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

 

White houses in Thorn.
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)

 

Cute white houses in Thorn.
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?

 

Monastery church in Thorn.
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.

 

White houses in Thorn.
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.

 

Cute streets of Thorn.
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!
– – – –
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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A day in Thorn - The Netherlands.
 

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Hi, I'm Bárbara!

From PT living in NL

Love to travel & photograph as many memories as possible!