MergelRijk in Valkenburg offers several fun and interesting activities, all inside the cave, for adults and for children. All activities are free of charge throughout the visit and are part of every visit to MergelRijk. You can learn even more about the history of the caves and the use of marlstone in an accessible, fun way. These activities make a visit to MergelRijk truly a next-level cave experience.
Here are some of the main things you can do there:
Wandering through the cave at MergelRijk in Valkenburg without a guide, at your own pace, is a unique experience! What makes it so much fun is the special mix of adventure and history that you won't soon forget. It is the most fun way to explore the Valkenburg region in a different way. The cave is a network of underground passages and chambers carved in marl.
It is a bit like a labyrinth, making you feel like an explorer as you meander through the various corridors. But don't worry, there is a route marked in the cave that you can follow and where you cannot get lost. The corridors are beautifully lit, adding to the natural beauty of the space.
En route in MergelRijk, you'll end up in the Cave Workshop. After watching an instruction film here, you can pick up a block of marl and get to work yourself! This can range from making an inscription of your name in the marl block to making a cute little figure. It is a hands-on experience that gives you a chance to let your creativity run wild. At the end of the activity, you can take home the artwork you created as a memento of your visit to MergelRijk.
It's a great reminder of your time in Valkenburg and a piece of art you created yourself!
At MergelRijk, it is possible to put your own name on the wall in the Thomas Didden quarry! This activity is a special part of MergelRijk, and it is a fun and interactive experience where you can contribute to the history of the cave yourself. You can put your name on the marl wall with charcoal, in line with the tradition of the caves in which various markings, names and inscriptions have been left for centuries.
On the page Cave visit, you will find more information on the Thomas Diddengroeve.
Visiting the underground hall with 3D cave paintings on the floor, walls and ceilings makes your visit to MergelRijk even more special. These murals appear flat at first glance, but when changing your point of view and looking through your camera lens, they gain depth and space. This uses the technique called anamorphosis, where an image can only be seen properly from a certain perspective.
To create these paintings, the best 3D Art artists in the world have come to MergelRijk, such as Nate Baranowski from Chicago. The paintings are surprisingly fun to take photos of and even more fun to take photos of yourself!
The free scavenger hunt for families with children up to and including 10 years old, is a great way to make the visit interactive and fun for both children and adults. Using the scavenger hunt as a guide, it is a fine way to explore the cave together as a family.
The treasure hunt is specially designed to get children actively involved in discovering the cave and all that MergelRijk has to offer. The scavenger hunt comes in a fun do-booklet that you can take with you and, in addition to all kinds of questions, contains fun puzzles and a nice diploma for the children.
Marl drawing with the Sand Wizard is a unique and creative activity in MergelRijk, where you can experiment with marl sand. You will be inspired by the magical art of the one and only Sand Wizard, known from the Efteling and TV. It is a fun experience that gives adults and children the chance to do something new with marl sand.
Making a sand drawing is a fun way to add a bit of artistry and creativity to your visit to MergelRijk.
Part of the corridor system of MergelRijk is set up as DinoRijk. An adventure experience for both children and adults, immersing you in the world of dinosaurs. This part of MergelRijk offers an interactive journey through time, with a focus on the prehistoric period and the impressive animals that populated the earth back then.
It gives you the chance to see dinosaurs up close and imagine how they once roamed the earth. In DinoRich, you can discover their habitat in a visually appealing way.
Fossils are often hidden in the ground, rocks or other layers of earth, so it can be a real quest to find them. Marl, after all a layer of earth, also contains many fossils, of marine animals in this case. Such as of shellfish, corals, fish, sharks, turtles and, of course, mosasaurs.
In MergelRijk's Fossil Quarry, you can go looking for yourself and you are sure to find shells and real shark teeth. Several times a year, a real mosasaur tooth is even found. Children often love to dig, search and discover. And what they find, they get to take home with them!
A visit takes 1.5 hours on average, often a little longer with small children. REMEMBER: after 3pm, you cannot enter.
