Due to increased competition and the political closure of the German and Belgian regio to Vaals, industrial activity went down after 1840. Vaals turned from a wealthy industrial town into a leisure and holiday destination for the citizens of Aachen. Its casino's in this time made it a Monte Carlo like destination for the well-to-do of the surrounding regions. Germans referred to the town as the "Vaalser Paradies". To stimulate industry and tourism, a tram was installed in 1922 from Aachen, via Vaals to Wijlre, which was expanded to Maastricht in 1924. This prestigious and costly project was not very successful, as the tram ran no more than 13 years.
Before and during World War II the borders were closed and Vaals grew isolated due to its remote location in the Netherlands. After the war, commerce rose. Germans visited Vaals on a daily basis, as they still do today. Many inhabitants of Vaals found jobs in Aachen and smuggle routes across the border prospered. The smugglers of Vaals were called "The Owls of Vaals", referring to their nightly endeavours. Nowadays, the borders are of course open and Vaals is well embedded in the Aachen local transport system.
VVV Limburg tourist information store Vaals, Maastrichterlaan 73a, ☎ 0900-5559798 (€1 per conversation), . The tourist information office is a well equipped place with maps, tours and information on all major sights. They can also assist in hotel bookings etc. �
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Vaals
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Vaals - updated May 2024
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Vaals Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
