Gerardusweg 39), where you can pick up your bike if you have parked it incorrectly and it was taken away by the municipality.
The Maastricht Gemeente (municipality) has imposed a maximum uninterrupted parking period for bikes in the city centre. This maximum period is 14 days. The municipality will thus remove bikes that have been parked for too long after issuing a warning. The map below shows where this 14-day maximum period for parking will apply (indicated in light green). The dark green area indicates a no-cycling zone during store opening hours.
Bike theft is common in Maastricht, so make sure that you buy a good lock. When possible, try to double lock your bike (preferably to the rack itself). In the unfortunate case that your bike got stolen or removed, read our section on missing and stolen bikes.
