Planning on visiting the Netherlands sometime soon and need ideas on places to visit? Then consider adding Thorn to your list. In this post I will share with you how I spend a day in Thorn in the Netherlands and why is Thorn known as the white town.
The first time I visited Thorn, it was on a cold winter day, during the last Christmas break. Some friends had been there before and recommended me to go visit this beautiful old dutch town. To this day, I do not know why it took me so long.
On today’s post, I will be sharing some sights and info about Thorn.
A day in Thorn in the Netherlands
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| Arriving in Thorn |
Location
Thorn is part of the Maasgouw municipality, Limburg, in the south of the Netherlands right at the border with Belgium.
It is estimated that in 2018 Thorn’s population was just about 2235 people, where about 51.5% were women.
A few cities close by:
Maastricht – 46km
Eindhoven – 46km
Amsterdam – 175km (not so close)
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| Cute houses in Thorn |
Background
Thorn is known for its old white houses and beautiful buildings. But how did it become known as the “white town”? Well, apparently, back at the end of the 18th century, the taxes were calculated based on the dimensions of the house and window size.
As you can imagine, the poor did not have the money to pay high taxes, so they came up with a nice solution: replaced the original windows with smaller ones and bricked the empty spaces. They then painted the houses in white so it was not possible to distinguish the new from the old houses.
This way, all the houses were taxed the same!
Pretty genius, right?
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| Monastery church in Thorn |
How to reach Thorn
From my experience, you are better off going to Thorn by car. Public parking is available for a small fee.
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| Square close by the Adijkerk, in Thorn |
Worth the visit?
Absolutely!
Thorn is such a cute town that you can easily visit in a few hours! Yes, it is that small.
Besides admiring the white houses, you may also visit the monastery church – Abdijkerk Thorn; unfortunately, at the time of my visit, the church was not open. There is also a museum where you can know more about this town and its origins.
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| Cute streets in Thorn |
But I would say that the main attraction of Thorn is indeed the white houses, which you don’t find in any other Dutch town.
If you visited the Netherlands you are familiar with the brick-colored buildings, but not here in Thorn!
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I hope you liked this week’s posts. Personally, I can’t wait for springtime so I can go and visit Thorn once again, and enjoy its many outdoor terraces.
Have you visited Thorn? Are you planning on?
Let me know in the comments below.
See you next week!
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0 Responses
Great job!!
Wat een mooi plek! Ik houd van de witte huisjes. I wil graag gaan naar Thorn waneer ik kom naar Nederland.
(What a beautiful place! I love the white houses. I would like to vitis Thorn when I am in the Netherlands) 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Sarah!!
You should definitely go and check Thorn. Such a cute town.
Thank you for your visit & hope to see you more times. 🙂