Thorn was once a mini-principality where women were in power. Now it is an idyllic white town with typical streets and alleys of Maas boulders with striking, white-painted houses and monumental buildings. In the old town an abbey church in a predominantly Gothic style that can be seen from afar. Thorn is surrounded by the vast water areas of the Maasplassen and the varied nature of the RivierPark Maasvallei with a labyrinth of old river arms, overgrown riverbanks, ditches, gravel ponds, hiking areas, floodplains and some monumental historical places.